Abstract

Human service non-profit organisations (HSNPs) looking to improve the representation of clients in the work of their organisation may decide to hire people with lived experience as peer providers. This paper looks at how HSNPs that provide services to sex workers make decisions about hiring those with lived experience of sex work as staff. To address the issue, the following questions were asked: 1) how do HSNPs make the decision to hire sex workers as staff members; and 2) if hired, how are individuals actually involved in the organisation? The study aimed to answer these questions using open-ended interviews with 64 staff in HSNPs in the US Midwest that indirectly or directly provide services to sex workers. Findings indicate that while many organisations hire individuals with lived experience in sex work, the expectations placed on these individuals vary considerably depending on the perceptions other HSNP staff have about sex work. When HSNPs hire individuals with lived experience to further their organisational agendas with respect to sex work, they should include sex workers in a substantive and inclusive way to minimise organisational bias and ensure sex worker views are accurately represented.

摘要

希望提高客户在其组织工作中的代表性的人性化服务非营利组织 (HSNP) 可能会决定雇用具有生活经验的人作为同行提供者。本文着眼于为性工作者提供服务的 HSNP 如何决定聘用有性工作经验的人作为员工。为了解决这个问题，提出了以下问题：1）HSNPs如何决定雇用性工作者作为工作人员；2) 如果被雇用，个人如何实际参与组织？该研究旨在通过对美国中西部 HSNP 的 64 名工作人员进行开放式访谈来回答这些问题，这些工作人员间接或直接为性工作者提供服务。调查结果表明，虽然许多组织雇用具有性工作经验的个人，根据其他 HSNP 工作人员对性工作的看法，对这些人的期望差异很大。当 HSNP 雇佣有生活经验的个人来推进他们在性工作方面的组织议程时，他们应该以实质性和包容性的方式将性工作者包括在内，以尽量减少组织偏见并确保准确表达性工作者的观点。