Historically, research has focused on the lives of sex workers through a lens of deviancy and pathology. More recently, a false dichotomy has emerged of framing sex workers as either empowered or victimized. Moving beyond these outsider narratives, the peer-led sex workers’ rights movement centers the needs and realities of those working in the sex industry. This lived-experience narrative reflects the complexities and nuances of sex workers as they navigate their professional and personal lives working in a stigmatized and often criminalized industry.
This special issue seeks to bring together current and former sex workers currently writing on and conducting research into the lived experiences of sex workers as it relates to intimate relationships, sex, sexual functioning, and sexual health in a therapeutic context.
Eric Sprankle and Katie Bloomquist invite empirical or review papers (maximum 6000 words) and commentaries, clinical case reports, and opinion pieces (maximum 1200 words) on the subject of sex workers and relationships/sex. Commentaries and opinion pieces will only be reviewed by the editors, while papers will also be sent for external peer review. Abstract submissions should be submitted directly to the editors by March 31, 2018. Invited manuscripts would be expected in full by the end of September 2018.
Examples of appropriate topics include, but not limited to:
| • | Overviews of the literature on sex workers which might be relevant to sexual and/or relationship therapy | ||||
| • | Exploring or addressing sex work stigma in sexual and relationship therapies | ||||
| • | Psychological therapies for sexual/relationship difficulties among sex workers | ||||
| • | Clinician bias and competence working with sex workers as clients | ||||
| • | Sex work stigma as relevant to sex and relationships | ||||
| • | Minority stress and sex work in the context of sex and relationships | ||||
| • | Coming out as a sex worker within sexual/romantic/intimate relationships | ||||
| • | Sex work and navigating relational boundaries (e.g., monogamy, polyamory) | ||||
| • | Training sex and relationship therapists to work effectively with sex worker clients | ||||
| • | Intimate partner violence and sex workers | ||||
| • | Sex workers’ experiences with online dating sites | ||||
| • | Sexual health for sex workers | ||||
Informal inquiries and abstract submissions should be directed to Eric Sprankle at [email protected] or Katie Bloomquist at [email protected]
Instructions for authors are available at www.tandfonline.com/csmt, in the “Submit” section found on the left-hand menu. Final, invited manuscripts to be submitted via the journal's ScholarOne Manuscripts website and marked “for special issue on sex workers.”
Eric Sprankle and Katie Bloomquist