Rébecca Suzanne Franco
About
I am a researcher specializing in the regulation of intimacy and reproductive labour in the digital context, and how this creates material inequalities. Working in and outside of academia, I use engaged research to inform and contribute to improving the regulation of digital intimacies and marginalized forms of gendered labour, such as sex work.I am currently leading the NWO Veni-funded project "Working the Platform: Migrant Women’ Domestic and Sex Work in the Digital Age” at Utrecht University, researching the living and working conditions of domestic workers and sex workers using digital platforms. I have previously worked as a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam, and finished my PhD at the VU University in Amsterdam.Being interested in working with and learning from advocacy-oriented community organizations, I have been a consultant in digital rights for the European Sex Workers Alliance (ESWA) and currently work for the Dutch Sekswerkers Alliantie Destigmatisering (SWAD) as consultant in policy participation.
Ik ben onderzoeker gespecialiseerd in de regulering van digitale intimiteiten en reproductief werk, zoals huishoudelijk werk en sekswerk. Ik doe onderzoek aan de Universiteit Utrecht naar de leef- en arbeidsomstandigheden van huishoudelijk werkers en sekswerkers die via online platformen werken. Eerder werkte ik als postdoctoraal onderzoeker aan de Universiteit van Amsterdam en promoveerde aan de VU Universiteit. Daarnaast werk ik met belangenorganisaties, zoals de Nederlandse Sekswerkers Alliantie Destigmatisering (SWAD).
Research
My current research centers on gendered, reproductive work performed by migrant women, specifically domestic work (like cleaning) and sex work. I conduct the NWO (Dutch Research Council) Veni-funded project "Working the Platform: Migrant Women's Domestic and Sex Work in the Digital Age," at Utrecht University, compromising of a joint examination of sex work and domestic work to investigate how digital platforms interact with sector-specific policies and immigration governance to both enhance and deteriorate labor conditions for domestic and sex workers.Before joining Utrecht University, I was a postdoctoral researcher at the University of Amsterdam, investigating the regulation of platformized sex work in the research project "The platformization of the global sex industry: Markets, morals, and mass intimacy". My work shows how the political economy of platform capitalism and moral politics intersect in shaping the working conditions of online sex workers. I particularly showcase how financial service providers shape platform governance, demonstrating that companies like Mastercard and Visa exercise disproportionate regulatory power over sexual content and sexual labour online.I completed my PhD at VU University, examining the historical regulation of radicalized intimacies and (post)colonial migration in France, resulting in a monograph entitled "Between Problematisation and Invisibilisation: The Regulation of Interracialised Intimacies and (Post)Colonial Migration in France." This historical work laid the foundation for my ongoing interest in how states and digital infrastructures regulate intimate relations and labour, particularly for marginalized populations.Below a list of my academic publications.
Peer reviewed articles2026| Content moderation as workers’ management: sex, labour, platforms, Information, communication and society, Information, Communication & Society, doi.org/10.1080/1369118X.2025.2604666, with Hanne Stegeman as second author.2025| “This is Fucking Nuts”: The Role of Payment Intermediaries in Structuring Precarity and Dependencies in Platformized Sex Work. Porn Studies. 1-18, doi.org/10.1080/23268743.2024.2393641, with Val Webber as second author.2025| The Definitional Creep: Payment Processing and the Moral Ordering of Sexual Content. Sexualities. doi.org/10.1177/136346072413055, with Val Webber as first author.2024| “Controlling the keys to the Golden City”: the payment ecosystem and the regulation of adult webcam and fan platforms. New Media & Society, doi.org/10.1177/14614448241303465, sole author.2023| Policing Commercial Sex in 1970s France: Regulating the Racialized Sexual Order. Social & Legal Studies, 32(1), 96-115, doi.org/10.1177/09646639221094754, sole author.2022| (Inter)racialisation: the regulation of domestic and urban space in housing North-African migrants in 1960s and 1970s France. Migration Politics, 1(1), 003, , doi: 10.21468/MigPol.1.1.003, sole author.2019| Invalidating the Archive: Interpreting Silences and Inconsistencies. Sentio, 1(1), 42-48, link, with Nawal Mustafa as second author.Edited book chapters2025| Policing “zones of degeneracy”: (post)colonial migrants and interracialized sex and intimacies in France (1954-1979), in Regulating Empire and Nation: Interracialised Intimacies in Europe and beyond, edited by Elena Zambelli and Betty de Hart, Routledge, doi.org/10.4324/b23393, sole author.PhD dissertation2023| Between Problematisation and Invisibilisation: The Regulation of Interracialised Intimacies and (Post) Colonial Immigration in France (1954-1979), published PhD dissertation, 285 pages, doi.org/10.5463/thesis.84.
policy
My policy work comes from my commitment to research that serves the communities it studies. I work with advocacy groups, experts (including by experience), and colleagues to bring research findings into policy discussions. I see community accountability as the starting point.I am currently embedded in that work as a consultant for the Dutch alliance for the destigmatization of sex workers (SWAD), where I support their policy participation. I have also worked for the European Sex Workers Alliance (ESWA) as a digital rights consultant, conducting research and writing a policy report on how advertisement platforms can and should better protect the safety and labour rights of sex workers. I have led workshops for Bufas (2024), the network of social workers and counselors working with sex workers in Berlin, and provided advice to NGOs such as Aidsfonds (2023).This community-rooted work also informs how I approach research outputs. Together with colleagues Emilija Jokubauskaitė and Hanne Stegeman, we published a report on improving the working conditions of online sex workers on adult platforms. Rather than simply translating findings into recommendations, we organized a community workshop so that voices from within the industry shaped what those recommendations look like. We subsequently presented this report to a broad array of stakeholders, including representatives of adult platforms, adult trade associations, and policy makers.This work has also brought me into dialogue with (inter)governmental bodies, including OFCOM in the UK (2026), the European Commission (2025), and the research centre of the Dutch government (WODC) (2026), where I have presented research findings and provided advice to policy makers and practitioners.Policy reports2025| Webcam work: policies, practices and platforms. With Emilija Jokubauskaitė and Hanne Stegeman. link2024| Labour rights, safety and privacy: How to centre sex workers’ needs on advertising platforms. Written for ESWA. link
media
The communities and issues I study are often mis- or selectively represented in the public debate. Media appearances and public events are one way to push back against that, and to make research findings accessible to the people they concern most.My research is covered in various media outlets, both in print, television, podcasts, and online, as listed below. I also present my research at public events, such as De Nacht van de Sociologie (2023), Sex Salon (2025), Amsterdam Porn Film Festival (2025), and Spui25 (2024).In the media2025| On regulation of online sexual content by payment intermediaries (Japanese translation)
note.com, 25 September, link2025| On erotic webcamming as work (interview on project together with colleagues)
NRC, 9 September, link2024| On history of colonialism and pornography (documentary interview)
Sexotisch, Omroep Zwart, NPO3, 20 November, link2024| On content moderation and the adult entertainment industry (podcast interview)
Safety for who?, Digital shadows podcast, 11 July, link2023| On online intimacy (documentary interview)
Dickpics: de keiharde wetenschap, BNNVARA, NPO3, 29 November, link2023| On sex workers' online privacy (op-ed authored with Hanne Stegeman)
"Bescherm de online privacy van sekswerkers beter"
het Parool, 14 August, link2023| On the regulation of migration and racialisation in France (10 minutes radio interview)
Ook Franse staat droeg bij aan 'diepgeworteld racisme' in Frankrijk, Nieuwsweekend, omroep MAX, NPO1, 22 July, link2023| On displacement of sex workers in Amsterdam (interview, quoted)
Le Monde, 19 July, link
Contact
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