Exiting Prostitution: A Study in Female Desistance

• In Event: Stigma, Desire, and Social Control

Abstract

There has been a considerable amount written on women’s entry into prostitution but relatively little on how they exit. Over the past decade, however, there has been a growing interest in the exiting process. This interest has been stimulated on one hand by a steady stream of sociological and criminological literature on desistance and by the growing realisation that a large percentage of women involved in prostitution would like to exit if they could, on the other. This paper critically explores the exiting process for women engaged in prostitution.

Author

• Roger Matthews, University of Kent, Canterbury, UK