The Memory Collection Campaign on Working in the Sex and Erotica Industries

1 October 2025–31 March 2026

Share your personal narratives, recollections, experiences, and thoughts about working in the sex and erotica industries in Finland!

Doctoral researcher Jaana Ahtiainen (University of Helsinki) and The Labour Archives are collecting experiences and recollections from people who have worked in the sex and erotica industries in Finland. You can participate by sending written recollections or by taking part in an interview.

About the campaign

Narratives and recollections from people providing sex-related products and services have largely been absent from Finnish archives. Instead, the field has often been portrayed through the perspectives of authorities such as the police, the judicial system, and medical professionals. This can lead to one-sided or biased views and leave the everyday experiences of workers hidden.

This campaign focuses on the personal stories, experiences, and memories of people involved in the sex and erotica industries. Its aim is to create archival material contributed by those with firsthand experience.

Who can participate?

The campaign is open to anyone—regardless of gender, age, or ethnicity—who has earned income or made a living in the sex and erotica industries. Here, the sex and erotica industries are understood as the sale of various sex-related products and services.

While we use the term “sex and erotica industries,” you may also use terms such as commercial sex, sex work, the sex industry, or the sale of sexual or sex-related services. No specific service or type of work is excluded. You are free to determine whether your work falls within this field. It does not matter whether you have worked on a part-time, full-time, permanent, or temporary basis – all these experiences are welcome.

Contact Information:
The individuals listed below can provide further details about the project.

Content-related questions:
For questions related to the content of the collection campaign, please contact doctoral researcher Jaana Ahtiainen at the University of Helsinki:
Email: [email protected]

Technical questions:
For technical inquiries, please contact Timo Tigerstedt at The Labour Archives:
Email: [email protected]

Data Controller Contact Information:
Data Controller: Finnish Labour Archive Foundation sr
Address: Sörnäisten rantatie 25 A, 00500 Helsinki, Finland
Email: [email protected]
Representative of the Data Controller: Archive Director Petri Tanskanen

Participation in the Memory Collection Campaign

You can participate by submitting written recollections or by taking part in an interview.

The written recollections and interviews collected during the project will be archived at The Labour Archives (Työväen Arkisto). After Jaana Ahtiainen completes her doctoral dissertation, the materials will be opened for research use at The Labour Archives, enabling other researchers to study the experiences of people working in the sex and erotica industries.

When you submit materials, an official transfer agreement will be made. Through this agreement, ownership of the materials is transferred to the archive and the terms of use are defined. Participants have the right to set conditions on how their materials may be used. All materials will be archived with full respect for participants’ privacy and data protection. The Labour Archives is responsible for preserving the materials in accordance with the transfer agreement and in compliance with applicable archival laws, regulations, and guidelines.

Interviews:
If you wish to participate in an interview, you can express your interest in either of the following ways:

1. Fill out the online form, or
2. Contact directly: Doctoral researcher Jaana Ahtiainen, email: [email protected]

The interview can be conducted in person or remotely, according to your preference. The interviewer will be doctoral researcher Jaana Ahtiainen, who will send you the interview themes in advance. Before the interview, you will have the opportunity to review the privacy notice and the transfer agreement, and to ask any questions you may have. After the interview, both you and the interviewer will review the transcript produced from the audio recording and make any necessary corrections.

The written recollections:
If you wish to submit your written recollections, you can participate in any of the following ways:

1. Submit your text via the online form,
2. Email it to the Labour Memory Committee at [email protected], or
3. Mail it to the Labour Memory Committee at the following address: Työväen muistitietotoimikunta, Sörnäisten rantatie 25 A, 00500 Helsinki, Finland.

You can include a completed and signed transfer agreement with your submission. If you do not include it, the archive will send you the form to complete after receiving your text.

There are no length limits—you may write as briefly or as extensively as you wish. You can participate with a comprehensive autobiographical text or with shorter pieces; every memory is valuable. In your responses, share the topics and experiences that are important to you regarding the sex and erotica industries. You may also describe everyday events and situations. You can focus on current events or reflect on experiences from decades ago. Please include at least an approximate indication of when the events you describe took place.

Guiding Questions:
The following thematic questions can be used as inspiration for your recollections. You may choose one theme to focus on, select multiple themes, or respond to all of them. Additionally, you are free to write about topics of your own choosing.

• Describe the work you do. What does a typical workday, week, or year look like? When and why did you start in this field? Do you work regularly or occasionally? What are your plans regarding your work? What are your clients like, and in what kinds of environments do you work?
• How do you define your work and your role? Do you see yourself as an entrepreneur, a service provider, a professional or an amateur, or something else? How does your work compare with other jobs—either within the sex and erotica industries or in other fields?
• What kinds of support networks do you have? Do you interact with others in the same field? From where or from whom have you obtained information about working in the sex and erotica industries?
• How has your work changed over time? What about the sex and erotica industries in general? How have different platforms—such as OnlyFans—affected the field?
• What were the sex and erotica industries like in the past? Has the field changed significantly at any particular point? You may reflect on changes during, for example, the COVID-19 pandemic, the collapse of the Soviet Union, the economic recession of the 1990s, or the rise of internet use in the early 2000s.
• How do you see the future of the field? Will work take place in new kinds of environments? Will the ways services are used change? Will new forms of services emerge? Will some types of services become less common or more prevalent? Will attitudes toward the sex and erotica industries and those working in them shift?
• Do you keep your work a secret? Have you told your loved ones about it? How did they react? If you have not told them, how do you think they might react? Does stigma affect the sex and erotica industries, your work, or you personally?
• What kinds of attitudes do people and institutions hold toward the sex and erotica industries? Have these attitudes changed over the past decades? What prejudices exist? Did you have any preconceptions before entering the field, and have those changed?
• How should the sex and erotica industries be discussed in public forums, such as the media? What terms or expressions should be used—and which should be avoided? How should the field be addressed in research, and what terminology is appropriate in academic contexts?