COLUMBIA UNIVERSITY PRESS
The aim of Sex Trafficking in the United States: Theory, Research, Policy and Practice is to offer a comprehensive review of the contemporary discourse examining theory, research, policy and practice related to sex trafficking in the United States. The book takes a research based approach to understanding the issue. Researchers, students, and practitioners will find one volume that encompasses a comprehensive review of key components. This book is essential for understanding the nuances of sex trafficking.
Andrea J. Nichols, Ph.D. explores sex-trafficking- related theories, research, policies, and practice from multiple perspectives, including neoliberal, abolitionist, feminist, criminological, and sociological perspectives. She confronts competing views of the relationship between pornography, prostitution, and sex trafficking, as well as the contribution of weak social institutions and social safety nets to increased risk of sex trafficking and commercial sexual exploitation. She also explores the link between identity based oppression, societal marginalization, and the risk of victimization. She clearly accounts for the role of race, ethnicity, immigrant status, LGBTQ identities, age, sex, and intellectual disability in heightening the risk of trafficking. She analyzes responses to sex trafficking, and how social services and the criminal justice and healthcare systems can best respond. Sex Trafficking in the United States also offers recommendations for individual action, prevention, practice, and policy, as well as suggestions for cultural and societal change.
While particularly emphasizing the United States, the book also holds use in examining global dynamics of sex trafficking, in detailing the theoretical and political debates that are present internationally as well as nationally, examining outcomes of various models of prostitution policy around the globe, and highlighting anti-trafficking organizations operating both internationally and nationally.