Christina Parreira is currently a PhD student in the Department of Sociology at UNLV. Her research focuses on labor experiences of sex workers in legal Nevada brothels.
“Back in 2012,” reports Allison Schrager & Siyi Chen in a profile published by QZ.com, “Christina was doing a PsyD at the University of Hartford. She already had experience and an interest in sex work. In 2013 she moved to Nevada and enrolled in UNLV’s PhD program in sociology.
“Soon after that,” the reporters note, “she approached the Alien Cathouse about living there and doing research. They told her only if she worked there too. Following a long talk with her advisor, she agreed.”
“I knew that I wanted to speak to the women,” Parreira said in the interview. “And that’s how I ended up working with them because that, as I found, was – at least for me – the best and the easiest path to get in and get the information I wanted. And I decided I wanted to do it as an insider instead of just, you know, as an outsider.”