Moving beyond the traditional feminist focus on slavery and trafficking, HIV/AIDS, and other health issues, the contributors to this volume engage fully with the political and theoretical implications of sex work. Dismissing old antagonisms, they argue that feminism – thanks to its role in revolutionizing perspectives on sexuality and labour – is a natural ally for the sex workers' rights movement. In the process, these innovative scholars provocatively critique the dominant moral paradigm of heterosexual monogamy, which has created a pervasive 'victim' discourse and limited our understanding of sex work's complex realities.
Drawing on first-hand stories from sex workers, this volume gives voice to newly articulated movements such as 'whore feminism' and 'queer feminism' – feminisms that have the potential to move discussions about sex work onto new and fruitful terrain.
Published by Zubaan.
Laxmi Murthy works as Consulting Editor with Himal Southasian, Kathmandu, and heads the Hri Institute for Southasian Research and Exchange. She has been active in the women's movement in India for the past 25 years.
Meena Saraswathi Seshu has been working with sex workers for more than two decades as General Secretary of SANGRAM, an organization that works on the rights of sex workers and people living with HIV/AIDS in Sangli, Maharashtra.