School of Sociology and Social Policy

Research Interests

My main research interest has been various aspects of sex work in the UK. My research work has involved  some of  the key groups  involved and affected by sex work and sexual exploitation including; sex workers (from a range of sectors),  sexually exploited children &  young people, residents/community groups affected by sex work, voluntary  & statutory agencies responding to sex work, and men who pay for sexual services.  My research has looked at the local dynamics of sex work markets, varied local multi agency policy and community responses to sex work and the relationship to wider legal and policy frameworks.  I was a member  of the research team  which carried out the Joseph Rowntree Funded multi sited study; “From Conflict to Coexistence: Living and Working in Areas of Street Sex Work”  which  remains one of the most in-depth studies of community responses to street sex work in the UK. (See http://www.jrf.org.uk/knowledge/findings/housing/0236.asp for a summary of findings).  
 
I am an advocate of participatory research methods and participatory arts as a means of doing and representing research. I worked with Professor Maggie O’Neill and community members on consultation research in the midlands which included  a participatory arts aspect to find out more about “Safety Soap Box” go to;  http://www.safetysoapbox.co.uk/menu.htm
I am interested in the diverse lived realities of people involved in sex work & their varying experiences and support service needs.  My research has informed  the development of support services.   My research has particularly reflected on issues of safety of sex workers, violence against sex workers, under-reporting of violence and policing.  I am currently completing my PhD which is focusing on Merseyside Police’s approach to addressing crimes against sex workers as hate crime.
I maintain close links with community based organizations offering support services to sex workers. I have been lucky to have worked with others to establish the UK Network of Sex Projects. I was Chair between 2002-2009 and continue to be an active member.  I took some time out of research in 2005-2008 to establish and  coordinate a sex work support project, I continue to carry out sessional outreach.

Key Publications

Key Publications

Books

Campbell, R  and O’Neill, M (eds) (2006) Sex Work  Now, Willan Publishing, Cullompton.

Journal Articles

Cusick, L, Brooks-Gordon, B, Campbell, R, and Edgar, F (2011) Exiting Drug Use and Sex Work: Career paths, interventions and government strategy targets, Journal of Drugs Education, Prevention Policy,April; 18(2): 145 - 156.

Campbell, R and Stoops, S (2010) Taking Sex Workers seriously: Treating violence against sex workers as hate crime in Liverpool, in Research for Sex Work: special Edition on Violence Against Sex workers,December 2010.

Cusick, L, Campbell, R, Kinnell, H and Brooks Gordon, B (2009) Wild Guesses and Conflated Meanings? Estimating the Size of the Sex Worker Population in Britain. Critical Social Policy, Vol 29 (4) 703-719.

Neill, M, Campbell, R, Hubbard, P, Pitcher, J and Scoular, J (2008) Living With the Other: Street Sex Work, Contingent Communities and Degrees of Tolerance, in Crime, Media Culture: An International Journal, Vol 4, No 1, April, pp 73-94.

Sanders, T.L.M. Campbell, R (2007) Designing out vulnerability, building in respect: violence, safety and sex work policy, The British Journal of Sociology, 58(1)

Scoular, J, Pitcher, J, Campbell, R, Hubbard, P and M O’Neill (2007) What's anti-social about sex work? Governance, discourse and the changing representation of prostitution's incivility. in Community Safety (special edition The Prostitution Strategy: Implications for Community Safety), Vol 6, Issue 1, pp. 11-17, February 2007.

Campbell, R, Penfold, C, Hunter, G and Barham, L (2004) Tackling Client Violence in Female Street Prostitution: Inter-Agency working Between Outreach Agencies and the Police, Policing and Society, Vol 14, No. 4, pp.365-379.

Campbell, R and Storr, M (2001) "Challenging The Kerb Crawler Rehabilitation Programme", Feminist Review, Vol. 67, Spring.