Dispelling the lurid stereotypes portrayed in fiction, Alain Corbin depicts prostitution in nineteenth-century France not as a vice, crime, or disease, but as a well-organized business. Corbin reveals how the brothel served the sex industry in the same way that the factory served manufacturing: it provided an institution for the efficient and profitable sale of services.

This book brings together chapters by academics, researchers and practitioners to analyse how crimes such as sex work, domestic violence and rape and sexual assault have risen up the Government agenda in recent years. For example, the 'Paying the Price' consultation exercise on sex work in 2004, and recent legislation around sex crimes, including the Sex Offences Act (2003). This is a multi-disciplinary, social scientific, pro-feminist collection, which draws upon practice, empirical research, documentary analysis and overviews of research in the areas of sex work and sexual violence. Within Sex as Crime there are two distinct sub-sections: 'Sex for Sale' and 'Sex as Violence', but the broader and overriding link of sex as crime remains a paramount theme that spans the collection. Chapters include discussions of the impact of new regulations on street sex workers, and of street sex work on community residents, the use of the internet by men who pay for sex and men who sell it, sexual violence and identity, sex crimes against children and protecting children online and working with sex offenders. Other chapters explore reasons for such offending behaviour.

An in-depth examination of the various historical, cultural, economic, and legal forces that contribute to violence against women and girls in the United States as well as the policies, programs, and laws that have been created to ameliorate this pervasive problem. Nearly two decades into the 21st century, the United States still suffers from a disturbingly high incidence of domestic violence; continued sexual assault against women, both in uniform and on campus; and high levels of misogyny in American culture and politics. Violence Against Women and Girls: A Documentary and Reference Guide provides users with an understanding of the reasons why violence against women and girls in the United States continues. It also documents the resources that are available to female children and adults who have been victimized. The primary documents in this volume enable readers to gauge America's changing perceptions of the severity of this issue over time, understand the findings of important studies, hear harrowing first-hand accounts of girls and women who have been the victims of violence, and examine the debate over whether American society supports a "rape culture." This guide also showcases the efforts of individuals and groups who are fighting back to reduce such violence in family homes, on campus, and in communities. * Provides readers with a unique reference work that explicitly focuses on violence against women in all of its forms * Includes dozens of primary source documents that illuminate important milestones, issues, and viewpoints on the broad subject of violence against girls and women * Pays special attention to key topics, including sexual assault in the military, sexual assault on campus, and the debate about the existence of a "rape culture" in America * Provides a context-setting headnote and concluding analysis of subsequent impact with each primary document