Sex Worker Stigma: The Influence of Job Title on Victim Empathy

Presenter Information

Zoe Schaefer, Minnesota State University Mankato
Kayla Van Amber, Minnesota State University Mankato

Location

CSU Ballroom

Start Date

18-4-2016 2:00 PM

End Date

18-4-2016 3:30 PM

Student's Major

Psychology

Student's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Mentor's Name

Eric Sprankle

Mentor's Department

Psychology

Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Second Mentor's Name

Cody Butcher

Second Mentor's Department

Psychology

Second Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Third Mentor's Name

Neil Gleason

Third Mentor's Deparment

Psychology

Third Mentor's College

Social and Behavioral Sciences

Description

The present study was designed to better understand the expressions of empathy toward sex workers as victims of sexual assault. Participants were randomly assigned a news article that described a sexual assault of a woman with a certain title (escort, sex worker, social worker, woman, dominatrix, prostitute or prostituted woman). After reading the article, participants were asked to complete the Victim Empathy Scale. The scale is divided into three composite categories: Victim Blame, Perpetrator Blame, and Empathy. Three independent samples t- tests were conducted to assess the differences between all sex worker conditions (escort, sex worker, professional dominatrix, prostitute, prostituted woman) and non-sex worker conditions (social worker, woman). All three composite categories of the Victim Empathy Scale did show a significant difference between sex worker and non-sex worker categories. This supports our hypothesis that those labeled as sex workers receive less empathy and more blame if victimized by sexual assault compared to non-sex workers. Further research could investigate the mechanisms behind this difference in empathy and blame.