A critical review of intersectionality, social work education and sex work: an Irish perspective

Abstract

Social work programmes offer a professional qualification with a primary objective of addressing issues of oppression in society. This furnishes a curriculum that prioritises practice-based social work education, alongside the very structural components that create the oppression of race, gender, age and ethnicity of its citizens. Intersectionality is rarely considered mainstream, with a preference for linear, one-dimensional theory, rather than a multilevel theoretical framework towards anti-oppressive practice. Using an adapted voice-centred relational model, the study examines the intersecting experiences of sex workers in the Republic of Ireland. The findings indicate that sex workers primarily work indoors, hold precarious legal status and are situated in Ireland as a response to global migration and economic necessity. The research argues for a revised (intersecting) critical framework for social work education that challenges current sex-work narratives and policies that reinforce ‘helping relationships’ of surveillance, regulation and the exclusion of sex workers.