A free online Zoom conference covering sextech and sex work, set to feature talks and presentations about AI, VR plus other sex and technology crossover subjects, will take place in October 2024.
Beyond the Interface: Critical Perspectives of Sex Work and Sextech will be hosted by the Center for Feminist Research’s Critical Trafficking and Sex Work cluster at York University, Toronto. The research cluster is yet to specify the exact date of the online conference, and is currently fielding submissions for presentations.
Organizers have tee-ed up a sextech-heavy agenda for the event. Subjects set to be explored include legal and ethical perspectives of sextech and sex work, representation, inclusivity, wellness and safety in virtual spaces, plus technology linked to social change.
They have said that sextech professionals and users, scholars, artists, activists and sex workers are expected to be among those attending and contributing to the conference. Organizers added that the event will “critically examine the multifaceted relationships between technology, sexuality, commerce and society”.
Disrupting misconceptions
The content of the conference is expected to have an extremely progressive stance towards sextech and sex work.
The Critical Trafficking and Sex Work cluster describes its goals as “disrupting common misconceptions about sex work and human trafficking from intersectional, critical feminist, and inter-disciplinary perspectives while also situating the Canadian experience and evolving legal and policy frameworks within racialized and geopolitical hierarchies that structure contemporary labour policies and practices.”
It has also said that “neoliberal globalization, colonialism and digital realms” will be on the conference agenda.
The line-up for the event is yet to be finalized, although members of the Critical Trafficking and Sex Work cluster are sure to feature. One of its founding members is Kamala Kempadoo, a professor at York University’s Department of Social Science. Kempadoo has published work on the sex trade and has taught subjects such as sex work studies and critical anti-trafficking studies.
Another member of the cluster is Tuulia Law, an assistant professor in York University’s criminology program, who has worked on research with sex worker advocacy organizations. Law has worked extensively on strippers’ rights and safety issues.
Amanda De Lisio, an assistant professor of physical culture, policy and sustainable development in York University’s School of Kinesiology and Health Science, is also in the group. De Lisio focuses on urban and health inequities in her work.
The cluster also features activist Elene Lam, founder of Butterfly: Asian and Migrant Sex Workers Support Network, which operates out of Toronto. Lam has worked on migrant sex workers’ issues in Canada, among other social issues.
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