Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Sex Workers Of West Virginia: Contrasting Experiences, Madeleine M. Thompson, Ellen Rodrigues

Mountaineer Undergraduate Research Review

“Sex Workers of West Virginia: Contrasting Experiences” set out to explore the relationship between sex work and identities for sex workers that have worked within the state of West Virginia. The primary goal was to be able to tell a story about why participants began doing sex work and how their economic identities, sexual identities, gender identities, and racial identities have impacted their experiences. While exploring these identities is not uncommon across research involving sex work, previous literature that has shown correlation between identities and likelihood of participating in sex work has only occurred within largely urban areas and research …