Doing research in the field of sex work studies throws up challenges. Among these are the restrictions and regulatory issues placed on researchers by institutional ethical review processes. We draw on academic research and our personal experiences as two researchers who have been involved with many sex work research projects to illustrate how sex work researchers face a set of challenges relating to ethics – we define these as institutional ethics challenges rather than ethical challenges. They are the challenges associated with applying for and obtaining ethical approval from research institutions and funders to conduct research on stigmatised and potentially criminalised topics. This article has three aims. First, to discuss the institutional ethics challenges that sex work researchers may encounter when applying for ethical clearance. Second, to assist researchers in making a case for their research by communicating the value of doing research on sex work in contexts where it remains criminalised and by placing the assumed risks associated with sex work research into perspective. Finally, to offer a pathway forward regarding how, guided by co-produced research protocols, researchers and sex work Communities can find common ground for good practice to enhance collaboration and foster genuinely ethical research.

在性工作研究领域进行研究提出了挑战。其中包括机构伦理审查程序对研究人员的限制和监管问题。我们以两名研究人员的学术研究和个人经验为基础，他们参与了许多性工作研究项目，以说明性工作研究人员如何面对与道德相关的一系列挑战-我们将其定义为制度道德挑战而不是道德挑战挑战。它们是与研究机构和资助者申请并获得其伦理批准相关的挑战，以便对被污名化和可能被定罪的主题进行研究。本文有三个目的。首先，讨论性工作研究人员在申请道德许可时可能会遇到的制度伦理挑战。其次，通过交流在性工作仍被定罪的情况下进行性工作研究的价值，并通过将与性工作研究相关的假定风险置于透视之中，来协助研究人员为他们的研究提供依据。最后，在共同编写的研究规程，研究人员和性工作的指导下，为社区如何找到良好实践的共同基础，以加强合作和促进真正的伦理研究提供一条途径。