Great, clear book explaining the ins and outs of the criminalization of sex work. This is an argument for decriminalization as a means of getting people out of the industry (so not new laws making certain kinds legal but the removal of existing laws). This book recognizes the underlying reason people sell sex–because they’re broke. Sending girls to jail (or sending the guys to jail) will not end prostitution. Imprisonment only leads to less safe work practices and limited life choices.

And really decriminalizing sex work alone will not end it either. This topic is tied tightly to poverty and generally exploitative working conditions. A person might choose sex work instead of a full-time minimum wage job because it’s less hours (and more money). Maybe they also have a kid or a disability or a drug addiction or felony that makes sex work a more logical choice, even if it sucks. The urgency is to make the lives of the workers safer and then better so that they can get out of it. The vast majority of the girls don’t want to be there, they need to be.