What's anti-social about sex work? Governance through the changing representation of prostitution's incivility

This chapter utilizes both critical and empirical forms of enquiry to uncover the relationship between dominant constructions of the ‘problem of prostitution’ and the associated norms that operate across various historical epochs, focusing in particular on the recent association between street sex work and anti-social behaviour. It shows that the alleged antithesis of sex work to community safety owes as much to the ideological operation of the law as to any inherent feature of commercial sex. The chapter considers the practical implications of recent reforms, which continue to follow this ideology. It outlines some of the dangers of policy frameworks and techniques of control that continue to situate sex work as antithetical to the cultivation of community safety, by reflecting on a recent Joseph Rowntree Foundation-funded study, which examined the experiences of those living and working in areas of street sex work.