Below you will find the abstract of the paper written by Emily Parker during the summer session of the Women’s History program’s accelerated degree option.  For more information about this program and the work its student’s produce, you can visit this page.

By Emily Parker

This paper examines the ways that sex worker organizations and activists have worked to positively influence the lives and working conditions of their constituents in countries with varying legal approaches to sex work. By surveying the work of successful sex worker organizations in the Netherlands, India, and the United States, this research seeks to understand both the methodological diversity and the fundamental similarities exemplified by the sex worker organizing efforts. While local political, geographical, and social conditions influence the kinds of services each group has sought to provide, their level of success often corresponded to their emphasis on egalitarian, sex-worker-led paradigms of organizing.

To read this paper in its entirety, you can find it here.