There is a wide spectrum of ways in managing subjectivity intrinsic in research. This paper goes through and 'lives' (Gregorio Gil, 2014) some research experiences: one on prostitution of minors and another on trafficking in human beings. These two experiences reveal how some of the characteristics of my subjectivity – among which that of being a 'young female foreigner and outsider' in academia and in fieldwork – and of my own researches, have impacted that reflexivity practice alongside access to related fields, types of relationships and shared information. The paper proffers the idea in which a 'reflexive process' on subjectivity can involve and/or hopefully involve the entire experience of the researcher, going beyond the borders of a single research. In the process, unexpected elements of subjectivity can come into play; in other cases the meaning attributed to them can change in time or can have a role different from what had been expected. Some elements, objects of epistemological analyses, as imposed by a reflexive approach, can become objects of attention also on the phenomenological level.

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Subjectvity,Outsider,Qualitative research,Prostitution,Sex work,Trafficking in human beings,Reflexivity

This publication is an output of the following project(s):

• Trafficking of women for sexual exploitation in Portugal. A qualitative study of trafficked women, trafficking experiences and measures of assistance