The Times Higher Education carried a story this week about academics and students who engage in sex work. According to the report, academics from the University of the West of Scotland (UWS) and Kingston University sent a Freedom of Information request to 326 universities and colleges, asking whether they had policies governing staff or student involvement in the sex trade. The report goes on to state that of 236 responses, none had a specific policy but 36 per cent implied that disciplinary action would be taken against staff or members of the student body who worked in, or purchased, commercial-sex services.You can read the full article here. The article also has an extra bit about the blog of a 'Russell Group call girl'. The blog can be viewed here and a couple of academics have posted comments following on from the THE article.
I've written on our continued gendered obsession with sex work and once again we have a female victim used by men. What about male student and academic sex workers? They certainly exist and I was somewhat surprised by the 'shock factor' of this piece but I guess academics and universities too often close their eyes to what is really going on. This research goes some way to lift those blinkers and as such, is very welcome.
Following on from this story, PinkNews is reporting on a US college guy who was forced toleave after appearing n a gay porn film. Read the story here: http://www.pinknews.co.uk/news/articles/2005-12347.html
Post a Comment