this post was submitted on 17 Nov 2025
3 points (100.0% liked)

Independent Media

87 readers
10 users here now

News, articles, reports and editorials from independent media* around the world.

Rules:

  1. All posts must have a link to a current* article from an independent media source without a paywall.
  2. Post title should be the article headline or best fit.
  3. No misinformation or bigotry.
  4. Be civil. Be cool. Instance rules apply.
  5. Tag NSFW when needed.

*Independent Media is free from government and outside corporate interests. Everything has a bias so use your best judgment.

*Current depends on the subject, its relevance today, and whether new, publicly available information has been released since the article has been published. When in doubt please put the publication date in a tag [like this.]

Moderation will be lax as long as posts fit the spirit of this community.

For a less serious random news feed, check out: https://sh.itjust.works/c/wildfeed

founded 2 weeks ago
MODERATORS
 

Law and Kaur presented their latest research part of York University’s Annual Critical Femininities Conference this summer. During the research, Law ran two different focus groups–one for sex workers and one for students- in which participants mapped their sexual experiences. Instead of focusing on consent, or sexual assault, Law had her research participants, all of whom identified as women, mapped their sexual experiences while trying to measure willingness (or the lack thereof) and reward (or it’s opposite, harm).

you are viewing a single comment's thread
view the rest of the comments
[–] blarghly@lemmy.world 1 points 2 days ago (1 children)

When I learned of Dr. Tuulia Law’s new research, [...] Law teaches criminology at York University

Nominative determinism!

Anyway, I was honestly quite confused by, like, what was even the point of this research/article...? The main points I picked up were

  1. Not all sex workers are victims of human trafficking, and having sex with customers does not count as sexual assault. Um... duh?
  2. In general, sex that is engaged in without enthusiasm or explicit consent is not necessarily sexual assault, and is quite normal. Again.... duh?
  3. People should talk about sex with their partners without saying they are victims or accusing their partners of being a perpatrator of sexual assault, and should instead frame the discussion around what they did and didn't enjoy. Which, again.... duh?

Like, is any of this really groundbreaking news to anyone in the scientific establishment? Was this research just done to have something to point to when some lunatic on twitter says that any sex without a signed and notorized contract between all involved parties is rape? Idk, it just seems like anytime I read about academic research on sex, the researchers seem to trying to establish basic facts that are obvious to anyone who has had sex before.

[–] Wren@lemmy.today 1 points 2 days ago* (last edited 2 days ago)

These things aren't obvious for a lot of people. The things she's studying are challenging convention. The article cites a recent move to decriminalize sex work, that lost, where these stereotypes came up.

The scientific establishment is pretty vast. I don't know what that has to do with criminology when it comes to sex work and sexual assault. I know quite a few people in STEM fields who would have problems with this article.