Human Geography PhD, Loughborough University
Human Geography MA, Manchester University
Human Geography BA, Manchester University
Mary joined the Department of Sociology in September 2022, as a Lecturer in Sociology. Before this she worked at Northumbria University as a Senior Lecturer in Criminology for 12 years.
Mary is a collaborative and interdisciplinary researcher focusing on sex work and the sex industry, she researches non-heteronormative and queer sex work, sex work and technologies, academic experiences of researching the sex industry, safety and violence, participatory methods and human rights.
Mary has worked with a wide range of stakeholders, and is a founding board member, ex-vice chair and current academic trustee of National Ugly Mugs (NUM), an award-winning and internationally known sex worker safety organisation.
Laing, M. Cook, I. R. Baker, T. and Calder-Dawe, O. (2022) “Maybe I’m a quiet activist”: Sex work scholars and negotiations of ‘minor’ academic activism. Sexualities doi: 10.1177/13634607211068690.
Graham, L. Holt, V. Laing, M. (2022) Understanding the law’s relationship to sex work: Introduction to ‘Sex and the law: does the law matter?’ International Journal of Gender, Sexuality and Law 2 (1) pp: 1-18
Swords, J. Laing, M. and Cook, I. R. (2021) Platforms, sex work and their interconnectedness. Sexualities, doi: 10.1177/13634607211023013
McMenzie, L. Cook, I and Laing, M. (2019) Criminological policy mobilities and sex work: understanding the movement of the ‘Swedish model’ to Northern Ireland British Journal of Criminology 59 (5) pp: 1199-1216.
Strohmayer, A. Clamen, J. and Laing, M. (2019) Technologies for social justice: lessons from sex workers on the front lines CHI ’19 Proceedings of the SIGCHI Conference on Human Factors in Computing Systems. Paper was awarded a prestigious honourable mention.