This book examines how feminist movements have contested the dominant discourses and state politics that have impeded women's autonomy over their bodies since the late 1960s. It deals with two important facets of this struggle, prostitution and the right to abortion, as they relate to the Czech Republic, the Netherlands, Portugal and Sweden.

This book identifies risk and protective factors influencing routes into, through and out of sexual exploitation and sex work. It explores how the sense made of key childhood and adult experiences influences the ability to manage roles and identities and choices they feel empowered or forced to make.

"Sex Work Matters" brings sex workers, scholars and activists together to present pioneering essays on the economics and sociology of sex work. From insights by sex workers on how they handle money, intimate relationships and daily harassment by police, to the experience of male and transgender sex work, this fascinating and original book offers theoretical discussions as well empirical case studies, providing new ways to link theory with lived experiences. The result is a vital new contribution to sex-worker rights. The book will equip any reader with new theoretical frameworks for understanding the sex industry, challenging readers to explore the topic of sex work in new ways, especially its cultural, economic and political dimensions.

The story is unthinkable: 121 people, sold into human slavery, were being transported in a small container from Burma into Thailand. Even though they were suffocating and calling the driver for help, their pleas were ignored and the people locked in the container truck were deprived of oxygen. After their frantic pounding caused the truck to swerve, the driver, afraid of being caught by the police, abandoned the group. When the truck was finally discovered, 54 of the 121 people were dead. The real story doesn't end with the horror of that day; it continues on with corruption, cover-ups and a nation ignoring that human trafficking exists in their country. This book gives a shocking look into the world of human trafficking.

Exiting Prostitution provides a critical re-examination of the growing body of literature on exiting and desistance. Moving beyond accounts which are mainly centred on men desisting from crime, this book focuses on female desistance, particularly in relation to prostitution and the exiting process.With interviews from over one hundred women involved in prostitution, the authors uniquely examine the exiting process considering not only the barriers and obstacles that women face when trying to leave prostitution, but also their individual strengths, capacities and aspirations. In this way, this book aims to present an approach that is more positive and progressive. It also provides a guide to best practice through an examination of the types of support that are currently available to those women involved in both on-street and off-street prostitution, and develops an outline model of support.Written by a highly experienced team of experts in the field, this book provides useful guidelines for practitioners and policymakers on types of intervention and ways in which to further develop exiting programmes.

Exiting Prostitution provides a critical re-examination of the growing body of literature on exiting and desistance. Moving beyond accounts which are mainly centred on men desisting from crime, this book focuses on female desistance, particularly in relation to prostitution and the exiting process.With interviews from over one hundred women involved in prostitution, the authors uniquely examine the exiting process considering not only the barriers and obstacles that women face when trying to leave prostitution, but also their individual strengths, capacities and aspirations. In this way, this book aims to present an approach that is more positive and progressive. It also provides a guide to best practice through an examination of the types of support that are currently available to those women involved in both on-street and off-street prostitution, and develops an outline model of support.Written by a highly experienced team of experts in the field, this book provides useful guidelines for practitioners and policymakers on types of intervention and ways in which to further develop exiting programmes.

America s first anti sex trafficking law, the 1910 Mann Act, made it illegal to transport women over state lines for prostitution or any other immoral purpose. It was meant to protect women and girls from being seduced or sold into sexual slavery. But, as Jessica Pliley illustrates, its enforcement resulted more often in the policing of women s sexual behavior, reflecting conservative attitudes toward women s roles at home and their movements in public. By citing its mandate to halt illicit sexuality, the fledgling Bureau of Investigation gained entry not only into brothels but also into private bedrooms and justified its own expansion.

Policing Sexuality" links the crusade against sex trafficking to the rapid growth of the Bureau from a few dozen agents at the time of the Mann Act into a formidable law enforcement organization that cooperated with state and municipal authorities across the nation. In pursuit of offenders, the Bureau often intervened in domestic squabbles on behalf of men intent on monitoring their wives and daughters. Working prostitutes were imprisoned at dramatically increased rates, while their male clients were seldom prosecuted.

In upholding the Mann Act, the FBI reinforced sexually conservative views of the chaste woman and the respectable husband and father. It built its national power and prestige by expanding its legal authority to police Americans sexuality and by marginalizing the very women it was charged to protect."

Eva-Maria Heberer provides an overview over the history of prostitution in Germany, in which she discusses changes in legislation, in society and its view on prostitution, as well as in the market for commercial sex since 1846. Two different models describing a woman's decision to engage in sex work are suggested. Both are kept as general as possible and based on universal microeconomic models. The effect of a changing probability of getting caught selling commercial sex is analyzed using the Slutsky decomposition. Relevant variables influencing the supply of sex work are identified and measured using historical and up-to-date data for the state of Hamburg and Germany. Correlations between the variables are described and discussed, allowing to conclude that a higher probability of getting caught led to a lower supply of commercial sex over the years.

This book offers a unique insight into the moral politics behind the making of human trafficking policy in Australia and the United States of America. As governments around the world rush to meet their international obligations to combat human trafficking, a heated debate has emerged over the rights, wrongs, and harms of prostitution, and its relationship to sex trafficking. The Politics of Sex Trafficking identifies and challenges intrinsic notions of moral harm that have pervaded trafficking discourse and resulted in a distinctly anti-prostitution agenda in trafficking policy in recent decades. Including rare interviews with key political actors, this book charts the competing perspectives of feminist, faith-based, and sex-worker activists, and their efforts to influence policy-makers. This critical account of the creation of anti-trafficking policy challenges the sex trafficking narrative dominant in US Congressional and Australian Parliamentary hearings, and demonstrates the power of a moral politics in shaping policy.This book will appeal to academics across the fields of criminology, criminal justice, law, human rights and gender studies, as well as policy-makers.

WARNING: CONTAINS EXPLICIT LANGUAGE Letitcia was the proverbial 'good time' (girl) that had been 'had by all'. She had been sporadically pleasuring the masses in a 'career' which spanned several continents. As Mae West would comment, she had 'been things and seen places.' She was (unfortunately) blissfully unaware of her Tax liability in the UK, until HMRC kindly pointed out her responsibility. One would imagine, and certainly, logic would dictate, that suitably chastened, she could have just paid the tax bill with the attendant penalties, to carry on, and wend her merry way. But, oh no, that would just be too simple on Planet Civil Service. 'Justice', as in, showing the general public: 'Behold how we catch these miscreants ' has to be, (in the world of HMRC), SEEN to be done. It was another fine mess Letitcia had gotten into, but could she get herself out? As the comedian Max Miller would joke: 'Would she block their passage or toss them off' of the Tax train? Wince as the horror of bankruptcy, homelessness and/or incarceration squeezes her 'pincer movement' into submission. Watch her grapple with the discrimination, morality and misinformation surrounding the rights of Sex workers....along with the incompetence of her persecutors. Will it all come out in the wash or do nice gals always have to finish last? Will Brighton and beyond be deprived of their best loved Erotic Service Provider? This is her story........ (Inconveniently, she also used to work for the Inland Revenue, albeit 40 years ago )

This volume is the result of the many years the authors have spent conducting ethnographic field research with sex workers, conversing with other researchers, and, perhaps most importantly, developing a deep sense of empathy for the sex worker participants in the research as well as the colleagues who carry out this work with the goal of advancing social justice. They have a combined total of twenty-five years' experience carrying out research with sex workers, and this extensive period of time has given them ample opportunity to reflect upon the topic of ethics. Sex work, defined as the exchange of sexual or sexualized intimacy for money or something of value, encompasses a wide range of legal and illegal behaviors that present researchers with key ethical challenges explored in the volume. These ethical challenges include: * Research methodology * Distinguishing research from activism * Navigating the politically and ideologically charged environments in which researchers must remain constantly attuned to the legal and public policy implications of their work * Possibilities for participatory sex work research processes * Strategies for incorporating participants in a variety of collaborative ways Sex work presents a unique set of challenges that are not always well understood by those working outside of anthropology and disciplines closely related to it. This book serves an important function by honestly and openly reviewing strategies for overcoming these ethical challenges with the end goal of producing path-breaking research that actively incorporates the perspectives of research participants on their own terms. Ever attuned to the reality that research on sex work remains a deeply political act, Ethical Research with Sex Workers: Anthropological Approaches aspires to begin a dialogue about the meanings and practices ascribed to ethics in a fraught environment. Drawing upon a review of published scholarly and activist work on the subject, as well as on interviews with researchers, social service providers, and sex workers themselves, this volume is an unprecedented contribution to the literature that will engage researchers across a variety of disciplines, such as academics and researchers in anthropology, sociology, criminal justice, and public health, as well as activists and policymakers.

I had the chance to sit down and interview one of the most brutally honest pimps I have ever met. With so much media attention spot lighted on the lifestyle of prostitution I found myself wondering how such an underworld continues to thrive given the challenges it seemingly faces from all angles. The combined hatred and fascination America seems to have with it is what compelled me to want to dig deeper inside the so called game that seems to have more losers than winners. I was taken on a psychological journey that went farther than my wildest dreams could have prepared me for mentally. With enough vivid details to make you feel as though you are right there and could actually be the one handling these women yourself, you will be shocked at how much is revealed. This interview is powerful enough to create monsters and makes no attempt at being a literary perfection. In fact it will read in the raw form in which it took place. Make no mistake, I do not encourage, support, nor agree with prostitution and suggest that you read this at your own discretion. Guaranteed to be one of the most controversial books you ever pick up. Although I was able to learn that not all pimps are the same, one thing remains certain, and that is there is flesh for sale in our streets, online, in our clubs, our hotels, and our casinos among other places, and even though I find the men who peddle this flesh to be a major problem in our society, there is an even uglier truth. This is an issue that could easily be eradicated. If no one was buying it.

The Middle East has long been something of a mystery to Westerners, and in particular, the sexual mores of the region continue to fascinate. Arabs are often described as being in a state of Islam-induced sexual anxiety and young Muslims' frustrations are said to be exacerbated by increasing exposure to the licentiousness of the West. Here, Middle East expert John R. Bradley sets out to uncover the truth about sex in countries like Egypt, Syria, Morocco and Yemen. Among many startling revelations, Bradley reports on how "temporary" Islamic marriages allow for illicit sex in the theocracies of Iran and Saudi Arabia; "child brides" that are sold off to older Arab men according to ancient tribal traditions; the hypocrisy that undermines publicized crackdowns on the thriving sex industry in the Persian Gulf; and how, despite widespread denial, homosexuality is still deeply ingrained in the region's social fabric.

Richly detailed and nuanced, "Behind the Veil of Vice" sheds light on a taboo subject and unravels widely held myths about the region. In the process, Bradley also delivers an important message about our own society's contradictions.

This compelling new book explores the complexities of the global child sex industry, but without falling into cliche and melodrama. Julia O'Connell Davidson draws attention to the multitude of ways in which children become implicated in the sex trade, and the devastating global political and economic inequalities that underpin their involvement. She sensitively unpicks the relationship between different aspects of the sexual exploitation of children, including trafficking, prostitution and pornography, at the same time challenging popular conceptions of childhood and sexuality.

This thought-provoking book will be of interest to general readers, and to students taking a range of courses, such as gender studies and childhood studies, and courses on sexuality and globalisation.