Bio:
Laura Winters has been a PhD student in sociology at the University of New Brunsiwck since September, 2010. Prior to this, she completed an honours in psychology with a major in sociology and a masters in sociology at Memorial University of Newfoundland. Her interests include feminism/queer theory, postmodern social theory, and cultural sociology; her areas of research specialization include marginalized populations, most recently in the area of sex work. In her PhD work, Laura aims to examine the relationship between sex work, stigma, and subjectivity in St. John's, Newfoundland. She recently taught a sociology of gender relations course at UNB, and has since returned home to Newfoundland to live and research in her home province.
Title of paper:
'Stigma, Sex Work and Criminalization: Will Sex workers ever achieve Equality?' [with Gayle MacDonald]
Abstract:
Sex workers are among the most marginalized and stigmatized of women. This presentation will examine the role of stigma as experienced by sex workers from two perspectives. First, is stigma directly related to the criminalization of the work and if so, will it be reduced if sex work is decriminalized? This question is especially timely given the recent Bedford decision holding that some criminal provisions relating to sex work violate the Charter of Rights. Second, can stigma be re-theorized past Goffman's early work to take into account the lived experiences of women who do sex work? What would theory on stigma look like if it addressed time, space, and context? Answers to these questions can give us a more political/analytical look at stigma, sex work and law that moves beyond the descriptive to the analytical.