Sex Work and Professional Risk Communication: Keeping Safe on the Streets
Document Type
Article
Author ORCID Identifier
Cana Uluak Itchuaqiyaq https://orcid.org/0000-0002-4417-4534
Avery C. Edenfield https://orcid.org/0000-0002-1273-2204
Journal/Book Title/Conference
Journal of Business and Technical Communication
Volume
36
Issue
1
Publisher
Sage Publications, Inc.
Publication Date
10-1-2021
First Page
1
Last Page
37
Abstract
Risk communication is traditionally authored by institutions and addressed to the potentially affected publics for whom they are responsible. This study expands the scope of risk communication by analyzing safety guides produced by a hypermarginalized group for whom institutions show no responsibility: full-contact, street-level sex workers. Using corpus-assisted discourse analysis and keyword analysis to reveal patterns of word choices, the authors argue that the safety guides exhibit characteristics and qualities of professional communication: audience adaptation, social responsibility, and ethical awareness. This area of inquiry—the DIY, peer-to-peer, extrainstitutional risk communication produced by marginalized people—widens technical and professional communication's approach to risk communication.
Recommended Citation
Itchuaqiyaq, C. U., Edenfield, A. C., & Grant-Davie, K. (2021). Sex Work and Professional Risk Communication: Keeping Safe on the Streets. Journal of Business and Technical Communication, 36(1), 1-37. https://doi.org/10.1177/10506519211044190 (Original work published 2022)