Sarah Jane Blithe, Anna Wiederhold Wolfe, and Breanna Mohr
- Published in print:
- 2019
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781479859290
- eISBN:
- 9781479875597
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- NYU Press
- DOI:
- 10.18574/nyu/9781479859290.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Media Studies
Wrapped in moral judgments about sexual conduct and shrouded in titillating intrigue, legal prostitutes in Nevada’s brothels frequently face oppression and unfair labor practices while managing ...
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Wrapped in moral judgments about sexual conduct and shrouded in titillating intrigue, legal prostitutes in Nevada’s brothels frequently face oppression and unfair labor practices while managing stigma and isolation associated with their occupational identities. Rooted in organizational communication and feminist theories, this book engages with stories of women living and working in these “hidden” organizations to interrogate issues related to labor rights, stigma, secrecy, privacy, and discrimination in the current legal brothel system. Widespread beliefs about the immorality of selling sexual services have influenced the history and laws of legal brothel prostitution. Moral judgments about legal prostitutes are so pervasive that many women struggle to engage in their communities, conduct business, maintain personal relationships, and transition out of the industry. At the same time, legal brothels operate like other kinds of legal entities, and individuals must contend with balancing work and nonwork commitments, organizational cultures, and managerial relationships. Although legal prostitutes are independent contractors, they often live in their workplaces and must adhere to scheduling requirements, mundane job tasks, and emotional labor, like employees in other organizational settings. Ethnographic observations in the brothels and interviews with current and ex-brothel workers, brothel owners, madams, local police, lobbyists, and others provide a broad data set for analysis. The book includes a photo-elicitation project, featuring images captured by legal prostitutes about their lives in the brothels. Thorough archival research fills in gaps left from inconsistencies, illegal practices, and laws about brothel prostitution. In addition, the third author works as a legal prostitute, providing a deep (and deeply personal) autoethnographic insider look at the industry. As such, this book serves as both an updated resource about the laws and policies which guide legal prostitution in Nevada, and an intimate look at life and decision-making for women performing sex work.Less
Wrapped in moral judgments about sexual conduct and shrouded in titillating intrigue, legal prostitutes in Nevada’s brothels frequently face oppression and unfair labor practices while managing stigma and isolation associated with their occupational identities. Rooted in organizational communication and feminist theories, this book engages with stories of women living and working in these “hidden” organizations to interrogate issues related to labor rights, stigma, secrecy, privacy, and discrimination in the current legal brothel system. Widespread beliefs about the immorality of selling sexual services have influenced the history and laws of legal brothel prostitution. Moral judgments about legal prostitutes are so pervasive that many women struggle to engage in their communities, conduct business, maintain personal relationships, and transition out of the industry. At the same time, legal brothels operate like other kinds of legal entities, and individuals must contend with balancing work and nonwork commitments, organizational cultures, and managerial relationships. Although legal prostitutes are independent contractors, they often live in their workplaces and must adhere to scheduling requirements, mundane job tasks, and emotional labor, like employees in other organizational settings. Ethnographic observations in the brothels and interviews with current and ex-brothel workers, brothel owners, madams, local police, lobbyists, and others provide a broad data set for analysis. The book includes a photo-elicitation project, featuring images captured by legal prostitutes about their lives in the brothels. Thorough archival research fills in gaps left from inconsistencies, illegal practices, and laws about brothel prostitution. In addition, the third author works as a legal prostitute, providing a deep (and deeply personal) autoethnographic insider look at the industry. As such, this book serves as both an updated resource about the laws and policies which guide legal prostitution in Nevada, and an intimate look at life and decision-making for women performing sex work.
Nicole von Germeten
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2018
- ISBN:
- 9780520297296
- eISBN:
- 9780520969704
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of California Press
- DOI:
- 10.1525/california/9780520297296.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Latin American History
This book recounts four centuries of the history of women labeled public women, whores, and prostitutes in New Spain’s archival records and works of literature from Spain and Mexico. Performing ...
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This book recounts four centuries of the history of women labeled public women, whores, and prostitutes in New Spain’s archival records and works of literature from Spain and Mexico. Performing conventional gender roles, women resisted the archival inscription of these labels, so this complex story of multi-layered viceregal sex work acknowledges the ambiguities and limitations of documenting the history of sexuality via written sources. The elusive, ever-changing terminology for prosecuted women in the early modern Iberian world, voiced by kings, jurists, magistrates, inquisitors, and bishops, as well as disgruntled husbands and neighbors, foreshadows the increasing regulation, criminalization, and polarizing politics of modern global transactional sex. Key themes include: the history of the word “prostitute/prostitution,” narratives presented by women in a court setting, the creation of a victim narrative by defendants and prosecutors, legal history, and the importance of the economic and familial context in shaping sexual transactionality. Sources used come from the archives of police, church, and inquisitorial investigations. Interpretations are shaped by archival and sex work activism theories.Less
This book recounts four centuries of the history of women labeled public women, whores, and prostitutes in New Spain’s archival records and works of literature from Spain and Mexico. Performing conventional gender roles, women resisted the archival inscription of these labels, so this complex story of multi-layered viceregal sex work acknowledges the ambiguities and limitations of documenting the history of sexuality via written sources. The elusive, ever-changing terminology for prosecuted women in the early modern Iberian world, voiced by kings, jurists, magistrates, inquisitors, and bishops, as well as disgruntled husbands and neighbors, foreshadows the increasing regulation, criminalization, and polarizing politics of modern global transactional sex. Key themes include: the history of the word “prostitute/prostitution,” narratives presented by women in a court setting, the creation of a victim narrative by defendants and prosecutors, legal history, and the importance of the economic and familial context in shaping sexual transactionality. Sources used come from the archives of police, church, and inquisitorial investigations. Interpretations are shaped by archival and sex work activism theories.
Louise Settle
- Published in print:
- 2016
- Published Online:
- September 2017
- ISBN:
- 9781474400008
- eISBN:
- 9781474422543
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Edinburgh University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3366/edinburgh/9781474400008.001.0001
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Scottish Studies
Sex for Sale in Scotland examines the various formal and informal methods that were used to police female prostitution in Edinburgh and Glasgow between 1900 and 1939 and explores how these policies ...
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Sex for Sale in Scotland examines the various formal and informal methods that were used to police female prostitution in Edinburgh and Glasgow between 1900 and 1939 and explores how these policies influenced women’s lives. The book uses a rich combination of police, probation, magistrates’, poor law and voluntary organisations’ records to demonstrate how these organisations worked together to establish a more ‘penal-welfare’ approach towards regulating prostitution in Scotland. By mapping the geography of prostitution, the book argues that prostitution was not necessarily forced into the outskirts of society, either physically or socially.
The book examines both indoor and outdoor prostitution and the relationships that developed among the wide range of people who profited from commercial sex. Particular emphasis is placed on the experiences of the women involved in prostitution, highlighting the poverty, exploitation and abuse they faced, but also the ways in which they negotiated these dangers. This social history of prostitution maps how the organisation, policing and experiences of prostitution developed in an ever-changing urban landscape during a period of extraordinary developments in technology and entertainment, alongside the wider socio-economic changes brought about by the First World War.Less
Sex for Sale in Scotland examines the various formal and informal methods that were used to police female prostitution in Edinburgh and Glasgow between 1900 and 1939 and explores how these policies influenced women’s lives. The book uses a rich combination of police, probation, magistrates’, poor law and voluntary organisations’ records to demonstrate how these organisations worked together to establish a more ‘penal-welfare’ approach towards regulating prostitution in Scotland. By mapping the geography of prostitution, the book argues that prostitution was not necessarily forced into the outskirts of society, either physically or socially.
The book examines both indoor and outdoor prostitution and the relationships that developed among the wide range of people who profited from commercial sex. Particular emphasis is placed on the experiences of the women involved in prostitution, highlighting the poverty, exploitation and abuse they faced, but also the ways in which they negotiated these dangers. This social history of prostitution maps how the organisation, policing and experiences of prostitution developed in an ever-changing urban landscape during a period of extraordinary developments in technology and entertainment, alongside the wider socio-economic changes brought about by the First World War.
Felicity Chaplin
- Published in print:
- 2017
- Published Online:
- January 2018
- ISBN:
- 9781526109538
- eISBN:
- 9781526128263
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Manchester University Press
- DOI:
- 10.7228/manchester/9781526109538.001.0001
- Subject:
- Film, Television and Radio, Film
While there have been significant contributions on la Parisienne in the fields of art history, fashion theory and culture, and cultural history, little is written on her appearance and function in ...
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While there have been significant contributions on la Parisienne in the fields of art history, fashion theory and culture, and cultural history, little is written on her appearance and function in cinema. This book is an attempt to address this gap in scholarship by examining the figure of la Parisienne in cinema.
The approach of this book is threefold: textual (the films), contextual (the history of the representations of the Parisienne type), and intertextual (the relationship between the films and other texts such as novels and paintings, extending to the star persona of the actress). However the overarching methodology of this book is iconographical, tracing the historical prefigurations of la Parisienne in the art, literature, and mass culture of nineteenth-century France.
The findings of this book are both general (la Parisienne as a cultural type) and specific (la Parisienne as a she appears in different films). La Parisienne can be defined as a figure of French modernity, understood both in its technological and cultural sense, and is recognisable in terms of six interconnected categories: art, cosmopolitanism, fashion, danger, prostitution, and stardom.
These categories reveal the way the Parisienne type is constantly evolving while at the same time possessing a set of recognisable motifs. By connecting the films discussed in this book to a cultural tradition to which they may not at first appear to belong, this book not only enriches our understanding of these films, it also offers new analytical and interpretative perspectives.Less
While there have been significant contributions on la Parisienne in the fields of art history, fashion theory and culture, and cultural history, little is written on her appearance and function in cinema. This book is an attempt to address this gap in scholarship by examining the figure of la Parisienne in cinema.
The approach of this book is threefold: textual (the films), contextual (the history of the representations of the Parisienne type), and intertextual (the relationship between the films and other texts such as novels and paintings, extending to the star persona of the actress). However the overarching methodology of this book is iconographical, tracing the historical prefigurations of la Parisienne in the art, literature, and mass culture of nineteenth-century France.
The findings of this book are both general (la Parisienne as a cultural type) and specific (la Parisienne as a she appears in different films). La Parisienne can be defined as a figure of French modernity, understood both in its technological and cultural sense, and is recognisable in terms of six interconnected categories: art, cosmopolitanism, fashion, danger, prostitution, and stardom.
These categories reveal the way the Parisienne type is constantly evolving while at the same time possessing a set of recognisable motifs. By connecting the films discussed in this book to a cultural tradition to which they may not at first appear to belong, this book not only enriches our understanding of these films, it also offers new analytical and interpretative perspectives.
Adelyn Lim
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9789888139378
- eISBN:
- 9789888313174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139378.003.0002
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
This chapter outlines the major historical aspects of women's activism during the British colonial period (1843–1997) and the emergence of feminist politics in the lead up to governance under the PRC ...
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This chapter outlines the major historical aspects of women's activism during the British colonial period (1843–1997) and the emergence of feminist politics in the lead up to governance under the PRC (1997–present), with an overview of major figures, organizations, campaigns, and strategies. In Hong Kong, women have always been absent in the political arena and leadership positions–during the British colonial period, they were excluded from positions of governance and, in the lead up to sovereignty under the PRC, their views were not solicited in the organizing of social movements. The historical accounts of women's movements and the narratives of women activists suggest the purposeful development of a women-driven and women-centered critique, initiated by elite expatriate and Chinese women and, thereafter, embraced by local Chinese women's groups. In the development of a discrete space for women's organizing, feminism as a frame is continuously being constituted, contested, reproduced, and displaced by other frames during the course of mobilization. The socio-cultural, economic, and political context is important in shaping the various frames in terms of the ideas they incorporate and articulate. These frames also compete in an uneven playing field with asymmetrical power relations and unequal resources.Less
This chapter outlines the major historical aspects of women's activism during the British colonial period (1843–1997) and the emergence of feminist politics in the lead up to governance under the PRC (1997–present), with an overview of major figures, organizations, campaigns, and strategies. In Hong Kong, women have always been absent in the political arena and leadership positions–during the British colonial period, they were excluded from positions of governance and, in the lead up to sovereignty under the PRC, their views were not solicited in the organizing of social movements. The historical accounts of women's movements and the narratives of women activists suggest the purposeful development of a women-driven and women-centered critique, initiated by elite expatriate and Chinese women and, thereafter, embraced by local Chinese women's groups. In the development of a discrete space for women's organizing, feminism as a frame is continuously being constituted, contested, reproduced, and displaced by other frames during the course of mobilization. The socio-cultural, economic, and political context is important in shaping the various frames in terms of the ideas they incorporate and articulate. These frames also compete in an uneven playing field with asymmetrical power relations and unequal resources.
Adelyn Lim
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9789888139378
- eISBN:
- 9789888313174
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Hong Kong University Press
- DOI:
- 10.5790/hongkong/9789888139378.003.0005
- Subject:
- Society and Culture, Gender Studies
This chapter examines advocacy for the recognition of prostitution as legitimate work and sex workers as working women. The global restructuring of capital has reinforced the exploitation of gendered ...
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This chapter examines advocacy for the recognition of prostitution as legitimate work and sex workers as working women. The global restructuring of capital has reinforced the exploitation of gendered and racialized labor within regional and national sites and the flow of migrants who engage in sexual labor has become a site of intense feminist specification and engagement. In Hong Kong, women activists may disagree on prostitution itself as a practice, but there is extensive agreement that sex workers' entitlement to do their work and demand for recognition of their human rights are essential to cultural-political transformation and women's empowerment. The framing of feminism involves integrating sex workers into agenda setting, reflecting on local organizational forms, rhetoric, and strategies in response to global socio-cultural, economic, and political forces, and imagining new priorities, initiatives, and activities in acknowledgment of evolving feminist understandings.Less
This chapter examines advocacy for the recognition of prostitution as legitimate work and sex workers as working women. The global restructuring of capital has reinforced the exploitation of gendered and racialized labor within regional and national sites and the flow of migrants who engage in sexual labor has become a site of intense feminist specification and engagement. In Hong Kong, women activists may disagree on prostitution itself as a practice, but there is extensive agreement that sex workers' entitlement to do their work and demand for recognition of their human rights are essential to cultural-political transformation and women's empowerment. The framing of feminism involves integrating sex workers into agenda setting, reflecting on local organizational forms, rhetoric, and strategies in response to global socio-cultural, economic, and political forces, and imagining new priorities, initiatives, and activities in acknowledgment of evolving feminist understandings.
Samantha Caslin
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9781786941251
- eISBN:
- 9781789629309
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- Liverpool University Press
- DOI:
- 10.3828/liverpool/9781786941251.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, Social History
Save the Womanhood examines twentieth-century anxieties about promiscuity and prostitution, and the efforts of social purists to ‘save’ working-class women from themselves. Offering an historical ...
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Save the Womanhood examines twentieth-century anxieties about promiscuity and prostitution, and the efforts of social purists to ‘save’ working-class women from themselves. Offering an historical analysis of concerns about women’s interactions with urban space beyond London, the book notes that the pioneering work of women philanthropists and women police patrollers in Liverpool often ran counter to the ambitions and liberties of other women who travelled through the city in search of work and adventure. National debates about the efficacy of solicitation laws, fears about ‘white slavery’ and concerns about changing sexual practices and new consumer cultures gave women street patrollers in Liverpool greater opportunity to justify their own forms of ‘respectable’ public womanhood. For much of the twentieth century, these women patrollers networked with other agencies to enact a powerful form of moral surveillance on the streets. Yet the book also notes that the post-war decline of social purity organizations did not mean that their ideas about the need to monitor female morality went away. The book argues that when female-run, local organizations concerned about immorality went into decline in the post-war years, it was because official institutions and local law enforcement had increasingly taken up their cause. As such, this is a history that also speaks to contemporary debates about the criminalization of sex workers by showing how laws against solicitation have been historically intertwined with moral judgement of women’s sexual practices.Less
Save the Womanhood examines twentieth-century anxieties about promiscuity and prostitution, and the efforts of social purists to ‘save’ working-class women from themselves. Offering an historical analysis of concerns about women’s interactions with urban space beyond London, the book notes that the pioneering work of women philanthropists and women police patrollers in Liverpool often ran counter to the ambitions and liberties of other women who travelled through the city in search of work and adventure. National debates about the efficacy of solicitation laws, fears about ‘white slavery’ and concerns about changing sexual practices and new consumer cultures gave women street patrollers in Liverpool greater opportunity to justify their own forms of ‘respectable’ public womanhood. For much of the twentieth century, these women patrollers networked with other agencies to enact a powerful form of moral surveillance on the streets. Yet the book also notes that the post-war decline of social purity organizations did not mean that their ideas about the need to monitor female morality went away. The book argues that when female-run, local organizations concerned about immorality went into decline in the post-war years, it was because official institutions and local law enforcement had increasingly taken up their cause. As such, this is a history that also speaks to contemporary debates about the criminalization of sex workers by showing how laws against solicitation have been historically intertwined with moral judgement of women’s sexual practices.
Holly M. Karibo
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469625201
- eISBN:
- 9781469625225
- Item type:
- book
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469625201.001.0001
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
Sin City North examines the history of illicit economies in the Detroit-Windsor borderland during the post-World War II period. Karibo uncovers a thriving illegal border culture in the bars, ...
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Sin City North examines the history of illicit economies in the Detroit-Windsor borderland during the post-World War II period. Karibo uncovers a thriving illegal border culture in the bars, brothels, dance halls, and jazz clubs that emerged around the busiest crossing point between the United States and Canada. Prostitution and illegal drug economies gained renewed importance at a time when suburbanization, industrial decline, and racial segregation were re-shaping the region. For many residents, vice industries provided much-needed income in the fledgling labor market. Yet, the increasing visibility of illicit economies on city streets—and the growing number of African American and French Canadian women working in illegal trades—provoked strong reactions from moral reformers. Framing their efforts within the context of the Cold War, these interest groups worked together across the border in order to eliminate so-called immoral outsiders from their communities. This critical study demonstrates that struggles over the meaning of vice evolved into much more than defining the legal status of particular activities; they were also crucial avenues through which men and women attempted to define productive citizenship and community in the postwar urban borderland.Less
Sin City North examines the history of illicit economies in the Detroit-Windsor borderland during the post-World War II period. Karibo uncovers a thriving illegal border culture in the bars, brothels, dance halls, and jazz clubs that emerged around the busiest crossing point between the United States and Canada. Prostitution and illegal drug economies gained renewed importance at a time when suburbanization, industrial decline, and racial segregation were re-shaping the region. For many residents, vice industries provided much-needed income in the fledgling labor market. Yet, the increasing visibility of illicit economies on city streets—and the growing number of African American and French Canadian women working in illegal trades—provoked strong reactions from moral reformers. Framing their efforts within the context of the Cold War, these interest groups worked together across the border in order to eliminate so-called immoral outsiders from their communities. This critical study demonstrates that struggles over the meaning of vice evolved into much more than defining the legal status of particular activities; they were also crucial avenues through which men and women attempted to define productive citizenship and community in the postwar urban borderland.
Holly M. Karibo
- Published in print:
- 2015
- Published Online:
- May 2016
- ISBN:
- 9781469625201
- eISBN:
- 9781469625225
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- University of North Carolina Press
- DOI:
- 10.5149/northcarolina/9781469625201.003.0003
- Subject:
- History, American History: 19th Century
With the closing of World War II, the number of people crossing the border between Detroit and Windsor once again began to rise. Legal tourism developed as part of the postwar push towards ...
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With the closing of World War II, the number of people crossing the border between Detroit and Windsor once again began to rise. Legal tourism developed as part of the postwar push towards consumption and leisure, and city boosters attempted to build on the notion of friendship and reciprocity in order to promote border-crossing as both an economic boon and a symbolic political action in the context of the Cold War. Yet, not all tourism was based around the family-friendly vacation or legal shopping trip. Alongside legal tourism, prostitution industries also emerged and catered to the cross-border traveller. In the border region, sex tourism build on the appeal of crossing multiple boundaries—racial, spatial, and national—drawing customers into an urban underworld that defied some normative social values in the postwar years.Less
With the closing of World War II, the number of people crossing the border between Detroit and Windsor once again began to rise. Legal tourism developed as part of the postwar push towards consumption and leisure, and city boosters attempted to build on the notion of friendship and reciprocity in order to promote border-crossing as both an economic boon and a symbolic political action in the context of the Cold War. Yet, not all tourism was based around the family-friendly vacation or legal shopping trip. Alongside legal tourism, prostitution industries also emerged and catered to the cross-border traveller. In the border region, sex tourism build on the appeal of crossing multiple boundaries—racial, spatial, and national—drawing customers into an urban underworld that defied some normative social values in the postwar years.
Jessica R. Pliley
- Published in print:
- 2018
- Published Online:
- September 2019
- ISBN:
- 9780197266472
- eISBN:
- 9780191884214
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- British Academy
- DOI:
- 10.5871/bacad/9780197266472.003.0011
- Subject:
- Business and Management, Political Economy
This Chapter examines the challenges that historians face when researching illicit labour and the shadow economy – in this case, prostitution and sex trafficking. It argues that generating reliable ...
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This Chapter examines the challenges that historians face when researching illicit labour and the shadow economy – in this case, prostitution and sex trafficking. It argues that generating reliable data about the extent of prostitution and sex trafficking continues to be an insurmountable challenge for historians, just as it was for the historical subjects historians study. It notes that like today’s debates about what practices actually constitute forced labour, the parameters of the term ‘white slavery’ were similarly contested. And it suggests that political forces produced the quantifiable data about white slavery, but the very archives that house the sources historians use are themselves political spaces and function to legitimize state power, reformers’ values, and narratives where the ‘victim’ was rendered silent.Less
This Chapter examines the challenges that historians face when researching illicit labour and the shadow economy – in this case, prostitution and sex trafficking. It argues that generating reliable data about the extent of prostitution and sex trafficking continues to be an insurmountable challenge for historians, just as it was for the historical subjects historians study. It notes that like today’s debates about what practices actually constitute forced labour, the parameters of the term ‘white slavery’ were similarly contested. And it suggests that political forces produced the quantifiable data about white slavery, but the very archives that house the sources historians use are themselves political spaces and function to legitimize state power, reformers’ values, and narratives where the ‘victim’ was rendered silent.
- Published in print:
- 2012
- Published Online:
- June 2013
- ISBN:
- 9780804776912
- eISBN:
- 9780804783460
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Stanford University Press
- DOI:
- 10.11126/stanford/9780804776912.003.0007
- Subject:
- History, Asian History
This chapter describes the consolidation of new sexual markets that persist to this day. The 1956 law resulted in the demise of licensed sex work. The Prostitution Prevention Law and the impulse to ...
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This chapter describes the consolidation of new sexual markets that persist to this day. The 1956 law resulted in the demise of licensed sex work. The Prostitution Prevention Law and the impulse to define sex work as a social evil have deeply regulated both Japan's sex industry and the lives of individual women. The Law has made it much harder for women to organize against the abuses and demand better working conditions. It is then shown that the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Law is widely considered as a success for a transnational alliance of feminists, child welfare, and human rights activists. Japanese women had relationships and in some cases offspring with men from many countries. Furthermore, it is noted that sex work no longer plays the part in the Japanese economy that it did during the early postwar years.Less
This chapter describes the consolidation of new sexual markets that persist to this day. The 1956 law resulted in the demise of licensed sex work. The Prostitution Prevention Law and the impulse to define sex work as a social evil have deeply regulated both Japan's sex industry and the lives of individual women. The Law has made it much harder for women to organize against the abuses and demand better working conditions. It is then shown that the Child Prostitution and Child Pornography Law is widely considered as a success for a transnational alliance of feminists, child welfare, and human rights activists. Japanese women had relationships and in some cases offspring with men from many countries. Furthermore, it is noted that sex work no longer plays the part in the Japanese economy that it did during the early postwar years.
Gillian Abel and Lisa Fitzgerald
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0001
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
Prior to the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act of 2003 (PRA), although sex work in New Zealand was not deemed illegal, the activities associated with it, such as soliciting, brothel keeping, ...
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Prior to the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act of 2003 (PRA), although sex work in New Zealand was not deemed illegal, the activities associated with it, such as soliciting, brothel keeping, living on the earnings of prostitution, and procuring, were criminalised. This criminalisation of sex-work-related activities led to violence, coercion, and exploitation. For nearly two decades the New Zealand Prostitutes's Collective (NZPC), together with politicians, women's rights activists, academics, and other volunteers, advocated and lobbied for legislative change. And in June 2003, New Zealand became the first country to decriminalise sex work when the PRA was voted and passed. This legislative approach is different from other international approaches as it represents a shift from regulating sex work from a moral perspective to acknowledging the human rights of this section of the population. By decriminalisation, prostitution and sex work were acknowledged as service work. And through the legislative reform, sex workers in New Zealand were able to operate under the same employment and legal rights accorded to any other occupational group. This book examines the decriminalisation of prostitution in New Zealand. It looks at the particularities of the history of prostitution in the country, how it evolved, and how it has gained acceptance by the public. Chapters Two to Six examine the passing of the PRA in 2003. Chapter Seven outlines the statutory authority for the Prostitution Law Review Committee, its membership, and its role. Chapter Eight presents a research project commissioned by the Ministry of Justice for the review of the PRA. Chapter Ten to Fourteen provide a detailed review of the research done by the Christchurch School of Medicine. In these four chapters, the methodological approach, the public health authorities's experiences, the role of media, the decriminalisation and harm minimisation, and the ongoing perceptions of stigma, form the focus. The concluding chapter brings together the material covered in the book by summarising the effects of decriminalisation of the sex industry in New Zealand.Less
Prior to the passing of the Prostitution Reform Act of 2003 (PRA), although sex work in New Zealand was not deemed illegal, the activities associated with it, such as soliciting, brothel keeping, living on the earnings of prostitution, and procuring, were criminalised. This criminalisation of sex-work-related activities led to violence, coercion, and exploitation. For nearly two decades the New Zealand Prostitutes's Collective (NZPC), together with politicians, women's rights activists, academics, and other volunteers, advocated and lobbied for legislative change. And in June 2003, New Zealand became the first country to decriminalise sex work when the PRA was voted and passed. This legislative approach is different from other international approaches as it represents a shift from regulating sex work from a moral perspective to acknowledging the human rights of this section of the population. By decriminalisation, prostitution and sex work were acknowledged as service work. And through the legislative reform, sex workers in New Zealand were able to operate under the same employment and legal rights accorded to any other occupational group. This book examines the decriminalisation of prostitution in New Zealand. It looks at the particularities of the history of prostitution in the country, how it evolved, and how it has gained acceptance by the public. Chapters Two to Six examine the passing of the PRA in 2003. Chapter Seven outlines the statutory authority for the Prostitution Law Review Committee, its membership, and its role. Chapter Eight presents a research project commissioned by the Ministry of Justice for the review of the PRA. Chapter Ten to Fourteen provide a detailed review of the research done by the Christchurch School of Medicine. In these four chapters, the methodological approach, the public health authorities's experiences, the role of media, the decriminalisation and harm minimisation, and the ongoing perceptions of stigma, form the focus. The concluding chapter brings together the material covered in the book by summarising the effects of decriminalisation of the sex industry in New Zealand.
Jan Jordan
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0002
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter explores the history of sex work in New Zealand prior to the passing of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act. It begins by discussing the impact of colonisation and the attitudes towards ...
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This chapter explores the history of sex work in New Zealand prior to the passing of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act. It begins by discussing the impact of colonisation and the attitudes towards prostitution that emerged in the nineteenth century. Against this backdrop, the chapter considers the more recent influences that gave rise to the 2003 law change. Focus is particularly given to the women working in the sex industry, although the chapter also considers some of the clients' preferences for male prostitutes. The goal of the chapter is to suggest, through historical ideas and movements, why New Zealand became the first country to decriminalise sex work, and how such legislative change is consistent with its specific social and cultural context.Less
This chapter explores the history of sex work in New Zealand prior to the passing of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act. It begins by discussing the impact of colonisation and the attitudes towards prostitution that emerged in the nineteenth century. Against this backdrop, the chapter considers the more recent influences that gave rise to the 2003 law change. Focus is particularly given to the women working in the sex industry, although the chapter also considers some of the clients' preferences for male prostitutes. The goal of the chapter is to suggest, through historical ideas and movements, why New Zealand became the first country to decriminalise sex work, and how such legislative change is consistent with its specific social and cultural context.
Tim Barnett, Catherine Healy, Anna Reed, and Calum Bennachie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0004
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
The campaign for the reform of New Zealand's sex work laws took nearly two decades. Due to the increasing awareness of the injustices of the old laws, people who were to gain from the reform began ...
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The campaign for the reform of New Zealand's sex work laws took nearly two decades. Due to the increasing awareness of the injustices of the old laws, people who were to gain from the reform began networking to build the New Zealand Prostitutes's Collective (NZPC), which is a nationwide sex-worker organisation. Through the NZPC, sex workers began to build awareness and support for their cause, thus creating a space to look to the long term. This chapter traces the networking, conceptualisation, drafting, and campaign-building stages of the law reform. It also describes the process of further explanation of the law to the public and outlines the parliamentary process through which it passed. To understand the law reform on the decriminalisation of the sex industry, the chapter begins with the history of the political context operating in New Zealand at the time of the decriminalisation process. The parliamentary system operating in the country is believed to have had a great impact on the success of the Prostitution Reform Bill. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the campaign and its outcome from the perspective of Tim Barnett, a Member of the Parliament who sponsored and introduced the Bill in the parliament. It also considers the perspective of the members of the NZPC.Less
The campaign for the reform of New Zealand's sex work laws took nearly two decades. Due to the increasing awareness of the injustices of the old laws, people who were to gain from the reform began networking to build the New Zealand Prostitutes's Collective (NZPC), which is a nationwide sex-worker organisation. Through the NZPC, sex workers began to build awareness and support for their cause, thus creating a space to look to the long term. This chapter traces the networking, conceptualisation, drafting, and campaign-building stages of the law reform. It also describes the process of further explanation of the law to the public and outlines the parliamentary process through which it passed. To understand the law reform on the decriminalisation of the sex industry, the chapter begins with the history of the political context operating in New Zealand at the time of the decriminalisation process. The parliamentary system operating in the country is believed to have had a great impact on the success of the Prostitution Reform Bill. The chapter concludes with some reflections on the campaign and its outcome from the perspective of Tim Barnett, a Member of the Parliament who sponsored and introduced the Bill in the parliament. It also considers the perspective of the members of the NZPC.
Alison Laurie
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0006
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
During the process of the decriminalisation of sex work in New Zealand, several sentiments arose. Of particular interest were the feminist sentiments that both opposed and supported the cause for law ...
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During the process of the decriminalisation of sex work in New Zealand, several sentiments arose. Of particular interest were the feminist sentiments that both opposed and supported the cause for law reform. This chapter explores the diverse New Zealand feminist views. It uses examples submitted to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee that considered the Prostitution Reform Bill. The submissions selected in the chapter are those from self-identified feminist individuals or organisations or from men and women whose arguments could be considered as feminist. Of the 222 submissions received by the committee, 56 are considered in this chapter, wherein 40 supported decriminalising prostitution and 16 opposed it. The present chapter aims to serve as a guide to achieving a good understanding of the range of arguments based on feminist ideas presented to the committee. It also includes extracts from a published article by a New Zealand feminist, and some influential international feminist literature when deemed necessary. Although the chapter considers prostitution from an international feminist view, it mainly focuses on the views expressed by New Zealand feminists.Less
During the process of the decriminalisation of sex work in New Zealand, several sentiments arose. Of particular interest were the feminist sentiments that both opposed and supported the cause for law reform. This chapter explores the diverse New Zealand feminist views. It uses examples submitted to the Justice and Electoral Select Committee that considered the Prostitution Reform Bill. The submissions selected in the chapter are those from self-identified feminist individuals or organisations or from men and women whose arguments could be considered as feminist. Of the 222 submissions received by the committee, 56 are considered in this chapter, wherein 40 supported decriminalising prostitution and 16 opposed it. The present chapter aims to serve as a guide to achieving a good understanding of the range of arguments based on feminist ideas presented to the committee. It also includes extracts from a published article by a New Zealand feminist, and some influential international feminist literature when deemed necessary. Although the chapter considers prostitution from an international feminist view, it mainly focuses on the views expressed by New Zealand feminists.
Elaine Mossman
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0008
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter is based on the Victoria University of Wellington research project that was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice. The research was commissioned to assist the Prostitution Law Review ...
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This chapter is based on the Victoria University of Wellington research project that was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice. The research was commissioned to assist the Prostitution Law Review Committee in its review of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). It examined the perspectives on the PRA of those who had been able to observe firsthand the impact of the Act on sex workers and the sex industry. The project involved interviewing the brothel owners and operators, and the non-government organisations that were active in providing support, advocacy, education, and health services to sex workers. Interviews with these groups ascertained their level of support for the PRA prior to and after its implementation. In the chapter, the views of the brothel operators and support agencies on the effectiveness of the PRA in meeting its stated objective are noted. The project examined the provisions of the PRA on: wealth; health and safety; conditions of employment; system of certification; assistance to those leaving the industry; persons under 18 years of age; and territorial authorities. While there are exceptions, the overall view was that the sex industry was satisfied with the provisions of the PRA. Those in brothel operations and support agencies felt that with time and increased monitoring and enforcement of its provisions, the positive intentions behind the PRA could be more fully realised.Less
This chapter is based on the Victoria University of Wellington research project that was commissioned by the Ministry of Justice. The research was commissioned to assist the Prostitution Law Review Committee in its review of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). It examined the perspectives on the PRA of those who had been able to observe firsthand the impact of the Act on sex workers and the sex industry. The project involved interviewing the brothel owners and operators, and the non-government organisations that were active in providing support, advocacy, education, and health services to sex workers. Interviews with these groups ascertained their level of support for the PRA prior to and after its implementation. In the chapter, the views of the brothel operators and support agencies on the effectiveness of the PRA in meeting its stated objective are noted. The project examined the provisions of the PRA on: wealth; health and safety; conditions of employment; system of certification; assistance to those leaving the industry; persons under 18 years of age; and territorial authorities. While there are exceptions, the overall view was that the sex industry was satisfied with the provisions of the PRA. Those in brothel operations and support agencies felt that with time and increased monitoring and enforcement of its provisions, the positive intentions behind the PRA could be more fully realised.
Dean Knight
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0009
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter investigates the local-government response to the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) of 2003, with particular emphasis on the continuing regulation of prostitution after the law reform. ...
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This chapter investigates the local-government response to the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) of 2003, with particular emphasis on the continuing regulation of prostitution after the law reform. First, it examines the local regulatory options such as by-laws, decisions on resource consents, and district plan rules, which continue to be in operation after the decriminalisation of prostitution. Second, the chapter discusses the extent to which the local authorities have adopted these regulatory initiatives as well as the legal challenges to them. It ends by evaluating the state of affairs around local regulation and by briefly touching on the tension emerging from the local ambivalence towards the national countenance of prostitution.Less
This chapter investigates the local-government response to the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) of 2003, with particular emphasis on the continuing regulation of prostitution after the law reform. First, it examines the local regulatory options such as by-laws, decisions on resource consents, and district plan rules, which continue to be in operation after the decriminalisation of prostitution. Second, the chapter discusses the extent to which the local authorities have adopted these regulatory initiatives as well as the legal challenges to them. It ends by evaluating the state of affairs around local regulation and by briefly touching on the tension emerging from the local ambivalence towards the national countenance of prostitution.
Gillian Abel, Lisa Fitzgerald, and Cheryl Brunton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0010
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter offers a detailed account of the methodological approach and the methods used by the University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine (CSoM) in examining the implication of the 2003 ...
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This chapter offers a detailed account of the methodological approach and the methods used by the University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine (CSoM) in examining the implication of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) on the health and safety practices of sex workers. It begins by discussing the community-based participatory research, a method that is regarded as the best practice in research involving marginalised groups of people such as sex workers. The chapter also describes the mixed-method research, which utilised quantitative and qualitative methods. It also discusses the quantitative arm of the research, the development of the questionnaire, the methods used to sample the survey population, the process of quantitative data collection, and the analysis of the questionnaire data. The description of the qualitative arm of the research gives attention to the selection of the samples, the semi-structured in-depth interviews undertaken to collect the data, and its theoretical thematic analysis. The chapter also provides a content analysis of newspaper coverage of the PRA.Less
This chapter offers a detailed account of the methodological approach and the methods used by the University of Otago, Christchurch School of Medicine (CSoM) in examining the implication of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) on the health and safety practices of sex workers. It begins by discussing the community-based participatory research, a method that is regarded as the best practice in research involving marginalised groups of people such as sex workers. The chapter also describes the mixed-method research, which utilised quantitative and qualitative methods. It also discusses the quantitative arm of the research, the development of the questionnaire, the methods used to sample the survey population, the process of quantitative data collection, and the analysis of the questionnaire data. The description of the qualitative arm of the research gives attention to the selection of the samples, the semi-structured in-depth interviews undertaken to collect the data, and its theoretical thematic analysis. The chapter also provides a content analysis of newspaper coverage of the PRA.
Cheryl Brunton
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0011
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
The passage of the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) in 2003 brought with it new and unexpected responsibilities for the public-health authorities, particularly the Medical Officers of Health. The ...
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The passage of the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) in 2003 brought with it new and unexpected responsibilities for the public-health authorities, particularly the Medical Officers of Health. The architects of the legislation saw public health as an important consideration in the regulatory reform of the sex industry. Within this context, the Medical Officers of Health were made inspectors of brothels. By making them inspectors of the sex industry, the Officers were given the power to appoint inspectors as well as submit proposed bylaws under the PRA to the local authorities. This chapter begins by tracing the statutory roles of Medical Officers of Health under the PRA. It examines the early responses of public-health authorities to the idea of implementing the legislation. Focus is particularly given to the views of Medical Officers of Health and other public- and occupational-health workers on their roles under the Act and their experience of its implementation. Included also are the several approaches undertaken by the public-health services in implementing the legislation, plus the approaches to complaints and interactions with other agencies. The latter section of the chapter focuses on and analyses the content of public-health submissions on proposed bylaws under the PRA. It also discusses the effect of these submissions on subsequent bylaws.Less
The passage of the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA) in 2003 brought with it new and unexpected responsibilities for the public-health authorities, particularly the Medical Officers of Health. The architects of the legislation saw public health as an important consideration in the regulatory reform of the sex industry. Within this context, the Medical Officers of Health were made inspectors of brothels. By making them inspectors of the sex industry, the Officers were given the power to appoint inspectors as well as submit proposed bylaws under the PRA to the local authorities. This chapter begins by tracing the statutory roles of Medical Officers of Health under the PRA. It examines the early responses of public-health authorities to the idea of implementing the legislation. Focus is particularly given to the views of Medical Officers of Health and other public- and occupational-health workers on their roles under the Act and their experience of its implementation. Included also are the several approaches undertaken by the public-health services in implementing the legislation, plus the approaches to complaints and interactions with other agencies. The latter section of the chapter focuses on and analyses the content of public-health submissions on proposed bylaws under the PRA. It also discusses the effect of these submissions on subsequent bylaws.
Lisa Fitzgerald and Gillian Abel
- Published in print:
- 2010
- Published Online:
- March 2012
- ISBN:
- 9781847423344
- eISBN:
- 9781447303664
- Item type:
- chapter
- Publisher:
- Policy Press
- DOI:
- 10.1332/policypress/9781847423344.003.0012
- Subject:
- Social Work, Crime and Justice
This chapter examines the role of the media in the context of the implementation of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). It determines whether the media coverage of the PRA reinforced existing ...
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This chapter examines the role of the media in the context of the implementation of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). It determines whether the media coverage of the PRA reinforced existing moral discourses of sex work or developed original ones within the new policy context. To determine the role played by the media, a content analysis of the print-media reporting on the PRA is provided. The chapter also explores messages communicated in and by the print media in New Zealand from 2003 to 2006. It furthermore employs a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 58 sex workers concerning their media-coverage experiences. The main emphasis of the chapter is on the moral discourses of sex work, which dominated print media in spite of the media's attempts to maintain a neutral stand on prostitution. Reporting that focused on the morality of prostitution was particularly acknowledged by the sex workers, and was believed to be a tool for the reinforcement of the existing stigmatisation of sex work. Apart from highlighting the type of media reporting that reinforced stigmatisation, the chapter also highlights the manner in which sex workers resisted dominant discourses in their everyday practices.Less
This chapter examines the role of the media in the context of the implementation of the 2003 Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). It determines whether the media coverage of the PRA reinforced existing moral discourses of sex work or developed original ones within the new policy context. To determine the role played by the media, a content analysis of the print-media reporting on the PRA is provided. The chapter also explores messages communicated in and by the print media in New Zealand from 2003 to 2006. It furthermore employs a qualitative analysis of in-depth interviews with 58 sex workers concerning their media-coverage experiences. The main emphasis of the chapter is on the moral discourses of sex work, which dominated print media in spite of the media's attempts to maintain a neutral stand on prostitution. Reporting that focused on the morality of prostitution was particularly acknowledged by the sex workers, and was believed to be a tool for the reinforcement of the existing stigmatisation of sex work. Apart from highlighting the type of media reporting that reinforced stigmatisation, the chapter also highlights the manner in which sex workers resisted dominant discourses in their everyday practices.
