This is the first study of the emerging phenomenon of sex workers, asserting that they are entitled to workers' rights. Drawing on examples from Australia, Britain, Canada, Germany, The Netherlands, New Zealand and the USA the book analyzes the contexts for this struggle and the opportunities and challenges facing these unionization projects.

This book concerns the projects and processes of sex worker unionisation and more widely forms of sex worker self-interest representation. Since the late 1980s, sex workers have unionised themselves as collective associations of workers in their worksites in many countries. The term ‘sex workers’, chosen by sex workers themselves, is a generic one covering all those who sell sexual services and comprises prostitutes, exotic dancers, porn actors and sex chat line workers. ,

Sex Worker Unionisation examines the challenges and opportunities offered by unionisation for Sex Workers. Exploring unionisation projects undertaken by Sex Workers in most major economies, this ground-breaking study shows how sex-workers have collectively sought to control and organise their work and working lives by co-determining the wage-effort with their de facto employers. It highlights the range of significant obstacles that have impeded their progress, including owner hostility, state regulation and the sway of radical feminism that is present in many unions. Outlining a more efficacious model for sex worker unionisation based upon combining occupation unionism and social movement unionism, this pioneering and controversial new book offers an important study of business organization in a unique industry.

While 'union organising' has developed over time and in many different environments, it has become apparent that a number of key problems have developed. Evaluating its efficacy in terms of union strategies, tactics, styles and resources, this title outlines a number of strategies for improving these deficiences.

How the law harms sex workers—and what they want instead Do you have to endorse prostitution in order to support sex worker rights? Should clients be criminalized, and can the police deliver justice? In Revolting Prostitutes, sex workers Juno Mac and Molly Smith bring a fresh perspective to questions that have long been contentious. Speaking from a growing global sex worker rights movement, and situating their argument firmly within wider questions of migration, work, feminism, and resistance to white supremacy, they make it clear that anyone committed to working towards justice and freedom should be in support of the sex worker rights movement.

This imaginative and comprehensive introduction to the sex industry is as welcome as it is timely.... This is a rewarding and topical book that I would urge all interested parties to consult. Graham Scambler, Professor of Medical Sociology, University College London. A remarkably thorough analysis of prostitution in contemporary society. Situating sex work at the intersection of economy, occupation, and emotion, the authors illuminate the complex forces that shape prostitution within an emerging global order. Bringing their analysis full circle, they close with a helpful exploration of the methods by which researchers are able to investigate an area of such danger and controversy. All in all, a courageous and important book. Jeff Ferrell, Visiting Professor of Criminology, University of Kent, UK, and Professor of Sociology, Texas Christian University, USA. This excellent text fills a gap in the market as it explores the full range of issues covering sex work, policy and politics....A fascinating and informative text which will become the leading handbook in this area. Dr Louise Westmarland, Senior Lecturer in Criminology, The Open University Many commentators have attempted to analyze and explain the nature of prostitution. However, this is the first textbook to offer a complete overview of the way it operates within contemporary society, its characteristics, organzational structures and cultural contexts. The book also explores how criminal, social and health policies have sought to regulate and control the selling of sex. This introduction to the sociology and criminology of sex work is: " comprehensive - covering all key areas common to the study of the female sex industry and also includes male and transgender sex work, and the sexual exploitation of young people " interdisciplinary - combining sociological approaches with criminology, criminal justice studies, social policy, health research and sexuality studies " comparative - including the international context of the sex industry, drawing on European and other examples of law, regulation and systems that govern the sex industry " student-focused - offering a lively writing style, case studies, summaries of relevant legislation, study questions and guidance on further reading " accessible - assisting student learning and aiding lecturers in their teaching. Written by leading experts with over 20 years' experience in researching and teaching in the field, this is a must for all criminology, criminal justice and sociology students taking modules in sex industry and prostitution studies. It will also appeal to those in gender studies and social policy.

Never before have prostitution, strip clubs and pornography been as profitable, widely used or embedded in mainstream culture as they are today. How society should respond to the rise of the sex trade is shaping up to be one of the Twenty-First Century's big questions. Should it be legal to pay for sex? Isn't it a woman's choice whether she strips for money? Could online porn warping the attitudes of a generation of boys? An increasingly popular set of answers maintains that prostitution is just work, porn is fantasy, demand is inevitable; so fully legalise the sex trade and it can be made safe. Kat Banyard contends that these are profoundly dangerous myths. Sexual consent is not a commodity, objectification and abuse are inherent to prostitution, and the sex trade poses a grave threat to the struggle for women's equality.Skilfully weaving together first-hand investigation, interviews and the latest research, Pimp State powerfully argues that sex trade myth-makers will find themselves on the wrong side of history.

Sex Work Matters brings together sex workers, scholars and activists to present pioneering essays on the economics and sociology of sex work. From insights by sex workers on how they handle money, intimate relationships and daily harassment by the police, to the experience of male and transgender sex work, this fascinating and original book offers new theoretical frameworks for understanding the sex industry. The result is a vital new contribution to sex-worker rights that explores the topic in new ways, especially its cultural, economic and political dimensions. Readers weary of the sensational and often salacious treatment of the sex industry in the media and literature will find Sex Work Matters refreshing.

This book aims to provide an understanding of the nature of violence against sex workers and the relationship between violence, government legislation and policy, and law enforcement practices. It also examines how inadequacies in the criminal justice system lead to failures in investigations and prosecutions, and failures to prevent violence from known offenders; and how the stereotyping of sex workers, their clients and perpetrators of violence, in the media and in other spheres of academic debate, distorts reality leading to inappropriate or harmful public responses.

This book examines one of the most contested issues facing feminists, human rights activists and governments around the globe – the international sex trade. For decades, the liberal left has been conflicted as to whether pro-prostitution activists or abolitionists hold the correct view, and debates are ongoing as to who holds the key to the solutions facing the women and girls involved. Over the course of two years, Bindel conducted 250 interviews in almost 40 countries, cities and states, traveling around Europe, Asia, North America, Australia, New Zealand, and East and South Africa. Visiting legal brothels all around the world, Bindel got to know pimps, pornographers, survivors of the sex trade, and the women being sold by men classed as ‘business entrepreneurs’. Whilst meeting feminist abolitionists, pro-prostitution campaigners, police and government officials, and the men who drive the demand, Bindel uncovered the lies, mythology and criminal activity that shroud this global trade, and suggests here a way forward for the women seeking to abolish the oldest oppression. Informed by the lived human experience of those interviewed, this book will be of great interest to feminists, students, criminal justice advocates, criminologists and human rights activists.