A new study showing the sex trade in the province through the eyes of those working inside it will offer important insight, says a Status of Women council executive director.

"We have worked with women who have engaged in sex work, but with this new project coming up we're really hoping to learn more and to find out more about what's happening in rural areas," said Janice Kennedy, executive director of the Status of Women Council in Bay St. George.

That organization, along with counterparts in St. John's and Corner Brook, will provide volunteers who work in the sex trade with cameras so they can document the world as they see it.

The volunteers will be granted full anonymity and the photos they take won't feature them, but rather the areas and conditions in which they work.

"They're going to document how they experience their lives through photography," Kennedy said.

"Documenting their experiences, so maybe how community sees them and treats them."

Hopes to shed light on rural sex trade

Aside from photography, volunteers will be able to share their stories through writing and in one-on-one interviews with the researchers.

The study — called Photographing Our Stories Together — hopes to shed light on both the urban and the rural sex trade, which is often left out of the conversation.

Researchers hope to discover the commonalities between sex trade works and identify similarities in their situations and life stories, as well as gaps in services, and the relationships between sex workers and law enforcement.

"Part of this project, when the research is finished, is that we can make policies and recommendations to provincial and potentially national government about what we can do to make sex work safer," Kennedy said.

Photos will be displayed

Once the project is completed the Status of Women Council intends to display the photographs in an online art exhibit. The volunteers will help choose the photos themselves — an experience Kennedy hopes will be empowering.

Nobody knows why they're coming in. - Janice Kennedy

"Part of the research is to launch this online art exhibit and to study as well the reaction to this online exhibit," Kennedy said.

"So it's an opportunity to see their work out there."

The researchers are still actively looking for sex workers to volunteer to take part and Kennedy stresses that their identities will not be disclosed.

Those interested can contact the researchers by telephone toll free at 1-833-220-8700 and by email at photostories18@gmail.com, or find them on social media.

Kennedy says even if the volunteers come to Status of Women Council locations they need not fear their involvement in the project being discovered.

"We have women coming and going all day every day. Nobody knows why they're coming in."

With files from the Corner Brook Morning Show

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