About Dr Helen Williams
I started teaching at the University of Leeds in 2015 while completing my doctoral research in the School of Interdisciplinary Gender Studies. My PhD was principally concerned with sexualisation, sex education, and the ways in which young people acquire knowledge and cultures of sex and sexuality. This included contemporary constructions of classed masculinities and femininities, the use of internet pornography as a sex education tool, and young people as producers of sexually explicit content such as sexts.
I am currently interested in vulnerability in the Criminal Justice system, particularly in relation to sexual violence, and state and social regulation of sex and sexuality. I have completed research on diverse topics such as learning disabilities and sexual violence, sex work, widening participation in higher education, and social science pedagogies.
I am the Programme Leader for MSc Leadership in Criminal Justice and Policing.
My office hours are Wednesdays 9-11am via Teams – no appointment necessary.
Teaching and supervision
I teach on the following modules:
- CRM303 Selling Sex: Theory, Policy and Practice
- CRM104 Victims/Survivors: Rights and Redress
- Social Science Dissertation (Undergraduate)
- LCPM03 Leadership and Criminal Justice Dissertation
- LCPM04 Inequality and Vulnerability in the Criminal Justice System
- SSCM43 Identities, Inequalities and Exploitation in the Media: Exploring the Digital Divide
- SSCM26 Inequality and Society Dissertation
Interests
- Sexual violence
- Disability and criminal justice
- Sex work and sex worker activism
- Mediated sexualities including pornography
- Sex education
- Identity, inequality, and vulnerability
- Media representations of crime
- Reality TV and popular culture
Research
I am a qualitative researcher and experienced in conducting research on sensitive topics and/or research with vulnerable groups. I am particularly interested in research that is participatory by design.
I have been engaged in projects examining access to justice for people with learning disabilities who have experienced sexual violence; the effects of Covid-19 on sex workers, widening participation in HE, and social science pedagogies.