Since the turn of the millennium, there has been a proliferation of research and writing on prostitution and the sex industry. Much of it begins with claims about the relative invisibility of the subject – despite the fact that there has been a long and established research tradition within the social sciences in the UK that dates back at least two centuries. The period from the late 1990s to now has witnessed an increased interest in the issue from a wide range of academic disciplines (gender studies, sociology, criminology, psychology, socio-legal studies, urban geography, health studies, pharmacology to name but a few) and practitioners and interest groups (from trade unions representing sex workers to NGOs delivering services, from journalists and other media pundits to campaigning organisations attempting variously to eradicate prostitution or fight for the rights of sex workers, from community organisations to Westminster politicians). Much of that interest is concerned with the question of ‘what should be done about prostitution’. While academic debate or discussion has gone on much as it has since the late 1970s, there is something different from before in the tone, tenor and content of public and political discussion. It would seem that, unlike in previous generations, the exchange of sex for money in the UK in the 21st century presents a new type of problem that requires new interventions, new policies and a new approach. Such a renewed interest may well have been further stimulated by the very tragic murders of five women in Ipswich who were all involved in street-based sex work and whose bodies were all found within a few weeks of each other in December 2006.

This book is not about the lives of the men, women and young people who sell sex; nor is this book about their clients, exploiters, abusers, managers, neighbours or other individuals that they come into contact with – although understanding the complexities of the lives of sex workers and others is an important component to the book. This book is about New Labour's attempts to ‘do something about’ prostitution and the policies and guidance issued by the Home Office and associated other governmental departments and organisations in the early days of the 21st century. The main aim of the book is to give a detailed analysis of the processes, assumptions and contradictions shaping the UK's emerging prostitution policy agenda.