October 25, 2024

University of Manchester (UK)

Dear colleagues,

We would like to invite you to the event on ‘Safer Sextech: Intimacy, Pleasure and Wellbeing’ that will take place at the University of Manchester on the 25th of October 2024, between 3:30-5:30pm (Kilburn Building, Theatre 1.3, Oxford Road, Manchester). This event will be held only in person and we kindly ask you to register if you plan to attend: https://www.qualtrics.manchester.ac.uk/jfe/form/SV_3PkXs2pODnaqbmS

Safer Sextech: Intimacy, Pleasure and Wellbeing

Everyday sextech: safety and accessibility at home and work by Professor Kath Albury

Popular commentary and research into sextech often focuses on novel technologies or innovative uses.  But the politics of sextech safety, pleasure and accessibility are also the politics of the everyday. In this presentation I reflect on interviews with Australian and Swedish sex-and-gender-diverse sextech users, designers and retailers aged 19-70 [n=38]. Participants shared stories about the ways that AI chatbots, NSFW social media feeds and online sextoy shopping fit in and around their experiences of ageing, gender exploration, transition, shared housing and sexwork. Dialoguing with cultural studies scholars – including Lefebvre (1991) and Morris (1998) - I reflect on the ways that sextech contributes to everyday experiences of sexuality and gender.

Bio: Kath Albury is Professor of Media and Communication, Australian Research Council (ARC) Future Fellow and Associate Investigator in the ARC Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making and Society at Swinburne University of Technology, Australia. She co-leads the Swedish/Australian collaboration 'Digital sexual health: Designing for safety, pleasure and wellbeing in LGBTQ+ communities' with Professor Jenny Sundén (Södertörn University) and Dr Zahra Stardust (QUT). 

Exploring the Intersection of Privacy and Safety for Sex Workers Online by Yigit Aydinalp

As sex workers increasingly rely on digital platforms to advertise their services and manage their work, the relationship between privacy and safety becomes a critical yet underexplored issue. In this presentation, I outline the early stages of my PhD research, examining the ways privacy protections offered through digital platform design and policies, or the lack thereof, affect the safety of sex workers, particularly those facing multiple marginalisations. Drawing on my decade-long involvement in the European sex workers' rights movement, existing literature, and the preliminary planning of my PhD research, I explore the barriers sex workers face in accessing these essential tools and how online platforms can provide safer working environments.

Bio: Yigit Aydinalp is a PhD student at the University of Sheffield and a human rights activist specialising in sex workers' rights, with a focus on their digital rights and freedoms. He currently serves as a Programme Officer for the European Sex Workers' Rights Alliance (ESWA), a civil society network representing over 100 member organisations across more than 30 countries in Europe and Central Asia. 

Chair: Dr Łukasz Szulc

We hope to see many of you there!

Łukasz Szulc