The Politics of Prostitution: Women’s Movements, Democratic States and the Globalisation of Sex Commerce

The most effective way to deal with prostitution has always been hotly debated by governments and women’s movements alike. Feminists want it abolished or regulated as sex work; governments have to safeguard public health and order. This book shows how women’s movements in Western Europe, North America and Australia have affected politics on prostitution and trafficking of women since the 1970s, asking what made them successful in some countries but a failure in others. It also assesses whether government institutions to advance the status of women - so-called women’s policy agencies - have played a key role in achieving policy outcomes favourable to movement demands. Written by an international team of experts and based on original sources, all chapters follow the same framework to ensure comparability. The final chapter offers an overall comparison identifying what makes women’s movements successful and women’s agencies effective, presenting the case for ‘state feminism’.

• An analytical comparative political analysis, on a topic which is usually dealt with from a sociological or social psychological approach • Addresses the question of success and failure of social movements in the public arena, identifying key factors • Discusses prostitution and trafficking as feminist issues in politics

List of figures; List of tables; Notes on contributors; Preface; 1. Introduction: prostitution, women’s movements and democratic politics Joyce Outshoorn; 2. The women’s movement and prostitution politics in Australia Barbara Sullivan; 3. Taxes, rights and regimentation: discourses on prostitution in Austria Birgit Sauer; 4. Prostitution policies in Britain, 1982–2002 Johanna Kantola and Judith Squires; 5. Prostitution as public nuisance: prostitution policy in Canada Leslie Ann Jeffrey; 6. Towards a new prohibitionism? State feminism, women’s movements and prostitution policies in Finland Anne Maria Holli; 7. Prostitute movements face elite apathy and gender-biased universalism in France Amy G. Mazur; 8. The politics of prostitution and trafficking of women in Israel Delila Amir and Menachem Amir; 9. Italy: the never-ending debate Daniela Danna; 10. Voluntary and forced prostitution: the ‘realistic approach’ of the Netherlands Joyce Outshoorn; 11. State feminism and central state debates on prostitution in post-authoritarian Spain Celia Valiente; 12. Criminalising the john - a Swedish gender model Yvonne Svanström; 13. The invisible issue: prostitution and trafficking of women and girls in the United States Dorothy McBride Stetson; 14. Comparative prostitution politics and the case for state feminism Joyce Outshoorn; Appendix 1. Independent variable indicators; Appendix 2. Worksheets; References; Index.