Global Perspectives on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking

This book is part of a two volume set that examines prostitution and sex trafficking on a global scale, with each chapter devoted to a particular country in one of seven "geo-cultural" areas of the world. The 18 chapters in this volume (Volume I) are devoted to examination of the commercial sex industry (CSI) in countries within Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania, while the 16 chapters that comprise Volume II focus exclusively on Europe, Latin America, and North America. Volume II also includes a "global" section, which includes chapters that are globally relevant — rather than those devoted to a particular country or geographic location. The content of each volume, as well as each chapter, reflects great diversity — diversity in focus, writing style, and personal position regarding the commercial sex industry. Diversity extends to the contributors, who are comprised of international scholars, service providers, and policy advocates representing a variety of fields and disciplines, with distinct and varied frames of reference and theoretical underpinnings with regard to the commercial sex industry.In addition to addressing aspects of the CSI across the globe, as impacted by geography and culture, authors have also provided a spectrum of implications of their work — implications ranging from continued scholarship and research, to legislative maneuvers and policy change, to suggestions for collaboration across NGOS, fieldworkers, clinicians, and service providers. Together, the 34 expertly-crafted chapters provide a wealth of knowledge from which to more deeply appreciate and contemplate the global commercial sex industry. By uniting contributors from around the world, this book aims to build a relatively common knowledge base on global prostitution and sex trafficking.

This two-volume set comprising 34 chapters written by scholars from a wide variety of countries shows the diversity of perspectives on the commercial sex industry. The editors have achieved something that is rare in scholarship - an interdisciplinary and intersectoral lens on prostitution and trafficking that challenges the myth that they are synonymous, yet at the same time shows their frequent intersection with economic marginalization, social exclusion and repressive legal frameworks that restrict human rights for some of the most vulnerable populations. The authors also engage insightfully with both theoretical and practical issues emerging from this key arena of gender politics and policy., This two volume edition provides some intriguing insights into the sex industry in developed and developing countries. It is an interesting and informative collection of opinion pieces from around the world, some evidence-based and others informed by the philosophical position of the author. The contributions, therefore, provide a diversity of perspectives from those advocating the total abolition of sex work, to those arguing for decriminalization to minimize harm to sex workers and acknowledge the human rights of this population.

Rochelle L. Dalla is associate professor of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Lynda M. Baker was an associate professor (retired 2010) in the School of Library and Information Science at Wayne State University. John DeFrain is professor of Child, Youth, and Family Studies at the University of Nebraska-Lincoln. Celia Williamson is a professor in the Department of Social Work at the University of Toledo.