Key details
Dr Helen M. Rand
Senior Lecturer in Criminology
Helen鈥疪and鈥痠s a Senior Lecturer in Criminology. Her research and teaching specialise in genders and sexualities. She completed her doctorate in April 2020, from the Sociology Department at the University of Essex. Her PhD was titled ‘Digital Sex Markets: Entrepreneurship and consumption within an uncertain legal framework’. Based on an ethnographic approach, she used multi-methods to explore digital sex markets and the processes of platformisation of sex work, from both workers’ and customers’ perspectives. More broadly her research explores the inter-relationship between socio-legal structures and constructions of genders and sexualities. She is currently working on a project exploring students’ perceptions of legal frameworks and how they relate to their lived realities of sexual consent.
Responsibilities within the university
Lecturer in Criminology
- Foundations of Criminology
- Women Power Crime and Justice
- Forensic Criminology
Recognition
Law and Society Association
European Sociological Association
Sex Work Research Hub
Media activity
2024 Podcast, Teaching Talk Radio (March 2024), available at:
2018 Podcast: Anthill 22: Sex (February 2018), available at:
2017 ESRC Festival on Digital Intimacies BBC Essex (November 2017
Recent publications
Articles
Rand, H. & Stegeman, H (2023) . Gender, Work and Organization (30), 6: 2102-2118 [Open Access].
Rand, HM (2022) ‘Sexualities, (Open access)
Rand, HM (2021) , In SAGE Research Methods Case Studies.
Rand, HM (2019) ‘’, Feminist Review, (123), 1: 40 -45.
Book Chapters
Rand, HM (2019) 'Selling sexual services in the digital age: Flexible work opportunities for the self-employed entrepreneur or precarious unregulated labour?’ In The Edited by Dewey, S., Crowhurst, I. and Izugbara, C. London: Routledge: 556 -568.
Presentations
2022 “Evidencing ‘sexual gentrification’ in sex work platform governance in the United Kingdom” 13 July. Law and Society Conference, Lisbon.
2021 “Valuing sexual market exchange.” 10 November. Centre for Work Organisation and Society, Essex Business School.
2021 “Reflexions on Hearing Men’s Commercial Sex Stories.” 1 September. European Sociological Association Conference, Barcelona.
2021 “Devaluing sexual labour on digital platforms: A market analysis.” 18 June. International Workshop on Webcam Platforms, University of Amsterdam.
2018 Research reflections roundtable: Work, class and gender ‘Work and Exploitation’. Invited Talk. 25 April. Gender and Sexualities Research Forum. City, University of London.
2017 “Digital revolution: Is it revolutionising the sex industry? Perspectives from those who buy and sell technology-mediated sexual services.” 29 March. PROSPOL Conference, Aalborg University, Copenhagen.
2017 “Digital Intimacies.” 1 March. Centre for Intimate and Sexual Citizenship, University of Essex.
2016 “You run the show”: Production and consumption of sexual services in the digital era.’ 12th January. Postgraduate Sex Work Conference, University of Leeds.