Research

Hacking//Hustling’s sex worker, peer-led research team conducts research on the ways that social media, internet legislation, and removal of ad services and harm reduction tools impact sex workers’ lives.

Why is peer-led research important?

We believe that sex workers are the experts of their own experience and that no one understands the nuances of our lives better than we do. While sex workers are certainly not a monolith, we believe that our direct experience in the sex trades is what enables us to provide nuanced research that addresses gaps in academic research around sex work. We include a large qualitative component to our work, so that whatever statistical results that we find are paired with the words of the sex workers that we are interviewing. We consult with other sex-work led organizations to ensure that our research questions are accessible to a diverse population of sex workers. Our research is always participatory action, and we provide opportunities for communities to get more involved in our research projects.

To see more about our research team click here.

To view our report on FOSTA-SESTA and the removal of Backpage click here.

To view more on our current research on Content Moderation, Shadowbanning, and Deplatforming click here.