If My Mouth Could Talk:
A study to explore sex workers’ experiences of oral health in Liverpool & other UK cities
This study uses a participatory approach that centres lived experience and collaborative knowledge production. The Liverpool study involved semi-structured interviews with 21 people with lived experience of sex work, recruited through community support services in Liverpool. Woven Ink were then invited into a collaborative illustration process where we created draft murals based on the interviews and then received feedback from the the sex workers on these sketches before creating the final artworks.
On Thursday 4 June 2026 we held an exhibition on the oral health needs of sex workers in Liverpool, welcoming over 100 guests to the event space at the University of Liverpool's School of Law and Social Justice. This included the launch of the study’s research website and a hard copy of a zine displaying artwork from our murals and the participants.
ILLUSTRATION CREDITS
Artist Isolde Godfrey
The study is led by Chief Investigator Dr Janine Yazdi-Doughty (Dentistry), with Co-Investigator Dr Gemma Ahearne (Criminology).
This is the first research of its kind globally, bringing together the disciplines of Dentistry and Criminology under a Public Health Criminology lens. There is a serious gap in the existing literature that our study seeks to address.
Access to oral health care is vital for violence reduction partnerships and must be a key priority for the VAWG agenda and all sex work strategies and services. Oral health stigma intersects with stigma around sex work, poverty, addiction and vulnerability. We want to challenge stigma against sex workers in both our research and our teaching.
We want to serve sex workers, and our study is reaching three cities so far (Liverpool, Manchester and London).
Images from exhibition on the oral health needs of sex workers in Liverpool, at the University of Liverpool's School of Law and Social Justice.
“Working with Isolde from Woven Ink has been an absolute pleasure. Isolde has been an invaluable creative partner in the co-production of qualitative research, working iteratively not only with me as the researcher but also with women involved in sex work to develop illustrations that authentically reflected their experiences and perspectives. Her artwork has gone far beyond visualisation. The illustrations have informed the design of posters, websites and public engagement materials, served as powerful conversation prompts within focus groups, and formed part of an exhibition exploring the oral health experiences of sex workers. Isolde has a remarkable ability to listen deeply, translate complex ideas into compelling visuals, and create work that is both sensitive and impactful.
Isolde has also produced stunning live illustrations during a multi-stakeholder coding event, capturing discussions, reflections and emerging themes in a way that helped communicate both the process and the richness of participants’ contributions. Isolde’s work is thoughtful, creative and beautifully executed. Time and again, my rough sketches and hastily scribbled notes have been turned into engaging, insightful and genuinely gorgeous illustrations. I would wholeheartedly recommend Isolde and Woven Ink to anyone looking for a talented illustrator who can bring research, lived experience and creativity together with exceptional skill and sensitivity.”