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Price of Sex: Prostitution, Policy and Society

NCJ Number
216180
Author(s)
Belinda Brooks-Gordon
Date Published
2006
Length
310 pages
Annotation
This book offers a critical analysis of recent measures in the United Kingdom to curb prostitution.
Abstract
The main argument is that recent measures against prostitution in the United Kingdom have failed in their objective and have created unanticipated problems and wider abuses due to the complexity and interdependence of the many strands of the sex industry. The analysis focuses on three key areas of the debate regarding the sex industry: (1) the demand by customers who buy sex; (2) the policing of women who work in the street sex industry; and (3) the violence that pervades prostitution. Chapter 1 focuses on the public perception of sex work and its changing status through history, which has been influenced by changes to the family structure, changes in the workforce, and changing expectations of sexual relationships. Chapter 2 reviews the offenses related to sex work and the laws that govern prostitution and the sex industry in general. Chapter 3 presents research on the demand-side of prostitution in the United Kingdom, providing a demographic profile that emerged from the cases of over 500 men who were stopped for prostitution-related offenses and behaviors. Chapter 4 examines the challenges of policing and enforcing the laws related to prostitution as they are currently drafted. A case study of a vice unit response in a large metropolitan city is presented as an illustration of the tensions between those demanding that their neighborhood be free of vice and the vulnerabilities of street prostitutes and juveniles at risk. Chapter 5 takes this discussion one step further by focusing on victimization among women who work in the sex industry. Human rights issues are discussed along with the emergence of sex workers’ labor rights. Chapter 6 outlines the methodology used to collect data for the current analysis while chapter 7 reviews the main points of the book. Notes, figures, tables, references, index

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