English below
Aan alle sekswerkactivisten en aan iedereen die de wereld een beetje mooier wil maken: word Participatief Actieonderzoeker!
De training tot actieonderzoeker aan de academie van Seven Senses in Utrecht duurt nog geen 2 maanden, met anderhalve dag per week les. De medestudenten zijn allemaal mensen die de wereld mooier willen maken. De lerares is de leukste die ik ooit heb gehad. Met een kleine investering in tijd en geld (als zzp-er kan je studiekosten ook nog aftrekken) kan je een grote positieve verandering maken in het leven van heel veel mensen
Mijn collega actieonderzoeker Minke Dijkstra en ik hebben onlangs ons eerste actieonderzoek in de gemeente Tilburg afgerond, en dit mondde uit tot een gezamenlijke zoektocht door ambtenaren, handhavers, agenten, hulpverleners, exploitanten, sekswerkers en nog vele andere betrokkenen naar creatieve oplossingen voor de problemen die er speelden. Met het actieonderzoek is in Tilburg een beweging in gang gezet. Ik hoop dat er nog vele mooie actieonderzoeken zullen volgen!
“In het najaar van 2019 startten wij, Minke en Mischa, een Participatief Actieonderzoek in de gemeente Tilburg om het stigma rond sekswerk te verminderen. Deze video, opgenomen door het Ministerie van Justitie en Veiligheid in samenwerking met Seksworks en de gemeente, laat zien welke belangrijke lessen de deelnemers leerden over stigma, sekswerk en samenwerking gedurende het Participatief Actieonderzoek.
Wij zijn er trots op dat wij hieraan mochten bijdragen. Wij hopen dat dit ook andere gemeenten inspireert via deze methodiek oplossingen te vinden voor complexe vraagstukken, bijvoorbeeld rond sekswerk
Via onder andere de SWAD, Sekswerker Alliantie Destigmatisering, blijven wij ons hard maken om door middel van Participatief Actieonderzoek het stigma op sekswerk te verminderen”
Werk je bij de gemeente en wil je het welzijn en de veiligheid vergroten van de sekswerkers die in jouw gemeente wonen?
Neem contact op met ons of met Seven Senses als jij ook een Particiaptief Actieonderzoek in jouw gemeente wil
Ben je geïnteresseerd in de SWAD of zou je lid of vriend willen worden met jouw organisatie of gemeente van de alliantie, neem contact met hen op
“In the fall of 2019, we, Mischa and Minke, launched a Participatory Action Research project in the municipality of Tilburg to reduce stigma around sex work. This video, recorded by the Ministry of Justice and Security in collaboration with Seksworks and the municipality, shows the important lessons participants learned about stigma, sex work and collaboration during the Participatory Action Research.
We are proud to have been able to contribute to this. We hope this will also inspire other municipalities to find solutions to complex issues, such as sex work, through this methodology.
Through, among others, the SWAD, Sex Worker Alliance Destigmatization, we continue to work hard to reduce the stigma on sex work through Participatory Action Research. Be sure to look around Seven Senses’ website to learn more about its methodology and training opportunities!”
ABOUT US
Minke and Mischa, a criminologist and a sex worker conduct action researches together. This is a participative method that connects science and practice, just like this collaborative duo!
ABOUT PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH
Participatory Action Research (PAR) is an approach that links research and action in a participatory way. It allows a community of organizational and non-organizational stakeholders to investigate a shared complex situation, reflect on its results and co-create the best fitting interventions to tackle the situation together and achieve sustainable impact. Participatory Action Research can be applied for all kinds of complex problems, in all kinds of domains and different settings.
(https://seven-senses.nu/what-is-participatory-action-research/)
PARTICIPATORY ACTION RESEARCH IN TILBURG
Sex workers are not the only ones involved in this very first Participative Action Research for and by sex workers. They work together with the municipality, police, aid work and others to initiate a positive change for sex workers in Tilburg and the surrounding area. Often prostitution policies of programs are made without using the knowledge, experience and expertise of sex workers. Participative Action Research is a successful method to have sex workers, municipalities, police and aid work look for solutions together and to have them work together more.
RESULTS
By coming up with solutions together, change has already been set in motion and participants feel motivated and strengthened to persevere, resulting in many beautiful and concrete results in a short time:
•The sounding board group has grown literally and figuratively during the action research, as has the collaboration between all parties.
•There has been more understanding and togetherness.
•Sex work and the good cooperation in Tilburg received positive news.
•A structural joint STI consultation hour has been set up.
•Work has been done on clear information about sex work, regulations and the various facilities in the form of flyers and a website: https://www.seksworks.nl/
•Joint workshops are being developed with sex workers, the police and the municipality.
•Beautiful new initiatives have arisen at the police to improve cooperation between the police and sex workers and to combat abuses together. Sex workers used to be afraid of the police, now trust in the police has grown, and sex workers are more likely to go to the police if they are exploited.
•In addition, the parties have agreed to continue to meet regularly to develop new action plans.
All these initiatives together form a solid foundation for further destigmatization and cooperation on sex work in the municipality of Tilburg. This will contribute to the healthy and safe sector that all participants would like to see. Based on our experiences, it appears that PAR around sex work is not only successful in seeking and realizing solutions together but that the methodology also promotes mutual understanding, cooperation and meaningful participation.
Read more about research here (in Dutch)
We started a PAR in 2021 in the municipality of Den Haag and we completed it in 2022.. We also started a new PAR in the muncipality of Den Bosch