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Full-Text Articles in Social Control, Law, Crime, and Deviance

Challenges For Investigating Sex Trafficking: The Role Of Decriminalized Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq Oct 2015

Challenges For Investigating Sex Trafficking: The Role Of Decriminalized Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq

Donna M. Hughes

This presentation is a case study of challenges to investigating sex trafficking created by decriminalized prostitution. For 29 years (from 1980 to 2009) in Rhode Island, engaging in prostitution was not prohibited or regulated. Commercial sex acts were private and beyond the interest of the state. Lack of laws or regulations of prostitution created a permissive legal, economic, and cultural environment for the growth of prostitution businesses. Local police were impeded from investigating alleged sex trafficking because police had no legal cause to investigate private activities. In interviews, law enforcement officials repeatedly stated that they did not have the laws …


A Model For Understanding Structure Versus Agency In The Participation Of Minors In The Commercial Sex Market, Courtney Thrash May 2015

A Model For Understanding Structure Versus Agency In The Participation Of Minors In The Commercial Sex Market, Courtney Thrash

Department of Sociology: Dissertations, Theses, and Student Research

In 2000, the Trafficking Victims Protection Act defined any sex worker under the age of eighteen as a victim of sex trafficking and exploitation, while requiring evidence of coercion for those eighteen and over for the same charge. This definition makes explicit a common conception concerning CSEC, namely, that their status as participants in the sex economy rests upon a lack of personal and legal agency. Research on female sex workers often focuses on their victimization, such as childhood sexual abuse and neglect. Conversely, research on male sex workers often ignores their possible victimization and instead emphasizes their drug use, …


Pretty Woman: Twenty-Five Years Of Lies About Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes Dr. Apr 2015

Pretty Woman: Twenty-Five Years Of Lies About Prostitution, Donna M. Hughes Dr.

Donna M. Hughes

No abstract provided.


Decriminalized Prostitution In Rhode Island: Impunity For Violence And Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq Dec 2014

Decriminalized Prostitution In Rhode Island: Impunity For Violence And Exploitation, Donna M. Hughes Dr., Melanie Shapiro Esq

Donna M. Hughes

For 29 years (1980 to 2009) prostitution was decriminalized in Rhode Island. Lack of laws or regulations created a permissive legal, economic and cultural environment for the growth of sex businesses. During this time, sexual exploitation and violence against women and girls were integrated into the economic development of urban areas. The number of sex businesses grew rapidly during this period. Organized crime groups operated brothels and extorted money from adult entertainment businesses. Rhode Island became a destination for pimps, traffickers, and other violent criminals. The lack of laws impeded police from investigating serious crimes.