from the john's voice researchers.......
Dear friends, colleagues and supporters,
I hope that this email finds you well.
Sex, Safety and Security is the research I am currently conducting on experiences of persons who have paid for sexual services in Canada. I am writing to let you know about the project and to ask if you would be willing to help me spread the word about it.
This study is a continuation of "Johns' Voice," (www.johnsvoice.ca) the 2009 research which, thanks to my friends and colleagues in the sex work and research communities and the many people from across Canada came forward to have their voices heard, became the most successful Canadian study of people who pay for sexual services ever conducted. Information from the study led many to re-examine some of the stereotypes they held about the commercial sex industry and the people involved in it. Findings from the study also played an important role in informing conversations surrounding Canadian prostitution law and policy.
One of the many important and previously underemphasized findings that the Johns' Voice study revealed was that people who pay for sex come from diverse backgrounds and have markedly different attitudes and experiences relating to their purchase of sex. While many participants reported having safe, satisfying and unproblematic encounters with sex workers/sellers, several shared stories about experiences that revealed that not all commercial encounters are equally safe, secure and conflict-free. The study allowed us to begin scratching the surface of the issues that may come up in commercial encounters. It also pointed to the need to examine some of these issues further.
Sex, Safety and Security examines in more detail situations of conflict, safety and security within individuals' experiences of purchasing sex. It is part of a larger project, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), which is designed to understand the ways that gender, conflict and health collectively impact the experiences of people involved in all aspects of Canada's sex industry. This initiative is one of the most ambitious research projects undertaken to date.
It is our hope that the results from our project can be used to provide an evidentiary foundation for debates about "what to do about prostitution" in Canada. Bringing these different voices and perspectives together will help to better understand the complexities of the sex industry in Canada, and in particular the factors influencing health and safety within, and in relation to, the industry.
In order to accomplish our goals we need you to help us spread the word to anyone that you think might be interested in participating and having their voices included in this important project. There are a number of ways you can do this:
Visit our research web sites at: www.sexsafetysecurity.ca AND www.understandingsexwork.ca.
Talk to or text people you know who have experience purchasing or selling sexual services and let them know about our project and the project web site (www.sexsafetysecurity.ca);
Forward this email to anyone you think might be interested in learning about our project;
Follow us on Twitter @SexSafetySecure; or,
"Like" us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sex-Safety-and-Security/105611512938349;
Thank-you all for your continued support.
Be well,
Chris
Chris Atchison
Department of Sociology
University of Victoria
PO Box 1700 STN CSC
Victoria, BC
V8W 2Y2
email: [email protected]
web: www.sexsafetysecurity.ca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sex-Safety-and-Security/105611512938349
Twitter: @SexSafetySecure
Dear friends, colleagues and supporters,
I hope that this email finds you well.
Sex, Safety and Security is the research I am currently conducting on experiences of persons who have paid for sexual services in Canada. I am writing to let you know about the project and to ask if you would be willing to help me spread the word about it.
This study is a continuation of "Johns' Voice," (www.johnsvoice.ca) the 2009 research which, thanks to my friends and colleagues in the sex work and research communities and the many people from across Canada came forward to have their voices heard, became the most successful Canadian study of people who pay for sexual services ever conducted. Information from the study led many to re-examine some of the stereotypes they held about the commercial sex industry and the people involved in it. Findings from the study also played an important role in informing conversations surrounding Canadian prostitution law and policy.
One of the many important and previously underemphasized findings that the Johns' Voice study revealed was that people who pay for sex come from diverse backgrounds and have markedly different attitudes and experiences relating to their purchase of sex. While many participants reported having safe, satisfying and unproblematic encounters with sex workers/sellers, several shared stories about experiences that revealed that not all commercial encounters are equally safe, secure and conflict-free. The study allowed us to begin scratching the surface of the issues that may come up in commercial encounters. It also pointed to the need to examine some of these issues further.
Sex, Safety and Security examines in more detail situations of conflict, safety and security within individuals' experiences of purchasing sex. It is part of a larger project, funded by the Canadian Institutes of Health Research (CIHR), which is designed to understand the ways that gender, conflict and health collectively impact the experiences of people involved in all aspects of Canada's sex industry. This initiative is one of the most ambitious research projects undertaken to date.
It is our hope that the results from our project can be used to provide an evidentiary foundation for debates about "what to do about prostitution" in Canada. Bringing these different voices and perspectives together will help to better understand the complexities of the sex industry in Canada, and in particular the factors influencing health and safety within, and in relation to, the industry.
In order to accomplish our goals we need you to help us spread the word to anyone that you think might be interested in participating and having their voices included in this important project. There are a number of ways you can do this:
Visit our research web sites at: www.sexsafetysecurity.ca AND www.understandingsexwork.ca.
Talk to or text people you know who have experience purchasing or selling sexual services and let them know about our project and the project web site (www.sexsafetysecurity.ca);
Forward this email to anyone you think might be interested in learning about our project;
Follow us on Twitter @SexSafetySecure; or,
"Like" us on Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sex-Safety-and-Security/105611512938349;
Thank-you all for your continued support.
Be well,
Chris
Chris Atchison
Department of Sociology
University of Victoria
PO Box 1700 STN CSC
Victoria, BC
V8W 2Y2
email: [email protected]
web: www.sexsafetysecurity.ca
Facebook: http://www.facebook.com/pages/Sex-Safety-and-Security/105611512938349
Twitter: @SexSafetySecure