Migration, Urban Health, and Sex Work: a paper that explores the use of narrative and visual methods when seeking to examine the lived experiences of migrant sex workers in South Africa

Background: The voices of South African and foreign-born individuals involved in the sex industry are currently under-represented in research, advocacy and legal debates. This project sought out to capture the voices of... [ view full abstract ]

Background: The voices of South African and foreign-born individuals involved in the sex industry are currently under-represented in research, advocacy and legal debates. This project sought out to capture the voices of migrant sex workers in order to better understand their lived experiences.

Methods: Participatory photography and narrative interviews were the main methodologies utilized during this study. In contributing to the documentation of under-represented voices, this project included both South African and foreign-born individuals involved in sex work in a process of self-representation through photography. This is of great importance when one considers the extent to which sex workers are “portrayed”, rather than “portrayers”: that they are all too often presented in the media through the eyes of others, rather than afforded an opportunity to depict their own realities.

Results: This study highlighted the varied experiences of migrant women sex workers in inner-city Johannesburg. The women shared stories of human rights abuses, health experiences, migration histories, as well as stories about their dreams and aspirations.

This poster is a collage of images and captions that speak to issues raised by sex workers during a participatory photo project.