What we keep in the shadows: Sex work in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic

Abstract

This dissertation is an account of the struggle of sex workers' community in Germany during the COVID-19 pandemic. The COVID-19 pandemic impacted multiple sectors, one such being sex work. Often considered a taboo subject, sex work received little attention from researchers, especially in Germany. Gaps in research can be found due to limited interaction academics have with sex workers or the agencies that sex workers interact with. For this reason, the objective of the research is to explore the research question of how the COVID-19 pandemic affected multiple forms of (in)securities of sex workers in Germany. As such, the dissertation aims to fill two gaps: First, it seeks give a voice to those who understand the intricacies of the hardships that sex workers face. Second, the German perspective can offer a narrow understanding of the impact of the Covid-19 policies on sex workers. This dissertation prioritises the individual and explores the power relations between the state and a marginalised group such as sex workers. To answer the research question, the dissertation takes a qualitative research approach that uses semi-structured expert interviews to collect primary data. Offering a way to reveal the experiences of a marginalized community, online interviews were conducted with employees of...