Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Researching Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Comparatively

  • Published:
Sexuality Research and Social Policy Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

This article examines different types of comparative research designs as applied to either prostitution or sex trafficking. I first present several comparative approaches that are found to be deeply flawed either because of the problematic assumptions of the analysts or because the data provided are insufficient to support the conclusions drawn. I then review research designs that compare two to four cases in depth and have the potential to yield stronger evidence-based findings and richer theoretical insights. The article concludes by discussing a set of methodological issues that face researchers who conduct comparative research on sex work.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Fig. 1

Similar content being viewed by others

Notes

  1. “Legalization” here means decriminalized and state-regulated. The nature of the regulations vary considerably across legal regimes, from minimal (e.g., New Zealand) to extensive (e.g., Nevada, Queensland, Australia).

  2. The report ranked Cyprus as the “worst” in 2010, with 6.3 victims per 100,000 population. The three “best” nations (0.1 victims per 100,000) were Hungary, Lithuania, and Portugal. Hungary’s rank as one of the best anti-trafficking nations is perplexing because other sources rank it as a major source of trafficking within Europe.

  3. Only sources in these languages were used: English, French, German, and Spanish.

  4. Respondents were asked whether a close family member had travelled to another country and been (1) “offered a domestic or nursing job, but was locked and forced to work for no pay,” (2) “offered a job at an enterprise, on a construction site, or in agriculture, but was locked and forced to work for no or little pay,” or (3) “offered employment, but the passport was taken away upon arrival to the destination country, and was forced to work in the sex business.”

  5. The 2013 French poll specified the “reopening of brothels.” In five polls taken between 2011 and 2013, 70 to 82 % of French respondents disapproved of the idea of criminalizing clients.

  6. Bedford versus Canada, ONSC 4264, Ontario Superior Court of Justice, September 28, 2010. The case was heard by an appeals court in 2012 and culminated in a Supreme Court ruling in 2013 (Canada [Attorney General] versus Bedford, 2013 SCC 72, Supreme Court of Canada, December 20, 2013).

  7. This section focuses specifically on comparative methods. General issues in researching sex work have been discussed by other scholars (e.g., Dewey and Zheng 2013; Sanders 2006; Shaver 2005).

  8. It is possible to have more cases, but manageability becomes an issue if the study is qualitative. A study where such manageability did not seem to pose problems is participant observation in 37 strip clubs by Bradley-Engen (2009). She uses her data to construct a typology of three types of clubs.

References

  • Aalbers, M., & Deinema, M. (2012). Placing prostitution: the spatial-sexual order of Amsterdam and its growth coalition. City, 16, 129–145.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abel, G., & Fitzgerald, L. (2010). Risk and risk management in sex work post Prostitution Reform Act. In G. Abel, L. Fitzgerald, & C. Healy (Eds.), Taking the crime out of sex work: New Zealand sex workers’ fight for decriminalization (pp. 217–237). Bristol, UK: Policy Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Agustín, L. (2008). Sex and the limits of enlightenment: the irrationality of legal regimes to control prostitution. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 5, 73–86.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Amsterdam Sociaal (2010). De Amsterdamse Prostitutie Monitor. Amsterdam: Amsterdam Sociaal.

  • Ashworth, G., White, P., & Winchester, H. (1988). The red-light district in the West European city: a neglected aspect of the urban landscape. Geoforum, 19, 201–212.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg-Schlosser, D., & De Meur, G. (2009). Comparative research design: case and variable selection. In B. Rihoux & C. Ragin (Eds.), Configurational comparative methods (pp. 19–32). Los Angeles: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bernstein, E. (2007). Temporarily yours: intimacy, authenticity, and the commerce of sex. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Bradley-Engen, M. (2009). Naked lives: inside the worlds of exotic dance. Albany: SUNY Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Bureau of the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings. (2005). Trafficking in human beings: third report of the Dutch National Rapporteur. The Hague: Bureau.

    Google Scholar 

  • Cho, S. Y., Dreher, A., & Neumayer, E. (2012). Does legalized prostitution increase human trafficking? World Development, 41, 67–82.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Crofts, T. (2014). Regulation of the male sex industry. In V. Minichiello & J. Scott (Eds.), Male sex work and society (pp. 178–197). New York: Harrington Park.

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Daalder, A. (2007). Prostitution in the Netherlands since the lifting of the brothel ban. The Hague: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Dewey, S., & Zheng, T. (2013). Ethical research with sex workers: anthropological approaches. New York: Springer.

    Book  Google Scholar 

  • Di Tommaso, M., Shima, I., Strøm, S., & Bettio, F. (2009). As bad as it gets: well-being deprivation of sexually exploited trafficked women. European Journal of Political Economy, 25, 143–162.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dölemeyer, A., Pates, R., & Schmidt, D. (2010). Deviant girls, small-scale entrepreneurs, and the regulation of German sex workers. In M. Ditmore, A. Levy, & A. Willman (Eds.), Sex work matters (pp. 184–202). New York: Zed.

    Google Scholar 

  • European Commission. (2013). Trafficking in human beings. Luxembourg: Eurostat.

    Google Scholar 

  • Fedina, L. (2014). Use and misuse of research in books on sex trafficking. Trauma, Violence, and Abuse. doi:10.1177/1524838014523337.

    PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, C. (2010). The decriminalization of prostitution is associated with better coverage of health promotion programs for sex workers. Australian and New Zealand Journal of Public Health, 34, 482–486.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Hubbard, P., & Whowell, M. (2008). Revisiting the red light district: still neglected, immoral, and marginal? Geoforum, 39, 1743–1755.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakobsson, N., & Kotsadam, A. (2013). The law and economics of international sex slavery: prostitution laws and trafficking for sexual exploitation. European Journal of Law and Economics, 35, 87–107.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Koken, J., Bimbi, D., & Parsons, J. (2010). Male and female escorts: a comparative analysis. In R. Weitzer (Ed.), Sex for sale: prostitution, pornography, and the sex industry (pp. 205–232). New York: Routledge.

    Google Scholar 

  • Kriminalistiches Institut. (2009). Polizeiliche kriminalstatistik [Police crime statistics]. Wiesbaden: Kriminalistiches Institut.

  • Lutnick, A., & Cohan, D. (2009). Criminalization, legalization, or decriminalization of sex work: what female sex workers say in San Francisco, USA. Reproductive Health Matters, 17, 38–46.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Mai, N. (2009). Migrant workers in the UK sex industry. London: London Metropolitan University.

    Google Scholar 

  • McQuade, A. (2013). Walk Free slavery index and short country studies. Letter to Walk Free from Anti-Slavery International, August 18.

  • Molland, S. (2012). A perfect business? Anti-trafficking and the sex trade along the Mekong. Honolulu: University of Hawaii Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Nelken, D. (2010). Comparative criminal justice: making sense of difference. London: Sage.

    Google Scholar 

  • Omar Mahmoud, T., & Trebesch, C. (2010). The economics of human trafficking and labor migration: micro-evidence from Eastern Europe. Journal of Comparative Economics, 38, 173–188.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Outshoorn, J. (2012). Policy change in prostitution in the Netherlands: from legalization to strict control. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 9, 233–243.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Papayanis, M. (2000). Sex and the revanchist city: zoning out pornography in New York. Environment and Planning D, 18, 341–353.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • PLRC [Prostitution Law Review Committee]. (2008). Report of the Prostitution Law Review Committee on the operation of the Prostitution Reform Act 2003. Wellington: Ministry of Justice.

    Google Scholar 

  • Ragin, C. (1987). The comparative method. Berkeley: University of California Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Reckless, W. (1933). Vice in Chicago. Chicago: University of Chicago Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, T. (2006). Sexing up the subject: methodological nuances in researching the female sex industry. Sexualities, 9, 449–468.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoular, J. (2010). What’s law got to do with it? How and why law matters in the regulation of sex work. Journal of Law and Society, 37, 12–39.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Seib, C., Fischer, J., & Najman, J. (2009). The health of female sex workers from three industry sectors in Queensland, Australia. Social Science and Medicine, 68, 473–478.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Shaver, F. (2005). Sex work research: methodological and ethical challenges. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 20, 296–319.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Skilbrei, M., & Holmstrom, C. (2013). Prostitution policy in the Nordic region. Farnham: Ashgate.

    Google Scholar 

  • Sullivan, B. (2010). When (some) prostitution is legal: the impact of law reform on sex work in Australia. Journal of Law and Society, 37, 85–104.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trotter, H. (2008). Sugar girls and seamen. Auckland Park: Jacana.

    Google Scholar 

  • UEGD [Unternehmerverband Erotik Gewerbe Deutschland]. (2012). Prostitution: Bundeslagebild rotlichtkriminalität: Kriminalitätsentwicklung der jahre 2000–2012. Hanover.

  • UNODC [United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime]. (2006). Global report on trafficking in persons. Vienna: United Nations.

    Google Scholar 

  • Wagenaar, H., Altink, S., Amesberger, H. (2013). Final report of the international comparative study of prostitution policy: Austria and the Netherlands. The Hague: Platform 31.

  • Walk Free Foundation. (2013). Global slavery index, 2013. www.globalslaveryindex.org. Accessed 20 Feb 2014.

  • Weinberg, M., Shaver, F., & Williams, C. (1999). Gendered prostitution in the San Francisco Tenderloin. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 28, 503–521.

    Article  PubMed  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2009). Sociology of sex work. Annual Review of Sociology, 35, 213–234.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2011). Sex trafficking and the sex industry: the need for evidence-based theory and legislation. Journal of Criminal Law and Criminology, 101, 1337–1370.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2012). Legalizing prostitution: from illicit vice to lawful business. New York: New York University Press.

    Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2013). The social ecology of red-light districts: a comparison of Antwerp and Brussels. Urban Affairs Review. doi:10.1177/1078087413504081.

    Google Scholar 

  • Zhang, S. (2009). Beyond the “Natasha” story: a review and critique of current research on sex trafficking. Global Crime, 10, 178–195.

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Zheng, T. (2009). Red lights: The lives of sex workers in postsocialist China. Minneapolis: University of Minnesota Press.

    Google Scholar 

Download references

Acknowledgments

An earlier version of this paper was presented at the COST conference on Comparing European Prostitution Policies, Athens, Greece, April 2014. I am grateful to Julia O’Connell Davidson and Lorraine Nencel for their helpful comments.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Sociology, George Washington University, Washington, DC, 20052, USA

    Ronald Weitzer

Authors
  1. Ronald Weitzer
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Ronald Weitzer.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Weitzer, R. Researching Prostitution and Sex Trafficking Comparatively. Sex Res Soc Policy 12, 81–91 (2015). https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0168-3

Download citation

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s13178-014-0168-3

Keywords

Search

Navigation