Abstract
The main concerns in this case are the extent of the confidentiality agreement that can legitimately be provided, knowledge of illegal activity, and the student’s safety and well-being.
Specialist legal advice should be sought. There is the possibility that the student may witness or have knowledge of illegal activity that she may later be questioned about by police in the event that the brothel is raided or a street worker is attacked, for example. Withholding evidence in a police enquiry would be obstructing the course of justice – a criminal offence. The student cannot be placed in this position because she feels under an obligation to withhold information due to the nature of the confidentiality agreement she has entered into with the women she is researching. There is a difference between not reporting illegal activity – such as the existence of a brothel or soliciting for sex – and failing to provide information about a crime when questioned under caution. While I do not mean to suggest that this is a likely scenario, it is possible.
However, the issue is not solely what the student may or may not reveal if questioned. In the event of any investigation, the police might obtain a court order to gain access to the information stored on University servers. So advice should be sought as to the kind of information that could not be withheld from police which should then inform the confidentiality assurance the student provides to the sex workers. In addition, advice would be needed as to the kinds of criminal offences that the student could or could not legitimately fail to report to the police. For example, illegal drug use, violence against the sex workers or even trafficked women. The student should be permitted to proceed with the research only on the condition that her confidentiality assurance conforms to legal advice. This is for the good of the student and the University. But it is also for the good of the sex workers who should not be misled, even unintentionally, about the information that the student or University may legitimately treat as confidential and withhold from police.
The problem is that legal advice may be conservative to the extent that it makes the research untenable. This would be unfortunate. Clearly research of this nature could provide valuable insights into the lives and working practices of sex workers. A balance needs to be struck between the obligation to support, or not obstruct, the criminal justice system and the expected value of the research. While the University should be mindful of its reputation, its duty of care to the student and her research participants, I would hope that specialist advice could provide a solution that made the research a practical possibility. But I would anticipate that the student would not be permitted to provide an unconditional assurance of confidentiality.
Her safety is also problematic. It is highly likely that she will be safe while in the flat rented collectively. But her safety while on the streets is a different matter. Observing street transactions from a car potentially makes her vulnerable due to the nature of some of the locations in which these encounters take place. Residential areas can experience street solicitation and kerb-crawling, and in such locations the student will probably be (relatively) safe. But street workers often frequent more isolated locations where the student, even in a car, could be at risk – from clients and pimps. Isolated areas, late at night, that are known locations for kerb-crawling, are inherently unsafe.
I suggest that the student be asked to explain why she needs to observe street transactions, especially in unsafe locations. Is this kind of observation necessary for her research into the nature of the relationships between sex workers? Even if she can provide a justification, her safety should be paramount. There are often health workers and other outreach workers who make contact with sex workers on the street, and the student could be encouraged to make contact with these people to accompany them, make her observations while they are in the vicinity, or take their advice on safety issues. It may also be possible to provide her with an alarm. But a safety assessment should take a critical view of her own assessment of her safety which may not be objective due to her interest in conducting the research, and her inexperience.
I would be less concerned about safety when conducting interviews if these are at a pre-arranged time and place, and in a public location. While students are often advised to invite participants to a University venue, it is possible that sex workers will not be happy with such an arrangement. However, the student should be encouraged to explore this option for safety purposes. Public cafés or parks, for example, would also be safe but a sex worker may be reluctant to discuss her life in such a public location. However, I would be wary of permitting the student to interview sex workers in their own homes as conducting a reliable safety analysis will be difficult. The student may have insufficient knowledge of the woman’s personal relationships and living arrangement to determine whether these locations are safe. In many cases they will be. But it would be advisable for the student’s supervisor to provide advice on a case by case basis or even accompany the student. Clearly the latter option presents a practical problem. The supervisor may not be as available as the student. But the sex worker would have been advised that all interviews would be accessible to the supervisor and so may be amendable to having that person present.
I would also be wary of permitting the student to interview sex workers in her own home. While she would be able to provide an assurance of privacy, it would be inadvisable to permit sex workers to know where she lives, for safety purposes. Women who are controlled by pimps are vulnerable, and may be at risk of revealing information about the student who may be regarded as a threat by those pimps. Furthermore, permitting a sex worker to visit her home may encourage the student to develop a relationship with the woman in question that developed beyond that of a researcher and place her at psychological or emotional risk. She is unlikely to have the experience to manage that kind of situation.
Finally, I would want some kind of assurance that the student had a supervisor experienced in this kind of research, who could provide practical as well as emotional support. It is possible that she will hear distressing reports and will need someone to confide in. Her emotional and psychological well-being is a high priority.
In conclusion, while this kind of research is ethically problematic, every attempt should be made to enable it. It has the potential to provide important insights. But the well-being of the inexperienced researcher and the sex workers should be paramount. They should not be exposed to risks of serious, preventable harms – physical or psychological – including the risks of criminal prosecution.