Criminalizing Sex

Criminalizing Sex
Author: Stuart P. Green
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
Total Pages: 409
Release: 2020
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0197507484

"Starting in the latter part of the 20th century, the law of sexual offenses, especially in the West, began to reflect a striking divergence. On the one hand, the law became significantly more punitive in its approach to sexual conduct that is nonconsensual or unwanted, as evidenced by a major expansion in the definition of rape and sexual assault, and the creation of new offenses like sex trafficking, child grooming, revenge porn, and female genital mutilation. On the other hand, it became markedly more permissive in how it dealt with conduct that is consensual, a trend that can be seen, for example, in the legalization or decriminalization of sodomy, adultery, and adult pornography. This book explores the conceptual and normative implications of this divergence. In doing so, it assumes that the proper role of the criminal law in a liberal state is to protect individuals in their right not to be subjected to sexual contact against their will, while also safeguarding their right to engage in (private consensual) sexual conduct in which they do wish to participate. Although consistent in the abstract, these dual aims frequently come into conflict in practice. The book develops a framework for harmonization in the context of a wide range of nonconsensual, consensual, and aconsensual sexual offenses (hence, the "unified" nature of the theory) -- including rape-as-unconsented-to-sex, rape-by-deceit, rape-by-coercion, rape of a person who lacks capacity to consent, statutory rape, abuse of position, sexual harassment, voyeurism, indecent exposure, incest, sadomasochistic assault, prostitution, bestiality, and necrophilia"--

Criminalizing Sex

Criminalizing Sex
Author: Stuart P. Green
Publisher: Oxford University Press
Total Pages: 328
Release: 2020-04-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0197507506

Starting in the latter part of the 20th century, the law of sexual offenses, especially in the West, began to reflect a striking divergence. On the one hand, the law became significantly more punitive in its approach to sexual conduct that is nonconsensual, as evidenced by a major expansion in the definition of rape and sexual assault, and the creation of new offenses like sex trafficking, child grooming, and revenge porn. On the other hand, it became markedly more permissive in how it dealt with conduct that is consensual, a trend that can be seen, for example, in the legalization or decriminalization of sodomy, adultery, and adult pornography. This book explores the conceptual and normative implications of this divergence. At the heart of the book is a consideration of a deeply contested question: How should a liberal system of criminal law adequately protect individuals in their right not to be subjected to sexual contact against their will, while also safeguarding their right to engage in (private consensual) sexual conduct in which they do wish to participate? The book develops a framework for harmonizing these goals in the context of a wide range of nonconsensual, consensual, and aconsensual sexual offenses (hence, the "unified" nature of the theory) -- including rape and sexual assault in a variety of forms, sexual harassment, voyeurism, indecent exposure, incest, sadomasochistic assault, prostitution, bestiality, and necrophilia. Intellectually rigorous, fair-minded, and deeply humane, Criminalizing Sex offers a fascinating discussion of a wide range of moral and legal puzzles, arising out of real-world cases of alleged sexual misconduct - a discussion that is all the more urgent in the age of #MeToo.

Criminalising the Purchase of Sex

Criminalising the Purchase of Sex
Author: Jay Levy
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 270
Release: 2014-09-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1317811429

In an attempt to abolish prostitution, Sweden criminalised the purchase of sex in 1999, while simultaneously decriminalising its sale. In so doing, it set itself apart from other European states, promoting itself as the pioneer of a radical approach to prostitution. What has come to be referred to as ‘the Swedish model’ has been enormously influential, and has since been adopted and proposed by other countries. This book establishes the outcomes of this law – and the law’s justifying narratives – for the dynamics of Swedish sex work, and upon the lives of sex workers. Drawing on recent fieldwork undertaken in Sweden over several years, including qualitative interviewing and participant observation, Jay Levy argues that far from being a law to be emulated, the Swedish model has had many detrimental impacts, and has failed to demonstrably decrease levels of prostitution. Criminalising the Purchase of Sex: Lessons from Sweden utilises a wealth of respondent testimony and secondary research to redress the current lack of primary academic research and to contribute to academic discussion on this politically-charged and internationally relevant topic. This original and timely work will be of interest to sex worker rights organisations, policy makers and politicians, as well as researchers, academics and students across a number of related disciplines, including law, sociology, criminology, human geography and gender studies.

Sex as Crime?

Sex as Crime?
Author: Gayle Letherby
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 418
Release: 2013-05-13
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 1134002386

This book brings together chapters by academics, researchers and practitioners to analyse how crimes such as sex work, domestic violence and rape and sexual assault have risen up the Government agenda in recent years. For example, the 'Paying the Price' consultation exercise on sex work in 2004, and recent legislation around sex crimes, including the Sex Offences Act (2003). This is a multi-disciplinary, social scientific, pro-feminist collection, which draws upon practice, empirical research, documentary analysis and overviews of research in the areas of sex work and sexual violence. Within Sex as Crime there are two distinct sub-sections: 'Sex for Sale' and 'Sex as Violence', but the broader and overriding link of sex as crime remains a paramount theme that spans the collection. Chapters include discussions of the impact of new regulations on street sex workers, and of street sex work on community residents, the use of the internet by men who pay for sex and men who sell it, sexual violence and identity, sex crimes against children and protecting children online and working with sex offenders. Other chapters explore reasons for such offending behaviour.

Sex Offenders

Sex Offenders
Author: Sean Maddan
Publisher: Aspen Publishing
Total Pages: 572
Release: 2022-09-15
Genre: Law
ISBN: 1543817602

In Sex Offenders: Crimes and Processing in the Criminal Justice System, Maddan and Pazzani draw on their extensive research and teaching experience to provide coverage of all facets of sex crimes and sexual deviance in the United States. The text emphasizes rape and sexual offenses against children and society’s responses through the criminal justice system, including enforcement and investigation, the courts, corrections, and post-punishment treatment. Up-to-date information, statistics, and research assessments include imprisonment, historical punishments, recidivism, registration and notification requirements (SORN), residence restrictions, civil commitments, and treatment. The impact of sex offenses on victims’ lives is treated in depth, as are possible directions for future policies to better address the threat posed by sex offenders. Students reading this book will get a true sense of the U.S. sex offender problem, the responses of the criminal justice system, and what can be done to further decrease the incidence of sex offending. New to the Second Edition: A fresh examination of sexual harassment in the workplace in light of the #MeToo movement. Incorporation throughout the book of the etiology of sexual harassment. In-depth consideration of why sexual harassment is not handled through the criminal justice system as a criminal offense. Updated literature, research, and statistics on sex crimes and criminal justice processing. New example stories that highlight more recent real-world instances of sex crimes and criminal justice responses to sex crimes. Professors and students will benefit from: An overview of sex offenses in the United States covers major theories to account for sex offending, legal statutes defining sex crimes, types of sex offenses and offenders, sex crime victims’ characteristics, policing of sex crimes, and society’s responses to sex crimes (including registries, residence restrictions, civil commitments, and treatment). A focus on sex offenses through the criminal justice system framework examines the pros and cons of various strategies, including criminal statutes, law enforcement and court processing approaches, and correctional techniques for treating or warehousing sex offenders. Real-world narratives in each chapter illustrate and provide a practical perspective on the complexity and impact of the sex offense under discussion for society, perpetrator, and victim. Accessibly written chapters include learning objectives, lists of key terms, exercises, and essay questions for review and information retention.

Sex-Positive Criminology

Sex-Positive Criminology
Author: Aimee Wodda
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 228
Release: 2020-09-17
Genre: Law
ISBN: 0429624247

Sex-Positive Criminology proposes a new way to think about sexuality in the fields of criminology and criminal justice. Sex-positivity is framed as a humanizing approach to sexuality that supports the well-being of self and others. It is rooted in the principle of active and ongoing consent, and it encourages perspectives that value bodily autonomy, the right to access education, and respect for sexual difference. In this book, the authors argue that institutions such as prisons, schools, and healthcare facilities, as well as agents of governments, such as law enforcement, correctional officers, and politicians, can unduly cause harm and perpetuate stigma through the regulation and criminalization of sexuality. In order to critique institutions that criminalize and regulate sexuality, the authors of Sex-Positive Criminology examine case studies exploring the criminalization of commercial sex and related harm (at the hands of law enforcement) experienced by those who sell sex. They investigate sex education in schools, reproductive justice in communities and institutions, and restrictions on sexuality in places like prisons, jails, juvenile detention, and immigrant detention facilities. They look into the criminalization of BDSM practices and address concerns about young people’s sexuality connected to age of consent and privacy violations. The authors demonstrate how a sex-positive perspective could help criminologists, policymakers, and educators understand not only how to move away from sex-negative frameworks in theory, policy, and practice, but how sex-positive criminological frameworks can be a useful tool to reduce harm and increase personal agency. Written in a clear and direct style, this book will appeal to students and scholars in criminology, sociology, sexuality studies, cultural studies, criminal justice, social theory, and all those interested in the relationship between sexuality and the crimino-legal system.

Understanding Sex for Sale

Understanding Sex for Sale
Author: May-Len Skilbrei
Publisher: Routledge
Total Pages: 218
Release: 2020-01-14
Genre: Prostitution
ISBN: 9780367431839

Understanding Sex for Sale aims to understand how prostitution, sex work or sex for sale are delineated, contested and understood in different spaces, places and times; with a particular focus on identifying how the relation between sex and money is interpreted and enacted.

Sex Workers Unite

Sex Workers Unite
Author: Melinda Chateauvert
Publisher: Beacon Press
Total Pages: 273
Release: 2015-03-10
Genre: Social Science
ISBN: 0807061239

A provocative history that reveals how sex workers have been at the vanguard of social justice movements for the past fifty years while building a movement of their own that challenges our ideas about labor, sexuality, feminism, and freedom Documenting five decades of sex-worker activism, Sex Workers Unite is a fresh history that places prostitutes, hustlers, escorts, call girls, strippers, and porn stars in the center of America’s major civil rights struggles. Although their presence has largely been ignored and obscured, in this provocative history Melinda Chateauvert recasts sex workers as savvy political organizers—not as helpless victims in need of rescue. Even before transgender sex worker Sylvia Rivera threw a brick and sparked the Stonewall Riot in 1969, these trailblazing activists and allies challenged criminal sex laws and “whorephobia,” and were active in struggles for gay liberation, women’s rights, reproductive justice, union organizing, and prison abolition. Although the multibillion-dollar international sex industry thrives, the United States remains one of the few industrialized nations that continues to criminalize prostitution, and these discriminatory laws put workers at risk. In response, sex workers have organized to improve their working conditions and to challenge police and structural violence. Through individual confrontations and collective campaigns, they have pushed the boundaries of conventional organizing, called for decriminalization, and have reframed sex workers’ rights as human rights. Telling stories of sex workers, from the frontlines of the 1970s sex wars to the modern-day streets of SlutWalk, Chateauvert illuminates an underrepresented movement, introducing skilled activists who have organized a global campaign for self-determination and sexual freedom that is as multifaceted as the sex industry and as diverse as human sexuality.