The Irish Sex Work Research Network (ISWRN) is a platform for those interested in developing and supporting sex work and sexual governance scholarship within the island of Ireland. The network is a resource intended for sharing research on a range of issues that relate to and shape sex work. Topics include, but are not limited to, social justice, human rights, violence, exploitation, health, poverty, gender, migration, trafficking for the purposes of sexual exploitation, law and policy.

ISWRN promotes ethical and robust research to:

  • Critique and challenge exclusionary and undemocratic processes that impact sex workers negatively;
  • Identify opportunities for collaborative research across partner institutions, partner agencies and individuals domestically and internationally;
  • Provide a centre for expertise on sex work research and evaluation and
  • To influence law, policy and practice in the field of sex work and sexual governance.

The ISWRN welcomes membership from academics, activists, lawyers, sex workers, practitioners, students and other individuals in Ireland or with an interest in the Irish context.

Ethos

The ISWRN is committed to:

  • Collaborative research and practice that prioritises sex workers’ lives;
  • Developing a robust evidence base on sex work in Ireland that recognises sex workers as experts in their own lives and contexts;
  • Promoting the highest ethical standards in sex work and sexual governance research;
  • Including sex workers as peers and collaborators in the research process and
  • Supporting research that informs law, policy and praxis based on social justice principles.
Code of Practice

The ISWRN mailing list is a private forum for members to discuss and share ideas and knowledge for the benefit of our community. While ISWRN encourages healthy, relevant debate and information sharing, we do ask that you respect the privacy of the forum and the guidelines set out below.

  • Please respect others’ opinions, bearing in mind cultural differences and diversity.
  • We will not tolerate discriminatory and/or offensive language or personalised attacks on individuals. This includes (but is not limited to) any content that: abuses, harasses, stalks, threatens, is libellous, knowingly false, misrepresents another person, violates an obligation of confidentiality, or violates the privacy of others.
  • As the ISWRN mailing list is a private forum, if you wish to share any content posted to it that is not already in the public domain, you should not do so without seeking and receiving permission from the member that posted the content.
  • If you believe that a post to the mailing list contains content that is unacceptable, please notify the ISWRN Board.
  • ISWRN reserves the right to take action against any member who posts content that it considers to be unacceptable.

The ISWRN Board