ABSTRACT
Empowerment is a holistic concept, denoting a process in which an individual is able to access resources and build power and agency. Typically, it means increasing decision-making power, building self-efficacy and self-esteem, gaining control of assets, and generating positive outcomes (Kabeer, 2003). Studies on women’s economic empowerment (WEE) have not looked in detail at what empowerment means for those working in the sex and entertainment industry. This raises many questions including: What are their resources? How do they exercise choice and express agency? How can their empowerment be measured? This chapter addresses these questions by examining the concepts of empowerment and power and applying them to an analysis of the participants’ experiences. In the chapter, it is argued that the participants use their bodies as a resource and, as they earn an income from it, they are able to gain a certain degree of autonomy with regard to decision-making with respect to their own lives. Further, the chapter proposes a model that can be used as a measure of empowerment for the participants based on the examples discussed in the chapter.
