Visual Violence: Sex Workers' Experiences of Image-Based Abuses

Redman, S. and Waring, C. 2022. Visual Violence: Sex Workers' Experiences of Image-Based Abuses. United Kingdom National Ugly Mugs.

TitleVisual Violence: Sex Workers' Experiences of Image-Based Abuses
AuthorsRedman, S. and Waring, C.
TypeProject report
Abstract

This visual violence research project was commissioned by National Ugly Mugs and conducted in a participatory manner in partnership with sex worker collectives and organisations
Umbrella Lane, the English Collective of Prostitutes (ECP), Sex Worker Advocacy and Resistance Movement (SWARM), and the Sex Workers’ Alliance Ireland (SWAI). Image-based
abuse, typically, relates to the non-consensual photographing or filming of sexual content (see Flynn and Henry, 2019) and is a well-documented problem beyond the sex industry. Little
attention has been paid to the way internet web technologies have enabled photographic violence and the implications for image-based surveillance against sex workers. The accounts
contained herein go some way towards addressing this and we seek to showcase image-based harms, specific to sex workers and their experiences, and we call this visual violence.

The report that follows provides vivid descriptions of abusive photographs and photographic
practices. Some photographs are interspersed as examples throughout and have been recreated and staged by a co-researcher, Camille Waring, who is ‘face out’ and ‘name out’ as a sex worker in online spaces.

Keywordssex work, photography, image-based abuse, revenge porn, visual violence, online digital cultures,
Year2022
PublisherNational Ugly Mugs
Place of publicationUnited Kingdom
Publication dates
Published10 Feb 2022
Page range1-50
FunderNational Ugly Mugs
Web address (URL)https://nationaluglymugs.org/2022/02/10/visual-violence-sex-workers-experiences-of-image-based-abuses/

Related outputs

Whoretography – The Sex Worker As Image-Maker: A critical analysis of sex workers’ self-representation in online public spaces
Waring, Camille 2023. Whoretography – The Sex Worker As Image-Maker: A critical analysis of sex workers’ self-representation in online public spaces. PhD thesis University of Westminster Westminster School of Arts https://doi.org/10.34737/w4ww5

The Prostitute and the PhD: Navigating Academic Spaces as a Tainted Researcher
Waring, C. 2022. The Prostitute and the PhD: Navigating Academic Spaces as a Tainted Researcher. in: Jones, D. and Sanders, T. (ed.) Student Sex Work Palgrave Macmillan.

Toolkit for Student Sex Workers - Keeping safe and access to support
Waring, C. Forthcoming. Toolkit for Student Sex Workers - Keeping safe and access to support. University of Leicester.

Visual Terrorism: The weaponisation of photography, image-based violence and the online sex worker
Waring, C. Forthcoming. Visual Terrorism: The weaponisation of photography, image-based violence and the online sex worker. in: Cooper, E. and Maginn, P. (ed.) Navigating Contemporary Sex Work: Gender, Justice and Policy in the 21st century Palgrave Macmillan.

Visual Activism and Marginalised Communities in Online Spaces
Waring, C. 2020. Visual Activism and Marginalised Communities in Online Spaces. in: Deepwell, K. (ed.) Feminist Art Activism and Artivisms Netherlands Valiz.

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