181 - Thematic Session. Sex Work and Regulation

Session Submission Type: Invited Session

Abstract

The conflation of “human trafficking” and “prostitution” has resulted in the heightened regulation of sex work with most regulation directed towards the barring of sex work. This stance is illustrated in the U.S. Trafficking in Person’s Report and its call “to end the demand for commercial sexual exploitation” as a solution to trafficking. It is likewise reflected in the passage of anti-prostitution laws as an anti-trafficking measure across a variety of states including Canada and Sweden. This panel examines the regulation of sex work, exploring the option of not an end to regulation but of the development of regulations that lead to the greater control of sex workers over their labor. The panel examines “regulation” by analyzing the feminist principles underlying dominant forms of regulation, interrogating the impacts of various regulations, and presenting empirically-based discussions on pro-worker forms of regulation.

Sub Unit

• Thematic Sessions

Session Organizer

• Rhacel Salazar Parrenas, University of Southern California

Presider

• Rhacel Salazar Parrenas, University of Southern California

Panelist

• Rhacel Salazar Parrenas, University of Southern California

Individual Presentations

• The Anti-Trafficking Rehabilitation Complex: Redemptive Labor and Carceral Consumption of Global Sex Work - Elena Shih, Brown University

• What’s Wrong with NGOs and What’s Right with the Johns? How Sex Workers Got their Johns into the Business of Rescue - Kimberly Kay Hoang, Boston College

Discussant

• Kamala Kempadoo, York University