Zahra Stardust is a sexuality scholar working at the intersections of culture, media and law. Stardust's body of work is invested in ending the stigmatisation and criminalisation of consensual sex, building curricula for porn literacy, and taking transformative justice approaches to sexual violence. Her research has focused on the relationships between law, policing and social movements (including sex worker rights and LGBTIQA+ rights) and the politics of sexual content moderation (including the production and distribution of explicit media). Her current projects focus on the role of digital technologies in facilitating sexual health, rights and justice. Stardust's first monograph Indie Porn: Revolutionary Promises, Regulatory Fantasies, Resistance Politics explores the proliferation of DIY porn and will be published by Duke University Press in 2024. Her first co-authored book Sextech: A Critical introduction is under contract with Polity Books. Stardust is currently a Postdoctoral Research Fellow at the Australian Research Council Centre of Excellence for Automated Decision-Making andSociety at Queensland University of Technology, where she works on projects relating to sexual surveillance, algorithmic sexual profiling and the political economy of sextech. Her previous research has examined sex work stigma, post-work politics, queer femininities, sex positive law reform, trans prison policies, chemsex practices and the policing of protest.
We acknowledge that the conference is being held the traditional lands of the Jagera and Turrbal people in Meanjin / Brisbane. We recognise Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples' continuing connection to land, water, and community and we pay our respects to Elders past and present. ASHM acknowledges Sovereignty in this country has never been ceded. It always was, and always will be, Aboriginal land.