Spain underwent a series of tumultuous social and political changes in the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries. Prostitute women directly experienced these changes as fluctuations in their social and legal status within Spanish society. The years spanning from 1874 to 1931 are known as the Restoration, when the Bourbon monarchy was reinstalled under King Alfonso XII (1857-1885) after the crumbling of the First Spanish Republic (1873-1874). During this time, Spain experienced a period of growing nationalism and urbanization, and prostitution began to be interpreted as a threat to the nation in terms of public health and decency. Between 1923 and 1930, Spain was under the royally-sponsored military dictatorship of Miguel Primo de Rivera (1870-1930). Primo de Rivera stifled much of the public discussion around the problem of prostitution. Spain later returned briefly to a Republican mode of government in 1931, and the Second Republic turned a portion of its divided attention to the reform of prostitution laws. The chaos of the Spanish Civil War between 1936 and 1939 disrupted these Republican reforms but provided an opportunity for radical groups, including Mujeres Libres, to campaign against prostitution in new and innovative ways.

While female sex workers (FSWs) are often the focus of human immunodeficiency virus/acquired immunodeficiency syndrome (HIV/AIDS) and other sexually transmitted infections (STIs) research in Kenya, little else is known about their lives, including their intimate relationships. This thesis explores the relationships between FSWs and their intimate partners in Kibera, an urban informal settlement in Nairobi, Kenya. As part of the Kenya Free of AIDS (KeFA) project, previous field research found that FSWs with an intimate partner saw over 50% fewer clients per week and were statistically more likely to use a condom with clients. These findings suggested that FSWs' intimate relationships might act as a form of harm and/or use reduction. Sex work harm reduction aims to diminish the occupational harms associated with sex work, such as discrimination, violence and disease, through strategies such as empowerment and education. Use reduction aims to reduce FSWs' frequency of exposure to these occupational risks through a reduction in clients. Specifically, it is proposed that FSW intimate relationships promote harm and/or use reduction in three ways: 1) by reducing the number of clients on a weekly basis, 2) by reducing harm from the virus through adherence to antiretroviral drugs (ARV), and 3) by offering a supportive environment financially, emotionally, and in terms of health and/or childcare. To test these theories this thesis analyzed interviews with 27 HIV positive FSWs from Kibera. Results showed that HIV was normalized in intimate relationships, whereas sex work was stigmatized. As a result, FSWs in this study were more likely to tell their partners that they were HIV positive than disclose their involvement in sex work. Therefore, rather than genuine use reduction, client reduction was unintentional and, in reality associated with sex work stigmatization that prevents women from disclosing their occupation. Some intimate partnerships were found to be a source of emotional and health-related support for Kibera FSWs. Intimate partners provided support for participants' HIV status and adherence to ARV. They also provided emotional support in the form of advice and comfort. Overall, this study suggested it would be difficult to include intimate partners in interventions with HIV positive Kibera FSWs because of the considerable, continued stigma surrounding sex work but that intimate partners can have a positive and/or protective role to play in HIV positive Kibera FSWs’ lives. / Graduate / 0573 / 0327 / 0626 / kimberly.m.sharpe@gmail.com

This thesis examines how efforts regarding the commercial sex industry in Thailand can be positioned in relation to an agent-victim framework. In the context of the expanding sex industry in Thailand, it becomes relevant to look at how efforts regarding it risks reproducing notions of ‘the prostitute’ as the victimised Other, and thus reinforcing neo-colonialism. However, the response in the form of an agent narrative has also been criticised for not taking into account intersecting forms of oppression. Here, a model coming from an emerging literature on the ‘third way feminist approach’ is used to illustrate how these instead can be combined. Using critical discourse analysis, this study draws on postcolonial feminist theory to scrutinise the ways in which non-governmental organisations imagine women as either agents or victims, or rather a combination of the two. The starting point has been that this binary definition might not be sufficient, neither for theoretically addressing the issue, nor for describing discourse. Two ideal types based on the agent-victim framework has been used to study to what extent the discursive practice of the organisations NightLight and Asia Pacific Network of Sex Workers can be placed neatly into one of these ideal types, or whether a third perspective is indeed needed to account for their perception of the women they work with. The analysis has been conducted using different forms of information gathered from the official websites of the organisations, in order to understand they ways in which the organisations themselves choose to communicate their work. The results show that the discursive practices of these organisations to some extent can be accounted for using this framework, yet that in order to fully understand them, one should consider the third way which combines the strengths of both.

This thesis focuses on the British human trafficking prevention policies adopted for the 2012 London Olympics using mixed methods including participation-observation, qualitative interviews, theoretical analysis and policy evaluation. I was invited to observe the Human Trafficking Network and London 2012, the Mayor of London’s official response to the claim that human trafficking would increase at the London Olympics. My presence enabled me to witness first-hand the key policy debates surrounding human trafficking intervention and to conduct a series of in-depth interviews with members of the Human Trafficking Network as well as associated professionals such as the United Kingdom Human Trafficking Centre, MPs, governmental and non-governmental agencies, law enforcement officials, anti-trafficking groups, sex workers, sex workers outreach services and academics. In addition to collecting rich empirical data, I contexualise these policy debates within two relevant theoretical frameworks. First, I draw upon the work of Weitzer (2007) to examine the construction of the four underlying claims that human trafficking increases before and during large sporting events. Significantly, this perspective is built upon an anti-prostitution agenda of the partial criminalisation proponents, which collapses all migration for prostitution together with human trafficking (Weitzer 2005, Kempadoo 2005, Milivojevic and Pickering 2008, Kinnell 2009, Mai 2009, Mai 2012, Weitzer 2014). This same conceptualisation of human trafficking as the nexus of prostitution, migration and crime is replicated within the global anti-trafficking framework (Milivojevic and Pickering 2013), resulting in two approaches to human trafficking prevention policies — Security Governance and Human Rights — which together resulted in preventions measures that target prostitution and control migration. Finally, I draw upon my empirical evidence to critically examine the effects of the claim that human trafficking increases over the Olympics and, moreover, situate the response by the Mayor of London within the global anti-trafficking framework. This framework highlights the contradictions and, in some instances, failures between the approaches to human trafficking and the stated purpose of the Human Trafficking Network. The thesis concludes with two innovative policy recommendations for human trafficking prevention programmes.

abstract: Exiting prostitution is a process whereby women gradually leave prostitution after a number of environmental, relational, and cognitive changes have taken place. Most women attempting to leave street prostitution reenter five or more times before successfully exiting, if they are able to at all. Prostitution-exiting programs are designed to alleviate barriers to exiting, but several studies indicate only about 20-25% of participants enrolled in such programs are successful. There is little quantitative knowledge on the prostitution exiting process and current literature lacks a testable theory of exiting. This mixed-methods study defined and operationalized key cognitive processes by applying the Integrative Model of Behavioral Prediction (IMBP) to measure intentions to exit street-level prostitution. Intentions are thought to be a determinant of behavior and hypothesized as a function of attitudes, norms, and efficacy beliefs. The primary research objective was to measure and test a theory-driven hypothesis examining intentions to exit prostitution. To accomplish these aims, interviews were conducted with 16 men and women involved in prostitution to better capture the latent nuances of exiting (e.g., attitudinal changes, normative influence). These data informed the design of a quantitative instrument that was pilot-tested with a group of former prostitutes and reviewed by experts in the field. The quantitative phase focused on validating the instrument and testing the theory in a full latent variable structural equation model with a sample of 160 former and active prostitutes. Ultimately, the theory and instrument developed in this study will lay the foundation to test interventions for street prostituted women. Prior research has only been able to describe, but not explain or predict, the prostitution exiting process. This study fills a gap in literature by providing a quantitative examination of women's intentions to leave prostitution. The results contribute to our understanding of the cognitive changes that occur when a person leaves prostitution, and the validated instrument may be used as an intervention assessment or an exit prediction tool. Success in predicting an individual's passage through the exiting process could have important and far-reaching implications on recidivism policies or interventions for this vulnerable group of women. / Dissertation/Thesis / Ph.D. Social Work 2013

Prostitution, sex in exchange for consideration, has never been illegal in Canada; however, activities surrounding prostitution have been criminalized in the Criminal Code. These prohibited activities include: working indoors (s. 210 keeping a common bawdy house), providing services to sex workers (s. 212(1)(j) living off of the avails of prostitution), and communicating in public for the purposes of prostitution (s. 213). In 2007 two former and one current sex worker, Terri Jean Bedford, Valerie Scott and Amy Lebovitch challenged the constitutionality of the above laws, arguing that they increased sex workers’ vulnerability to harm. Six years later on June 13th, 2013 the Supreme Court of Canada heard the landmark case Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford. Prior to hearing the case, the Supreme Court Justices read the submitted factums outlining the arguments of the appellants, respondents, and their interveners. The final decision was released on December 22nd, 2013 and the unanimous decision to strike down all three laws was made. Using a discourse analysis inspired by Michel Foucault, this study ‘unpacks’ the meanings that are constituted within the factums submitted to the Supreme Court regarding the people who engage in sex work and the institution of prostitution. The convergences and divergences within the discourses are presented. Drawing on these findings, while applying the work of Wedeking’s (2010) strategic legal framing alongside the governmentality perspective of risk, the tensions surrounding risk and choice are further explored. In doing so, the relationship between risk (taking/avoiding) and choice (making) is teased out. In this thesis I argue that risk and choice are strategically framed in the submitted factums to demonstrate the (un)constitutionality of Canada’s prostitution laws. Furthermore, I argue that both the appellants and respondents agree that risk avoidance is an acceptable self-governance strategy for sex workers, however they diverge on what they consider to be acceptable risk avoidance measures. The conclusion of this study discusses the decision of Canada (Attorney General) v. Bedford to strike down the three prostitution laws and the subsequent introduction of the Protection of Communities and Exploited Persons Act.

By working with an anti-human trafficking organization in Sarasota, Florida, and sex-worker activists based in St. Petersburg, Florida, this research focuses on the process by which trafficking victims and sex workers are identified and dealt with by the criminal justice system and NGO rehabilitation programs. The study focused on understanding how stakeholders decide between identifying someone as a criminal or a victim of sex trafficking and how women identify themselves and subjectively experience their interaction with the criminal justice system and a faith-based rehabilitation program. By exploring the victims’ process of going through the criminal justice system, this study problematizes the ideas of victim certification, diversion programming, and the idea that sex work is inherently exploitative and never agentive. Due to anti-prostitution laws in the United States (US), the lack of trauma-informed care within the criminal justice system, and the stigma surrounding sex work that stems from dominant American culture, sex workers and trafficking victims are often further harmed when they become involved with the criminal justice system. My findings reveal narratives produced around the “innocent victim” perpetuate an image of human trafficking that focuses on White women and children in forced prostitution. This image contributes to constructions of ‘deservingness’ for different populations involved in exchanging sex and alters whether or not individuals are identified as victims of sex trafficking depending on their adherence to this narrative. Common narratives surrounding trafficking can also harm sex workers who want to be recognized as agentive adults in the sex industry. I present the multiple realities that exist in the criminal/legal systems surrounding sex trafficking and consensual sex work in Florida and how participants perceive their treatment by various organizations such as law enforcement, the court system, diversion programs, and NGOs by conducting interview analysis, participant observation, and performance ethnography through the production of a fictionalized scene written with research participants and stakeholders.

Background: In Canada, failure to disclose HIV+ status before sex can result in incarceration and status as a registered sex offender for life. In 2012, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled that there is no legal mandate for HIV disclosure before sex if (i) a condom is used and (ii) HIV viral loads are extremely low. There is very little known about how the legal mandate for HIV disclosure might inequitably affect the health and safety of sex workers. Purpose: This study critically interrogates the interplay between the legal mandate for HIV disclosure and the routine health-conscious practices (e.g., HIV testing, condom use) of HIV-negative survival sex workers, with particular attention to inequitable health and safety outcomes. This study also qualitatively investigates the structural and social forces that mediate vulnerability to HIV infection and transmission among sex workers, their clients, and their non-commercial, intimate partners. Method: This study employed an adapted grounded theory approach to conducting and analyzing (n=9) open-ended, in-depth interviews with a convenience sample of currently working and recently exited sex workers who were clients at PEERS, an NGO offering services and support to sex workers in Victoria, Canada. Findings: The criminalization of HIV nondisclosure had no discernable influence on behavioural HIV risk factors or HIV testing. Participants lacked accurate knowledge of the legal mandate for HIV disclosure. HIV-related health literacy was low. Participants strongly supported HIV disclosure as a legal obligation – but only for exacting justice, and not for reliably offering protective health benefits. The uptake of high-risk sexual practices was driven almost exclusively by (i) extreme needs when servicing clients (e.g., drugs, childcare, money) and (ii) the rich symbolism of condomless sex in non-commercial, intimate partnerships. Participants reported differential degrees of entrenchment in the sex trade at various times in their working lives due to extreme needs. Participants emphasized the importance of ongoing HIV testing as a personal responsibility in order to monitor and maintain their sexual health. Participants identified increased uptake of HIV-related knowledge as affording the most significant protective health benefits against HIV infection. Implications: Lower levels of HIV-related health and legal literacies in the sample call for greater scrutiny of the impacts of initiatives such as ‘Seek and Treat for Optimal Prevention of HIV/AIDS’ (or STOP HIV/AIDS®) which target vulnerable populations across British Columba [BC]. Deeply entrenched sex workers have little recourse to exit the sex trade immediately upon receiving an HIV+ test result, especially in under-resourced social assistance milieux. Targeting this population for HIV testing facilitates the creation of a new caste of HIV+ potential criminals, despite the well-established, beneficial health outcomes at the individual and population levels from early commencement of antiretroviral treatment. Conclusion: Survival sex workers require special considerations in HIV pre-test counselling. The empowerment of sex workers can come firstly through the enhancement of HIV-related health – and legal – literacies. Full knowledge of the advantages and disadvantages of HIV testing will allow the consent for HIV testing to be truly informed. New HIV testing guidelines make BC the first province to recommend regular HIV screening for all adults. These guidelines also recommend exclusion of discussions of the criminalization of HIV nondisclosure in pre-test counselling for all patients. Re-thinking the consent for HIV testing among sex workers is crucially important for their immediate health and safety. / Graduate

Prostitution is the oldest form of oppression. Many prostituted women in South Africa wish to exit sex work, but are unable to because they have no other means of earning money. There is a dearth of research available on assisting prostituted women to exit sex work in South Africa. This study explored the effectiveness of a Cape Town-based NGO's - Embrace Dignity - exit intervention for prostituted women. Using semi-structured interviews it investigated the experiences of eight prostituted women in Cape Town. The research goal was to be able to inform improvements to the intervention for exit. An interpretative phenomenological approach was used to analyse interviews of women's experiences of the intervention. Findings revealed that attempting to exit prostitution in South Africa is an incredibly difficult and deeply complex process. An exploration of women's experiences of Embrace Dignity suggested that whilst it provides emotional and social support to prostituted women, it does not address their physical needs, most importantly that of employment. This study reveals that although emotional support plays a crucial role in assisting prostituted women to exit, it is secondary to the urgent physical support needed to satisfy the basic survival needs of prostituted women living in extreme poverty in South Africa.

In South African Law, sex work is currently mainly dealt with in terms of the Sexual Offences and Related Matters Act 32 of 2007, although other legislation, such as the Aliens Control Act 3 of 1993 also contains provisions that are peripherally relevant to sex work. In addition, municipal by-laws play an important role in the regulation of sex work, especially outdoor sex work. These by-laws are often aimed at addressing the more visible aspects of outdoor sex work. This dissertation aims to analyse the policing methods used by the police when policing sex work in Sunnyside, and whether the police have the ability and capacity to enforce current legislation in this regard. The enormous incidents of dehumanization and abuse of sex workers by the police who are supposed to enforce the Sexual Offences Act 32 of 2007 and the previous legislation on sex work questions whether the police should be given more or less powers in dealing with this crime. This dissertation aims to conduct an in-depth analysis of relevant literature in order to provide a background for the discussion on the origins of sex work and the different legal models for dealing with sex work. The study also endeavours to establish a frame of reference for considering different legal models to deal with sex work and to identify different policies and legal approaches to sex work, and to consider the impact of the current laws regulating sex workers and the harm that result from this. The dissertation aims to explore and describe the challenges that the police in Sunnyside experience, and also to analyse the difficulties that sex workers often encounter. The knowledge generated in this study will enhance the existing knowledge in the policing of sex work, and will also serve to educate the police, criminal justice institutions, and the community about the nature and extent of the problems that policing agencies experience when policing sex workers in Sunnyside. / Police Practice / M. Tech. (Policing)