Researching the World's Oldest Profession

Abstract

This volume presents eleven papers which represent contemporary research into the world of commercial sex. Social scientists from a number of disciplines, including psychology, sociology, and public health, have explored varied facets of sex work. Diversity is the emphasis of this volume. Diverse methodological approaches, including targeted sampling, qualitative and quantitative interviews, ethnographic interviews with key informants, using sex workers as recruiters, and quasi-experimental intervention designs are featured. For many years, the focus of sex work research was on street-based male and female sex workers, and recently many investigations have focused on HIV-related risks, typically in terms of the risks that sex workers pose to their clients. Certainly, some of the papers in this publication continue to try and better understand HIV risk among street-based sex workers. However, there is also a focus on other types of sex workers, such as escorts, call girls, and those who work in massage parlors, bars/nightclubs, cantinas, and brothels. Further, although many of the articles do emphasize sexual risk practices related to HIV, most of the