Peer involvement in service provision: how US human service nonprofit organisations include sex workers as organisational staff

Human service non-profit organisations (HSNPs) looking to improve the representation of clients in the work of their organisation may decide to hire people with lived experience as peer providers. This paper looks at how HSNPs that provide services to sex workers make decisions about hiring those with lived experience of sex work as staff. To address the issue, the following questions were asked: 1) how do HSNPs make the decision to hire sex workers as staff members; and 2) if hired, how are individuals actually involved in the organisation? The study aimed to answer these questions using open-ended interviews with 64 staff in HSNPs in the US Midwest that indirectly or directly provide services to sex workers. Findings indicate that while many organisations hire individuals with lived experience in sex work, the expectations placed on these individuals vary considerably depending on the perceptions other HSNP staff have about sex work. When HSNPs hire individuals with lived experience to further their organisational agendas with respect to sex work, they should include sex workers in a substantive and inclusive way to minimise organisational bias and ensure sex worker views are accurately represented.