The Feminist Files in conversation with Gemma Kelly, anti-commercial sexual exploitation advocate

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In this episode, we explore commercial sexual exploitation: its specificities, how it can be combated, and its evolving technological manifestations. In an era of rapid digital expansion, how can feminist organising and policy-making respond to this growing form of misogynistic violence?

Drawing on eighteen years of experience across research institutions, frontline child protection services, and policy-making, Gemma Kelly unpacks the perverse dynamics of commercial sexual exploitation and its increasingly digital nature. Her work highlights the centrality of structural change, particularly through legislative and regulatory interventions, in addressing exploitation at its roots.

This conversation probes the contradictions at the heart of feminist debates: how can we reconcile individual choice with structural misogynistic violence? Can the former ever truly be disentangled from the latter?

We also discuss attempts to regulate the online space, often perceived as opaque and impenetrable, where regulatory efforts frequently fall short despite mounting harms.

About the Guest

Gemma Kelly is a Policy Consultant at the SERP Institute (Sexual Exploitation Research and Policy Institute), Ireland’s only independent research body dedicated to the study of sexual exploitation.

Throughout her career, she has worked on combatting human trafficking and addressing sexual exploitation in both online and offline contexts, with a particular focus on women’s rights, gender-based violence, and child rights.

She holds an MA in Human Trafficking, Migration and Organised Crime from St Mary’s University, an MA in Equality Studies from University College Dublin, and a BA in Social Care from Dublin Institute of Technology.

Get in Touch

If you’d like to respond to something discussed in this episode or propose an episode of your own, get in touch via email at thefeministfiles2025@gmail.com or on Instagram @the_feminist_files.

Credits

Hosted by Helena Kondak and Astrid Healy Carrasco

Joined by Gemma Kelly

Edited by Rowan Berkley

Cover design by Madeleine Baber

Music by Jacob Carey

Hosted on Acast. See acast.com/privacy for more information.