Legalizing Prostitution

“Weitzer provides an in-depth examination of legalized prostitution systems, while also proposing a new paradigm for understanding sex work.” —Qualitative Criminology

While sex work has long been controversial, it has become even more contested over the past decade as laws, policies, and enforcement practices have become more repressive in many nations, partly as a result of the ascendancy of interest groups committed to the total abolition of the sex industry. At the same time, however, several other nations have recently decriminalized prostitution.

Legalizing Prostitution maps out the current terrain. Using America as a backdrop, Weitzer draws on extensive field research in the Netherlands, Belgium, and Germany to illustrate alternatives to American-style criminalization of sex workers. These cases are then used to develop a roster of “best practices” that can serve as a model for other nations considering legalization. Legalizing Prostitution provides a theoretically grounded comparative analysis of political dynamics, policy outcomes, and red-light landscapes in nations where prostitution has been legalized and regulated by the government, presenting a rich and novel portrait of the multifaceted world of legal sex for sale.

“One of the more intelligent, measured and comprehensive looks at alternatives to criminalizing the trade.” —Salon

“Weitzer’s book combines cogent ideas with interesting original research material . . . A valuable book for criminal justice policymakers and for serious students of prostitution and crime.” —Library Journal


“Weitzer, criminologist and professor of sociology at George Washington University, provides an erudite overview of sex work and detailed case studies of three cities with red-light districts: Antwerp, Belgium; Frankfurt, Germany; and Amsterdam, the Netherlands.” —Publishers Weekly