Skip to main navigation menu Skip to main content Skip to site footer

Articles

Vol. 3 No. 2 (2015): Special Issue on Voice and Representation of Marginal Groups

A Public Relations Approach to Social Communications that Aims to Give Authentic Voice to Sex Workers

  • Sam Puleston
Submitted
April 29, 2015
Published
2015-07-07

Abstract

The rise of digital technologies has revolutionised the way we can communicate with each other. Many argue it gives a source of power to the powerless and allows them to be heard by the rest of society. However, many groups are rarely heard and many individuals feel mute. Sex workers are anyone who works in the sex industry (International Union of Sex Workers 2015) and are a particular group who suffer from little or no voice. Therefore this paper will assess the process of voicelessness within sex workers as well as the communicative culture we live in today. Firstly I outline in this paper the theoretical processes that can lead to a sense of having little or no voice; I then review the current campaigns that broadly attempt to ‘help’ individuals and groups classified as sex workers. The paper then goes on to outline an argument suggesting current campaigns are part of the problem because they focus on helping reform sex workers premised on perpetuating existing perceptions of them as a stigmatised group. These campaigns thus start with a view that sex workers as victims and focus on the consequences of their present actions. Instead Public Relations, and other persuasive communication tools could be used to offer an authentic voice to this group of marginalised people and thus challenge the status quo. I analyse real case studies in this area to develop my argument.

References

  1. Abel, G., Fitzgerald, L., 2010. Decriminalisation and stigma. In G. Abel, L., Fitzgerald, C., Healy Eds. Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers’ fight for decriminalisation. Bristol: Policy Press. 239-258.
  2. Baker, S., Green, H., 2005. Blogs will change your business. Business Week .Availble from: http://www.businessweek.com/magazine/content/ 05_18/b3931001_mz001.html [accessed December 19 2014]
  3. Bamford, V., 2014. OPEN OR CLOSED? AN ASSESSMENT OF HOW BLOGS CAN CONTRIBUTE TO POLICY-MAKING. Media International Australia (8/1/07-current), (151), 16-24.
  4. Burton, M and Kagan, C., Marginalization. Community Psychology: In Pursuit of wellness and liberation. Available from: www.compsy.org.uk [Accessed 9 January 2015].
  5. Cameron, D., 2000. Good to Talk?: Living and Working in a Communication Culture [online]. London: Sage
  6. Couldry, N., Livingstone, S., Markham, T., 2007. Media Consumption and Public Engagement: Beyond the Presumption of Attention. Basingstoke: Palgrave McMillan.
  7. Crooker, J., Major, B., Steele C., 2001. Stigma, Reader's Guide to the Social Sciences: Routledge.
  8. Dalisay, F., Hmielowski, J. D., Kushin, M. J. and Yamamoto, M., 2012. Social Capital and the Spiral of Silence. International Journal of Public Opinion Research, 24 (3), 325-345.
  9. Declaration of Human Rights http://www.ohchr.org/EN/UDHR/Pages/Introduction.aspx assessed on April 17th 2015
  10. Farvid, P. and Glass, L., 2014. 'It isn't prostitution as you normally think of it. It's survival sex': Media representations of adult and child prostitution in New Zealand. Women's Studies Journal, 28 (1), 47-67.
  11. Festinger,L., 1957. A theory of cognitive dissonance. Stanford, CA: Stanford University Press.
  12. Green, M. C., & Brock, T. C. (2000). The role of transportation in the persuasiveness of public narratives. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 79, 701–721
  13. Grunig, J.E. 1983, The Handbook of Public Relations. California: Sage.
  14. International Union of Sex Workers., 2015. International Union of Sex Workers. Available from: http://www.iusw.org/ [Accessed 10 January 2015].
  15. Jackson, C., 2014. An upward spiral: exiting prostitution. Therapy Today, 25 (5), 10-13.
  16. Lee, H., Oshita, T., Oh, H. J. and Hove, T., 2014. When do people speak out? Integrating the spiral of silence and the situational theory of problem solving. Journal of Public Relations Research, 26 (3), 185-199.
  17. Leonard, P. 1984. Personality and ideology: Towards a materialists understanding of the individual. London: Macmillan.
  18. Lesser, E., 2000. Knowledge and Social Capital: Foundations and Applications: Elsevier
  19. Ofcom., 2015. Adults’ Media Use and Attitudes Report 2014. London: Ofcom. Available from: http://stakeholders.ofcom.org.uk/market-data-research/other/research-publications/adults/adults-media-lit-14/ [Accessed 12 January 2015].
  20. Scoble, R., & Israel, S. (2006). Naked conversations: How blogs are changing the way business talk with customers. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley & Sons.
  21. STOP THE TRAFFIK., 2015. Human Trafficking is. London: STOP THE TRAFFIK. Available from: http://www.stopthetraffik.org/what-is-human-trafficking [Accessed 10 January 2015].
  22. STOP THE TRAFFIK., 2015. SoYouThinkYouWillDance [video, online]. Available from: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0q1Pb55B4ac [Accessed 10 January 2015].
  23. Sung-Un, Y. and Joon Soo, L., 2009. The Effects of Blog-Mediated Public Relations (BMPR) on Relational Trust. Journal of Public Relations Research, 21 (3), 341-359
  24. Wright, J. (2006). Blog-marketing: The revolutionary new way to increase sales, build brand, and get exceptional results. New York: McGraw-Hill.