Conference session

“Sex Worker Diaries… Spoken and Sung” is the output of a bold, participant-led action research musical project that was funded by the Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada (SSHRC). Part creative performance, part public scholarship, this production emerges from the research initiative “Sex Work - The Musical: Altering Societal Perceptions of Sex Work Through Audience Engagement with a Musical Play.” Drawing on in-depth interviews with 52 sex workers across Canada, this project explores how stigma shapes occupational health & safety, social relationships, and everyday life. Using thematic content analysis, the focus group and interview transcripts were analyzed by the research team using a coding framework based on an intersectional theoretical framework. From the qualitative analysis, 4 original songs were composed, and 4 verbatim spoken word pieces were extracted, narrating sex workers’ experiences. 6 performances are scheduled for April. After each performance, we will invite 6 to 8 audience members to participate in a focus group. The discussion will centre around this question “What new knowledge have you gained about sex work? How did your perception of sex work change after you saw and heard stories about sex work by those who work in this field?” This presentation will be of interest to researchers who are contemplating the use of performance ethnography in their work with the objective of presenting research results to a wider audience.