Rate My Professor Gillian Abel

Emeritus Professor Gillian Abel is a prominent public health academic at the University of Otago, Christchurch. With qualifications including a Diploma in Technology from Cape Technicon, Master of Public Health, PhD from the University of Otago, and Postgraduate Certificate in Higher Education, she transitioned from an early career in haematology to public health. Joining the Department of Public Health and General Practice in 1997, she completed her PhD—an exceptional thesis titled "Decriminalisation: a harm minimisation and human rights approach to regulating sex work"—while working full-time as a lecturer. This mixed-methods study, surveying 772 sex workers and interviewing 58, was funded by the Prostitution Law Review Committee and culminated in an influential 2008 report demonstrating positive impacts of decriminalization, including enhanced safety practices and improved police relations.

Promoted to full Professor in 2019, Abel served as Head of the Department of Population Health and now holds the title of Emeritus Professor. Her expertise lies in community-based participatory and qualitative research, applying sociological frameworks such as stigma, social exclusion, risk theories, and feminist perspectives to analyze structural factors affecting sex workers, vulnerable youth, and Pacific communities. Notable publications include her editorship of "Taking the Crime out of Sex Work: New Zealand Sex Workers Fight for Decriminalisation" (2010, Policy Press), and contributions to "Voicing Consent: Sex Workers, Sexual Violation and Legal Consciousness in Cross-National Contexts" (2025), covering topics like sex workers' criminal justice experiences, research methodologies, legal consciousness, formal reporting barriers, and responses to violations. With over 25 years at Otago, her work has shaped discussions on sex work policy, harm minimization, and human rights. She delivered her Inaugural Professorial Lecture, "A research journey in sex work," in 2020.