Students and Sex Work: in conversation with Dr Helen Rand, Dr Jessica Simpson and Alex Bruno
Feminist Thinking Seminar Series
Friday 7 February 2025, 5.30pm
Seminar Room 11, St Anne's College
Register via Eventbrite.
Feminist Thinking Seminars are delighted to host ‘Students and Sex work: in conversation with Dr Helen Rand, Dr Jessica Simpson and Alex Bruno’. The basis of the talk will be their recent 2024 sex work study, on the knowledge, experience and support needs of students and staff at the University of Greenwich. Discussion will then move to a broader conversation about students and sex work at university, and how their experiences may vary across institutions. We will then open the floor to questions.
The event will consist of a 20 minute presentation, a 20 minute moderated discussion, and 20 minutes of audience Q&A. It will be followed by light refreshments.
Dr Helen Rand is a Senior Lecturer in Criminology at the University of Greenwich. Her research interests include the construction of deviancy in relation to genders and sexualities with a particular focus on digital sex markets. Her doctoral research looked at the influence of the internet on the organization of sex work, exploring its implications for the lived experiences of both workers and consumers of sex markets. Her research has been published in several peer-reviewed journals including Feminist Review, Sexualities and Gender, Work & Organization. Recent research has focussed on student sex workers and HE policy responses. Follow @Helenrand.bsky.social on bluesky.
Dr Jessica Simpson is a Senior Lecturer in Sociology at the University of Greenwich. Dr Simpson obtained her PhD in Sociology from City, University of London in 2020. Her doctoral thesis was a longitudinal, comparative study following students working in the sex industry and mainstream employment through Higher Education and into the graduate labour markets. Dr Simpson has since carried out Participatory Action Research with strippers campaigning against the closure of their workplaces, and is now co-writing a book on the social consequences of QAnon and conspiratorial belief.
Alex Bruno is a Master’s student in Applied Criminology at the University of Greenwich. In 2024, they obtained a Sociology Degree by writing a dissertation on Classroom Safety for student sex workers. They are a member of the collective "Grassi Diritti", which advocates for fat people's reproductive rights. They worked as an Assistant Researcher for a pilot study titled "Students and Sex Work: An exploration of the knowledge, experiences and support needs of students and staff at the University of Greenwich," together with Dr Helen Rand and Dr Jessica Simpson.
Moderator: Megan Harley Martin is a current student at Oxford studying for a Master’s in Women’s, Gender and Sexuality Studies. Megan currently works for the English Collective of Prostitutes, but has run campaigns for Women’s Aid, Refuge, Inspiring Girls Int., and Oxford Pride. She sits on the board for several disability charities including Breakthrough Type 1 and the Disabled Leaders Network. Megan is also employed by the United Nations Development Project (UNDP) as part of the ‘Making a Difference Programme’.
