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Full-Text Articles in Law
Sexual Agreements, Susan Frelich Appleton, Albertina Antognini
Sexual Agreements, Susan Frelich Appleton, Albertina Antognini
Scholarship@WashULaw
Few would find it surprising that an agreement for sex falls outside the bounds of contract law. Prostitution—defined as an exchange of sex for money—has long been a crime, a point that courts often make in declining to enforce agreements between unmarried partners. In fact, courts routinely invalidate contracts when sex forms the basis of a couple’s bargain, whether married or not, and whether the sex is explicit or inferred from the relationship itself. A closer look at the legal treatment of sexual agreements, however, tells a more complicated story. Although courts reject sex as consideration for being “meretricious” or …
Regulating Sex Work: Assimilationism, Erotic Exceptionalism And The Challenge Of Intimate Labor, Adrienne D. Davis
Regulating Sex Work: Assimilationism, Erotic Exceptionalism And The Challenge Of Intimate Labor, Adrienne D. Davis
Scholarship@WashULaw
Most commentators on sex markets focus on the debate between abolitionists and those who defend and support professional sex work. This paper, instead, looks at debates within the pro-sex work camp, uncovering some unattended tensions and contradictions. It shows that, within this camp, some stress the labor aspect, urging that sex markets perpetuate a “vulnerable population” of workers, similar to others who perform highly risky and/or exploited labor, and should be regulated accordingly. In this view, sex work would be assimilated into other labor. Others, though, take a more anti-regulatory stance. They exceptionalize this form of labor, arguing that because …