Even people at Harvard bristle at the conflation of sex work and trafficking.

[him] moderator

++++++++++++++++++++

["...many prostitutes are not forced into the trade, and most prostitutes do
not work in brothels" in reference to the issue of studying (or over
studying) the human trafficking framework of prostitution.]

Sex work in Asia

http://news.harvard.edu/gazette/story/2010/10/sex-work-in-asia/

Conference examines enormity, complexity of issue
By Maya Shwayder '11
Harvard Correspondent
Monday, October 4, 2010

Arthur Kleinman (from left), director of the Harvard University Asia Center,
Allan Brandt, dean of the Harvard Graduate School of Arts and Sciences, and
Carole Vance of Columbia University were among the panelists at the
conference "Sex Work in Asia."

Six to 8 million. That's the estimated number of female sex workers in China
alone, according to Joseph Tucker, instructor in medicine at Massachusetts
General Hospital and Harvard Medical School (HMS). And that's not taking
into account male sex workers, called "money boys" in China, or similar
workers in other Asian countries.

Those 8 million-plus people were the subject of last Friday's (Oct. 1)
conference called "Sex Work in Asia," hosted by the Harvard University Asia
Center and HMS. Tucker, who organized the conference, described it as a
meeting of "scholars and activists, professors, public health officials, and
lawyers," tackling a "compelling social issue in an interesting part of the
world."

"We want to have an interdisciplinary dialogue," he said.

Tucker cited unsafe sex as the second-most-common cause of morbidity and
mortality in the world. In many parts of Asia, there is an increasing
epidemic of sexually transmitted infections (STIs), including HIV.

The goal of the conference, Tucker said, was to "define a new bio-social
research agenda for sex health [and] situate the safe-sex public health idea
in Asian culture."

The legality of sex work in Asia is murky at best. Rules exist against
organizing commercial sex, but there is huge variation across regions in the
methods of processing and prosecuting sex crimes.

"Much of it is how local authorities wish to be perceived," Tucker said.

And, just like in the United States, there are large gaps in the sexual
health education of Asian youth.

"It becomes highly politicized," Tucker said. "You try to find the best
compromise, but we need to think about the public health importance of
teaching appropriate sexual health education."

There are two frameworks, according to Tucker, through which governments
usually try to address and protect sex workers. The first is the
"empowerment approach," the idea that women who sell sex should be respected
and treated with dignity in an effort to ensure human rights. In the
Sonagachi red-light district of Kolkata, India, he said, there has been a
huge push in recent years to carve out a niche for effective STI prevention.

The other framework addresses sex work with a primary goal of preventing
human trafficking. Most programs, according to Tucker, look at sex work from
this framework, but "are not as well-developed theoretically."

Carole Vance, associate clinical professor of sociomedical sciences at
Columbia University, addressed both these issues in her talk at the
conference, pointing out that although the idea of "sex work" seems
straightforward, it's anything but.

The definition of a "sexual exchange" in terms of trafficking isn't easily
identifiable, Vance said, pointing out that sexual favors in exchange for
goods or services also take place within the confines of marriage.

"How do certain exchanges become 'low'?" she asked.

Vance also addressed what she identified as the excessive research focus on
trafficking and forced prostitution. In fact, she said, many prostitutes are
not forced into the trade, and most prostitutes do not work in brothels.

"Therefore, who are we studying?" Vance asked.

In the end, Allan Brandt, a medical historian and dean of Harvard's Graduate
School of Arts and Sciences, said, "We must have a better understanding of
the relation of culture to policy, and policy to outcome."

# # #