Getting Screwed

September 14, 2015
Boston Globe science writer Bass (Side Effects) uses this sociological study to elucidate the problems caused by antagonistic interactions between women who provide in-person sexual services for pay and laws that criminalize this consensual behavior. Though she acknowledges the rise of the online/virtual sex trade, Bass's focus is on streetwalkers, independent workers, and small face-to-face businesses, the groups most likely to be stigmatized and targeted for arrest. Bass uses a mix of anecdotal evidence to support her claims, relying on historical memoirs, such as Polly Adler's A House Is Not a Home (1953), and interviews with workers, business owners, and activists for sex worker rights. She makes a strong case for broad decriminalization with limited regulation while assessing the effectiveness of other solutions in place, including brothel-only legalization in Nevada, the temporary loopholes in Rhode Island law, the criminalization of clients in Sweden and Germany, and Canadian laws that prohibited communication about prostitution but not the act itself. The book provides a solid overview of the legal ramifications of sex work, and builds compassion for those at the heart of the issue.