Community Involvement in Sex Work Research

Speaker: Emily van der Meulen (Lupina Post-Doctoral Fellow)

Emily van der Meulen is currently a Principal Investigator in a study with the Ontario Native Women's Association focusing on the complex health needs of urban Aboriginal sex workers in Ontario. The qualitative study explores how access to health and social services, social and public policies, occupation and income, Indigenous status and traditional knowledge, and reserves and Elders can function as barriers or facilitators to gender, health, and labour equity. The results of this study will lead to important improvements in organizational programs and policies, as well as culturally relevant interventions for Aboriginal sex working women.