The Price Of Sex Prostitution, Policy and Society

As a society we are buying more sex than ever before. Adult sex shops now take their place amongst retailers in the high street and lap dancing clubs compete for an increased share of the leisure economy; hotel chains offer sexually explicit films as part of their standard service, the party selling of adult toys to women in their homes has become a mainstream activity; and at the traditional end of the sexual service economy, prostitution has experienced new growth.

Along with this has come new legal measure and attempts to regulate the sexual leisure economy, and far more comprehensive plans than ever before to regulate prostitution, in particular in the form of the new Sex Offences Act. This book seeks to address the range of issues and contemporary debates on the sex industry, including the demand by customers who buy sex, the policing of women who work in the street sex industry, and the violence that pervades prostitution. It shows how these issues have been addressed in policy terms, the problems that have emerged in this, and how a social policy might be formulated to minimize harm and enhance public understanding.

Overall the book aims to provide a critical perspective on prostitution policies and the legal chaos and complexities that surround this.

society buys more sex than ever before
focus on issue of how society deals with the selling of sexual services and how it is to be regulated
provides a critical perspective on recent legislation and the chaos surrounding attempts to regulate it


Review of 'The Price of Sex'
Contents
1 How prostitution became a legal problem
An historical overview
Victorian attitudes towards prostitutes and clients
Modernity and changing ideals
The transformation of intimacy in post-modernity
The impact of the HIV crisis on perceptions of prostitution
The feminisation of poverty
The growing rhetoric of public protection
Johns’ schools – the start of a dangerous approach
A new Trojan horse?
Chapter summary

2 Understanding prostitution policy
Statutes on sex work
Paying the Price
The Strategy
Regulatory Impact Assessment
Politicisation of the police
Home Office Incompetence
Chapter summary

3 Understanding sexual demand
Part I: Understanding sexual demand
Part II: Studies on clients
Further analysis: Relationship between variables
Discussion of findings
Chapter summary

4 Policing street prostitution
The rules of engagement
Case study – police targeting practices
A model of police interaction with kerb-crawlers
Chapter summary

5 Violence, victimisation and protection
Vulnerability
Defining and quantifying violence against sex workers
Context of violence
Who are the violent clients and how prevalent are they?
Violence and control policies surrounding street work
‘Sex slavery’ and the social and human cost of ignoring rights
Chapter summary

6 Motives, method and morality
Description of the research site
Geographical location
Organised Vice and the Street Offences (or ‘Tom’) Squad
Functions and routines of the Street Offences Squad
Choice of research site and access
Theoretical triangulation
Focus groups and group interviews
Documents as a representation of power
Personal reaction to kerb-crawlers
Interviewing within the scientia sexualis – a pleasure in itself?

7 Conclusion
Key findings
Implications for policy and practice
Implications for theory
How should we decide which conduct should be criminal?
General framework for social policy
The process of professionalisation of sex work
Chapter summary

References
Index