«Non siamo prostitute!». I modelli di assistenza sessuale per le persone con disabilità in Italia e in Spagna, tra dirty work e professioni emergenti

Abstract

The aim of this article is to investigate and deepen the characteristics of sexual assistance as an «emerging profession» and the meanings attributed by those who practice it and see a professional identity in it. In particular, we set out to identify the models that are being articulated in Italy and Spain, in the direction of contributing to the overall debate on «professions on the margins». Guiding our analysis will especially be the conceptual categories of dirty work and body work as well as of emotional work. For this purpose we will mainly use, for the Spanish case, qualitative interviews with sexual assistants, field notes and the analysis of the main online platform for matching demand and supply of sexual assistance services in the city of Madrid. For the Italian case, on the other hand, the analysis will be documentary, based on textual and video materials (also in the latter case it is interviews with sexual assistants) collected on YouTube and on the website of the only association dealing with sexual assistance in our country.