Introduction: Prostitution Policies in Europe

Abstract

Prostitution markets in Europe have undergone major transformations in particular in the last three decades, spurring animated debates about how best to regulate them at the international, European, national, and local levels. Given that European countries approach prostitution and its markets in different ways, the landscape of contemporary prostitution policies in Europe presents great variations. The latter are not only found between European countries and regions, but also within countries at sub-national levels. This special issue emerges from the observation of these changes and variations, and builds upon the discussions held at the European Science Foundation workshop Exploring and Comparing Prostitution Policy Regimes in Europe, which took place at Birkbeck, University of London, UK, in September 2010. In the course of this event, a number of European experts on prostitution policy came together to discuss and analyze the complex and diverse issues that account for differences and similarities in the regulation of prostitution in Europe. One of the aspects that arose from the workshop is that whatever the regulatory approach upon which they are based—e.g. criminalization, regulation, abolition—the prostitution policies examined are fraught with ambiguities, lacunae, and contradictions that are reflected in their implementation (or lack of thereof), thus often furthering the vulnerability of individuals operating in the sex industry. The workshop also addressed the current lack of research on the effects of various policy regimes, as well as confusions around prostitution-related concepts and difficulty in translating them across different national contexts and policy levels. This special issue is conceived as a continuation of the exploration of these issues, with the hope of stimulating a broader discussion around them. In presenting different national perspectives, it seeks to highlight the country-specific socio-political and cultural factors as well as global phenomena and processes of Europeanization which contribute to differences in the understanding, responses to, and governance of prostitution across Europe. Also crucial in informing the contributions presented here is the expanding body of critical and multidisciplinary research that has been produced on prostitution, exploring the drivers for recent shifts in prostitution policies and their material and discursive contexts. This body of scholarship includes, among others, works: on changes in the structure and organization of prostitution (Weitzer 2000, 2012; Skilbrei 2001), on transformations in attitudes towards sexuality and gender (Nussbaum 1998; Agustin 2007; Bernstein 2007; Sanchez Taylor 2006; Strompl 2007), on the gentrification of inner cities and the social control of public spaces (Hubbard 2004; Hubbard et al 2008; Canter et al 2009; Loopmans and van den Broeck 2011; Mathieu 2011; Kunkel 2012), on concerns about prostitution posing a threat to national security and public morality (Della Giusta and Munro 2008; Scoular and O'Neill 2007; Wagenaar 2006; Ticktin 2008; Phoenix 2009; Spanger 2011), on the increasing focus on cross1 The scientific report of the event can be found here: http:// www.esf.org/activities/exploratory-workshops/social-sciencesscss.html?year=2010&domain=SCSS