Gillian Abel

Gillian Abel is a New Zealand public health researcher and as of 2021 head of the Department of Population Health at the University of Otago in Christchurch.

Gillian Abel
Alma mater	University of Otago
Scientific career
Institutions	University of Otago
Thesis	Decriminalisation: A harm minimisation and human rights approach to regulating sex work (2010)

Education

After a receiving a diploma from Cape Peninsula University of Technology in Cape Town, Abel moved to New Zealand in 1997 to work at the University of Otago.^[1] She graduated from Otago in 2010 with a PhD titled "Decriminalisation: A harm minimisation and human rights approach to regulating sex work".^[2]

Career

Abel's early career focused on hematology before making a career change to focus on public health. In December 2019 Abel was promoted to full professor in the Department of Population Health at Otago with effect from 1 February 2020.^[3] She is also head of the Department.^[1]

Abel's research focuses on vulnerable populations, including sex workers, vulnerable youth, and Pacific people. Abel was involved in leading an influential research project funded by the Health Research Council, which analyzed the impact of the Prostitution Reform Act on the lives of sex workers. This study has informed policy-making in New Zealand and worldwide.^[4]

Research Interests

• Sex work research, explicitly about stigma,^[5] decriminalization, and social change^[6]
• Youth physical^[7][8] and sexual health^[9]
• Community-based participatory research with street-based sex work^[6]
• Sex work employment rights^[10]
• Destigmatisation of HIV/AIDS^[11][12]

Selected publications

Books

• Abel, Gillian; Fitzgerald, Lisa; Healy, Catherine; Taylor, Aline, eds. (19 May 2010), Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers' fight for decriminalisation, Policy Press (published 2010), ISBN 978-1-84742-335-1
• Armstrong, Lynzi; Abel, Gillian, eds. (22 July 2020), Sex work and the New Zealand model: Decriminalisation and social change (1st ed.), Bristol University Press (published 2020), ISBN 978-1-5292-0577-0

Journal articles

• Gillian Michelle Abel; Lee Thompson (29 May 2017). ""I don't want to look like an AIDS victim": A New Zealand case study of facial lipoatrophy". Health & Social Care in the Community. 26 (1): 41–47. doi:10.1111/HSC.12459. ISSN 0966-0410. PMID 28557181. Wikidata Q38557544.
• Gillian Abel (30 August 2018). "Decriminalisation of sex work protects human rights". The BMJ. 362: k3630. doi:10.1136/BMJ.K3630. ISSN 0959-8138. PMID 30166284. Wikidata Q91238191.
• Christina McKerchar; Moira Smith; Ryan Gage; Jonathan A. Williman; Gillian Michelle Abel; Cameron Lacey; Clíona Ní Mhurchú; Louise Signal (18 July 2020). "Kids in a Candy Store: An Objective Analysis of Children's Interactions with Food in Convenience Stores". Nutrients. 12 (7). doi:10.3390/NU12072143. ISSN 2072-6643. PMID 32708485. Wikidata Q97688893.

References

1. "Professor Gillian Abel". University of Otago. from the original on 20 January 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
2. Abel, Gillian (2010), Decriminalisation : a harm minimisation and human rights approach to regulating sex work (Doctoral thesis), OUR Archive, hdl:10523/3362, Wikidata Q111965691
3. "30 new Professors for the University of Otago". University of Otago. 10 December 2019. from the original on 18 January 2021. Retrieved 17 February 2021.
4. University of Otago, Christchurch. "Professor Gillian Abel". www.otago.ac.nz. Retrieved 24 November 2022.
5. Benoit, Cecilia; Maurice, Renay; Abel, Gillian; Smith, Michaela; Jansson, Mikael; Healey, Priscilla; Magnuson, Douglas (2 January 2020). "'I dodged the stigma bullet': Canadian sex workers' situated responses to occupational stigma". Culture, Health & Sexuality. 22 (1): 81–95. doi:10.1080/13691058.2019.1576226. ISSN 1369-1058. PMID 30794087. S2CID 73500486.
6. Armstrong, Lynzi; Abel, Gillian, eds. (22 July 2020). Sex Work and the New Zealand Model: Decriminalisation and Social Change (1 ed.). Bristol University Press. doi:10.2307/j.ctv1453kvn.15. ISBN 978-1-5292-0577-0. JSTOR j.ctv1453kvn. S2CID 242888846.
7. Abel, Gillian; Plumridge, Libby; Graham, Patrick (1 January 2002). "Peers, Networks or Relationships: strategies for understanding social dynamics as determinants of smoking behaviour". Drugs: Education, Prevention and Policy. 9 (4): 325–338. doi:10.1080/09687630210157636. ISSN 0968-7637. S2CID 144036005.
8. McKerchar, Christina; Smith, Moira; Gage, Ryan; Williman, Jonathan; Abel, Gillian; Lacey, Cameron; Ni Mhurchu, Cliona; Signal, Louise (July 2020). "Kids in a Candy Store: An Objective Analysis of Children's Interactions with Food in Convenience Stores". Nutrients. 12 (7): 2143. doi:10.3390/nu12072143. ISSN 2072-6643. PMC 7400802. PMID 32708485.
9. Abel, Gillian; Fitzgerald, Lisa (1 May 2006). "'When you come to it you feel like a dork asking a guy to put a condom on': is sex education addressing young people's understandings of risk?". Sex Education. 6 (2): 105–119. doi:10.1080/14681810600578750. ISSN 1468-1811. S2CID 144400949.
10. Abel, Gillian; Ludeke, Melissa (24 December 2020). "Brothels as Sites of Third-Party Exploitation? Decriminalisation and Sex Workers' Employment Rights". Social Sciences. 10 (1): 3. doi:10.3390/socsci10010003. ISSN 2076-0760.
11. Abel, Gillian; Thompson, Lee (January 2018). ""I don't want to look like an AIDS victim": A New Zealand case study of facial lipoatrophy". Health & Social Care in the Community. 26 (1): 41–47. doi:10.1111/hsc.12459. PMID 28557181.
12. Brinsdon, Annastaisha; Abel, Gillian; Desrosiers, Jennifer (February 2017). ""I'm taking control": how people living with HIV/AIDS manage stigma in health interactions". AIDS Care. 29 (2): 185–188. doi:10.1080/09540121.2016.1204420. ISSN 0954-0121. PMID 27376836. S2CID 34749965.