Education in the Lives of Males Engaged in Street-Based Sex Work

Research into males engaged in street-based sex work (SMSW) tends to pathologise the person and his experience. The prevailing belief is that after their home-life fails, they become homeless, get involved in substance use, and engage in 'survival sex' that turns into prostitution. While this is one research perspective, there are other less obvious and rarely explored narratives that also help us to understand the person and their experience of life including that of SMSW. Whether as a positive feature in life or in its absence or failure, education is a factor to be explored if we are to come to any comprehensive understanding of males who for short or long periods engage in prostitution or sex work. This paper explores the participants' educational experience, the relationships that emerge within that context and the place of education in the overarching experience of vulnerability and resilience. These findings are based on qualitative research involving 27 males who were engaged in SMSW in various parts of Australia. Twenty-two of the participants had not completed high school with seven not completing their second year of secondary schooling. Two had completed university and two had begun to attend but withdrew from university before completing their academic program. Various themes emerge in the data analysis. Children who experience isolation or abandonment within their primary relationships continue to seek other supportive experiences. School is one focal point for this increasingly urgent search. While counsellors within the school setting play a significant role in the provision of alternative sources of support, class room teachers, particular subject matter, the structure of school and peers also play a significant role in personal survival, growth, and school retention. Premature departure from school is a crucial moment that coincides with loss, and the escalation of other negative experiences and the deterioration of relationships. Finally, and notwithstanding this loss of connection with education, the need and desire for education remains a constant. Some preliminary consideration of structural issues within the educational environment is explored with particular emphasis on ways that counsellors, teachers and peers may be able to support the retention of marginalised individuals and groups within education.