Starting in 2021, Dorothea Hilhorst, professor of humanitarian studies of ISS, jointly with ISS faculty Karin Astrid Siegmann and Silke Heumann will start a 4 year programme, financed by a grant of the Dutch Research Council (NWO), to implement the research project ‘ListenH: Livelihoods and transactional sex in Humanitarian Crises’. Many people survive humanitarian crises through transactional sex – the exchange of sex for cash, goods or services. The project seeks to understand why and how people engage in this practice and what consequences this has. It will also consider what biases exist in humanitarian services and protection policies, and how these can be addressed. As part of this research project, ISS is looking for a PhD candidate.

The position

What do we offer to inspire you?

This position offers an exciting opportunity to learn, hone research skills, coordination and communication skills and interact with research teams across cultures, contexts, and continents. The ListenH project addresses largely ignored questions around the role of transactional sex as a livelihood strategy.

Transactional sex – the exchange of sex for cash, goods, services, commodities, or privileges - is widely prevalent in contexts of conflict and disaster, and takes a variety of forms, from the voluntary to the implicitly coercive, and from sex work to ‘sugar dating’ relations or occasional transactions. Transactional sex can help people survive or improve their situation but is also a precarious and risky strategy shaped by unequal power relations. The understanding of transactional sex in contexts of humanitarian crisis is hampered by biases and taboos that may (re)produce or even aggravate structural violence against the people involved.

Employing a large research network, the research will be grounded in country-based studies in the Democratic Republic of Congo, Colombia and Pakistan. It will answer the following questions:

• What are the motivations for, practices, and consequences of transactional sex in humanitarian crises situations based on the perspectives of people engaging in it?
• How do these relate (or not) to views and assumptions embedded in humanitarian and policy responses to transactional sex in crisis situations?
• How can the needs and problems of people engaged in transactional sex be more effectively addressed?

Considering the complexities of the contexts, the subject, including prevailing misconceptions, and the high diversity of possible research participants, the project is methodologically challenging. The research will use mixed methods, and build as much as possible on participation, in particular, through an adaptation of the Participatory Ethnographic Evaluation and Research (PEER) approach. This way, the project offers a rich learning space for the PhD candidate to evolve and reflect on methodological issues and to document the research process.

In addressing the questions above, the project will yield cross-disciplinary impact. Societal impact will be achieved through networked interaction around health, livelihoods, social and humanitarian policies in the case study countries and globally. The ListenH research project is looking for a PhD candidate with a focus on the potential for innovative participatory research within the challenging context of humanitarian crises.

The PhD will engage with the potential and limitations of participatory methodologies in the context of humanitarian crises. This may involve the development and adaptation of the project’s emergent, participatory methodology as well as its ethical framework, in close collaboration with the research team. The empirical research will involve multiple stages of mixed methods research, which combine attention to both the scope and meanings of TS in humanitarian settings and to improve the results’ validity through triangulation. So far, the following components are envisaged:

• Survey research will allow us to map relevant knowledge and intervention approaches among humanitarian actors and estimate the scope of TS compared to other livelihoods strategies in humanitarian settings; and
• Qualitative methods, such as Focus Group Discussions (FGDs), in-depth interviews, and country-specific adaptations of the PEER methodology, suitable to investigate practices of transactional sex in their localised context.

We especially encourage candidates from or with a strong association with at least one of the selected countries to apply.

The PhD candidate will be part of the research team on transactional sex in situations of humanitarian crises, and expected to contribute to:

• A collaborative team that shares resources, helps each other, and enjoys pushing the boundaries of methodology and theory in the field of humanitarian, development, gender, or sexuality studies.
• A variety of ways to networking and development of outcomes for policy and practice to enhance the research uptake of the ListenH project.

ELIGIBILITY

• A completed master’s degree in social sciences, with a focus on humanitarian, development, gender, or sexuality studies.
• Evidence of a track record of a methodological orientation, especially qualitative, participatory research methodologies.
• Proven knowledge on main subjects relevant to the project.
• Excellent interpersonal skills with ease at teamwork, and a proactive, versatile and autonomous attitude in completing tasks.
• Experience with working in unstable, vulnerable and high-risk contexts.
• Besides proficiency in English (see below), fluency in one or several of the following languages is an advantage: Spanish (Colombia), French, Lingala or Swahili (DRC), Urdu or Pashto (Pakistan).

Besides being part of an innovative research on transactional sex in situations of humanitarian crises, this position offers you an appointment for 4 years in the following structure:

We offer an appointment as PhD student for a period of 1.5 year, which will be extended with a second term of 2.5 years if the candidate performs well. Remuneration will be according to the PhD scales set by the Collective Labor Agreement for Dutch Universities (CAO NU) and will range from € 2.434,- per month in the first year to € 3.111,- per month in the fourth year (gross amounts, in case of fulltime employment).

The EUR has attractive employment conditions, which include a holiday allowance of 8.0%, an end-of-year bonus of 8.3% and up to 41 days paid time off. Substantial tax benefits apply to non-Dutch citizens, conditional on permission granted by the Dutch Tax Office. Applicants will acquire the right to work in the Netherlands for the duration of the contract.

The International Institute of Social Studies is committed to building and sustaining a community based on inclusiveness, equity and diversity and believes this will contribute to our mission and vision of being the best institute in our field. ISS is an equal opportunity employer and encourages applications from candidates of all races/ethnicities, nationalities, religions, gender identities or expressions, sexual orientations, disabilities, and ages.

Erasmus Universiteit Rotterdam (EUR)

Erasmus University Rotterdam (EUR), is an internationally oriented university with a strong social orientation in its education and research. Inspired by the dynamic and cosmopolitan city of Rotterdam, our scientists and students work in close collaboration with internal and external parties to solve global social challenges. Our mission is therefore "Creating positive societal impact". Our academic education is intensive, active and application oriented. Our research increasingly takes place in multidisciplinary teams, which are strongly intertwined with international networks. With our research impact and thanks to the high quality of education, EUR ranks amongst the top European universities. Erasmian values ​​function as our internal compass and make Erasmus University recognizable to the outside world: engaged with society, world citizen, connecting, entrepreneurial and open-minded. 

The International Institute of Social Studies (ISS) is a leading academic center for international development studies. While based in The Hague, the ISS is part of Erasmus University Rotterdam. ISS was established in 1952 as a post-graduate institute of policy-oriented critical social science and development-oriented research. ISS brings together a highly diverse international community of scholars and students from both the global South and the global North, on average originating from over 50 different countries. The Institute brings together people, ideas and insights in a multi-disciplinary setting which nurtures, fosters and promotes critical thinking and innovative research on fundamental social problems. The strong partnerships with organizations and individuals in developing countries make up a vibrant network where we co-create knowledge so that teaching and research remain socially relevant. Key to the ISS philosophy and practices is the wish to contribute to achieving social justice and equity on a global level.