Monica waits in the Anti-Venereal Medical Service of the Zona Galactica, the legal, state-run brothel where she works in Tuxtla Gutierrez, Mexico. Surrounded by other sex workers, she clutches the Sanitary Control Cards that deem her registered with the city, disease-free, and able to work. On the other side of the world, Min stands singing karaoke with one of her regular clients, warily eyeing the door lest a raid by the anti-trafficking Public Security Bureau disrupt their evening by placing one or both of them in jail. Whether in Mexico or China, sex work-related public policy varies considerably from one community to the next. A range of policies dictate what is permissible, many of them intending to keep sex workers themselves healthy and free from harm. Yet often, policies with particular goals end up having completely different consequences. Policing Pleasure examines cross-cultural public policies related to sex work, bringing together ethnographic studies from around the world-from South Africa to India-to offer a nuanced critique of national and municipal approaches to regulating sex work. Contributors offer new theoretical and methodological perspectives that move beyond already well-established debates between "abolitionists" and "sex workers' rights advocates" to document both the intention of public policies on sex work and their actual impact upon those who sell sex, those who buy sex, and public health more generally.
Acknowledgments 1 Introduction: Sex Work and the Politics of Public Policy Susan Dewey and Patty Kelly 2 International Trends in the Control of Sexual Services Michael Goodyear and Ronald Weitzer 3 Into the Galactic Zone Patty Kelly 4 Sex Work and the State in Contemporary China Tiantian Zheng 5 Smart Sex in the Neoliberal Present Dawn Pankonien 6 On the Boundaries of the Global Margins Susan Dewey 7 The Virtues of Dockside Dalliance Henry Trotter 8 "Their own way of having power" Zosa De Sas Kropiwnicki 9 "Hata watufanyeje, kazi itaendelea" Chimaraoke Izugbara 10 Prostitution in Contemporary Rio de Janeiro Thaddeus Gregory Blanchette and Ana Paula da Silva 11 Prevailing Voices in Debates over Child Prostitution Heather Montgomery 12 Organizational Challenges Facing Male Sex Workers in Brazil's Tourist Zones Gregory Mitchell 13 "What is the use of getting a cow if you can't make any money from it?" Treena Orchard 14 Moral Panic Erica Lorraine Williams References About the Contributors Index
