A Critical Examination of Responses to Prostitution in Four Countries: Victoria, Australia; Ireland; the Netherlands; and Sweden

Abstract

Prostitution has proved a vexatious issue for politicians and policy makers. From the mid-nineteenth century to the late twentieth century there were two broad positions: the ‘abolitionist’ and the ‘regulatory’. More recently a third possibility has been explored - legalisation. Currently in the UK, after decades of neglect, a debate is emerging with respect to prostitution, in the wake of new research and widespread disquiet in relation to trafficking and sexual exploitation of children. Whilst there is widespread agreement that the current legal framework, and policy approaches (such as they are) are problematic, there is no consensus with respect to the available options, nor do any of them come without deeper implications and potential costs.