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New book advocates reform of prostitution laws

October 18, 2005

John Scott.thumb.JPGA newly published book by a sociologist from The University of New England advocates broader legislative reform of the sex industry in the interests of public health.

The book, "How Modern Governments Made Prostitution a Social Problem", argues that current legislation has created a two-tiered system of management that unnecessarily discriminates against sex workers who work privately from home or as escorts.

"Much legislation surrounding the sex industry has been preoccupied with the problem of street work in inner city environments," the book's author, Dr John Scott (pictured here), explained. "In seeking to address this problem, it does not account for issues associated with sex work in suburban, regional or rural contexts. This has health and safety ramifications for sex workers, their clients and the community."

"How Modern Governments Made Prostitution a Social Problem" was published last month by The Edwin Mellen Press in the UK. It discusses, in historical context, a model for the social control of prostitution that involves the empowerment of prostitutes themselves.

The internationally acclaimed British criminologist Professor Pat Carlen, visiting UNE late last month, launched the new book. Professor Carlen, who examined Dr Scott's PhD thesis, on which the book is based, said: "It was one of the best PhD theses I've ever examined, and the resulting book is both extremely scholarly and elegantly written."

Professor Carlen contributed a Preface to the book, in which she says that it "makes an important contribution to studies of both power and prostitution". "This book is a very timely must-read for campaigners, theorists and policy-makers," she says.

Dr Scott has published a number of articles examining public health and criminal law responses to the sex industry, and has been awarded an international prize for his research in this field. His other recent publications include a co-edited book on human sexuality that includes a chapter he wrote on sex work in Australian contexts. He is currently examining the organisation and regulation of the sex industry in rural Australia through interviews with rural sex workers.


Media contact: Dr John Scott, School of Social Science, UNE (02) 6773 2116.

Posted by Jim Scanlan at October 18, 2005 04:27 PM