Prostitution Politics & Policy

<p>Prostitution has become an extremely topical issue in recent years and attention has focused both on the situation of female prostitutes and the adequacy of existing forms of regulation. <em>Prostitution Politics & Policy</em> brings together the main debates and issues associated with prostitution in order to examine the range of policy options that are available.</p><p>Governments in different parts of the world have been struggling to develop constructive policies to deal with prostitution – as for example the British Home Office recently instigated a £1.5 million programme to help address the perceived problems of prostitution. In the context of this struggle and amidst the publication of various policy documents <em>Prostitution Politics & Policy </em>develops a fresh approach to understanding this issue while presenting a range of what are seen as progressive and radical policy proposals. Much of the debate around prostitution has been polarized between liberals – who want prostitution decriminalized normalized and humanized – and conservatives – who have argued that prostitution should be abolished. But drawing on a wide range of international literature and providing an overview that is both accessible to students and relevant to policy makers and practitioners Roger Matthews proposes a form of radical realism that is irreducible to either of these two positions. </p>