Rescue Narratives in Contemporary and Mid-to-Late Nineteenth Century Scotland: The 'Fallen Woman' in Legal and Literary Cultures.

Integrating a law and literature methodology with feminist and narrative theories, my research sheds light on numerous narratives, and counter-narratives, of 'rescue' in contemporary and historical Scottish literary and legal cultures. Alongside archival legal research, my research explores the depiction of the rescue narrative in fiction, autobiography, poetry, newspaper and periodical literature, with special attentiveness to sources by working-class women. Engaging with sex worker rights groups SWARM and Scot-Pep, my proposed research seeks to inspire a greater understanding of the history underpinning the persistence of rescue narratives in twenty-first century Scottish sex work policy and regulation.