IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/gam/jscscx/v10y2021i2p58-d495677.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

Anti-Trafficking in the Time of FOSTA/SESTA: Networked Moral Gentrification and Sexual Humanitarian Creep

Author

Listed:
  • Jennifer Musto

    (Department of Women’s and Gender Studies, Wellesley College, Wellesley, MA 02481, USA)

  • Anne E. Fehrenbacher

    (Department of Psychiatry and Biobehavioral Sciences, Semel Institute, University of California, Los Angeles, CA 90095, USA)

  • Heidi Hoefinger

    (Faculty of Social Sciences, Division of General Education, Berkeley College, New York, NY 10017, USA)

  • Nicola Mai

    (School of Humanities and Social Sciences, University of Newcastle, Callaghan, NSW 2308, Australia)

  • P. G. Macioti

    (Department of Criminology and Sociology, Kingston University, London KT1 2EE, UK)

  • Calum Bennachie

    (Department of Criminology and Sociology, Kingston University, London KT1 2EE, UK)

  • Calogero Giametta

    (Department of Sociology, LAMES, Aix-Marseille University, 13007 Marseille, France)

  • Kate D’Adamo

    (Reframe Health and Justice, Washington, DC 20002, USA)

Abstract

Globally, sex workers have highlighted the harms that accompany anti-prostitution efforts advanced via anti-trafficking policy, and there is a growing body of social science research that has emerged documenting how anti-trafficking efforts contribute to carceral and sexual humanitarian interventions. Yet mounting evidence on the harms of anti-trafficking policies has done little to quell the passage of more laws, including policies aimed at stopping sexual exploitation facilitated by technology. The 2018 passage of the Allow States and Victims to Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act (FOSTA) in the U.S. House of Representatives, and the corresponding Senate bill, the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act (SESTA), is a case study in how efforts to curb sexual exploitation online actually heighten vulnerabilities for the people they purport to protect. Drawing on 34 months of ethnographic fieldwork and interviews with sex workers and trafficked persons ( n = 58) and key informants ( n = 20) in New York and Los Angeles, we analyze FOSTA/SESTA and its harmful effects as a launchpad to more broadly explore how technology, criminalization, shifting governance arrangements, and conservative moralities cohere to exacerbate sex workers’ vulnerability.

Suggested Citation

  • Jennifer Musto & Anne E. Fehrenbacher & Heidi Hoefinger & Nicola Mai & P. G. Macioti & Calum Bennachie & Calogero Giametta & Kate D’Adamo, 2021. "Anti-Trafficking in the Time of FOSTA/SESTA: Networked Moral Gentrification and Sexual Humanitarian Creep," Social Sciences, MDPI, vol. 10(2), pages 1-18, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:2:p:58-:d:495677
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/2/58/pdf
    Download Restriction: no
    File URL: https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/10/2/58/
    Download Restriction: no
    ---><---

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Kathleen Higgins, 2016. "Post-truth: a guide for the perplexed," Nature, Nature, vol. 540(7631), pages 9-9, December.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Dorine Boumans & Klaus Gründler & Niklas Potrafke & Fabian Ruthardt, 2021. "The Global Economic Impact of Politicians: Evidence from an International Survey RCT," CESifo Working Paper Series 8833, CESifo.
    2. Whiting, Alix & Kecinski, Maik & Li, Tongzhe & r, Kent D. Messer & Parker, Julia, 2019. "The importance of selecting the right messenger: A framed field experiment on recycled water products," Ecological Economics, Elsevier, vol. 161(C), pages 1-8.
    3. Leonardo Becchetti & Massimo Cermelli, 2018. "Civil economy: definition and strategies for sustainable well-living," International Review of Economics, Springer;Happiness Economics and Interpersonal Relations (HEIRS), vol. 65(3), pages 329-357, September.
    4. van der Bles, Anne Marthe & van der Liden, Sander & Freeman, Alessandra L. J. & Mitchell, James & Galvao, Ana Beatriz & Spiegelhalter, David J., 2019. "Communicating uncertainty about facts, numbers, and science," EMF Research Papers 22, Economic Modelling and Forecasting Group.
    5. Dorine Boumans & Klaus Gründler & Niklas Potrafke & Fabian Ruthardt, 2022. "Political Leaders and Macroeconomic Expectations: Evidence from a Global Survey Experiment," CESifo Working Paper Series 9974, CESifo.
    6. Alan C. Logan & Susan H. Berman & Brian M. Berman & Susan L. Prescott, 2021. "Healing Anthropocene Syndrome: Planetary Health Requires Remediation of the Toxic Post-Truth Environment," Challenges, MDPI, vol. 12(1), pages 1-25, January.
    7. Ya Yang & Lichao Xiu & Xuejiao Chen & Guoming Yu, 2023. "Do emotions conquer facts? A CCME model for the impact of emotional information on implicit attitudes in the post-truth era," Palgrave Communications, Palgrave Macmillan, vol. 10(1), pages 1-7, December.
    8. Pérez-Mesa, Juan Carlos & García Barranco, Mª Carmen & Serrano-Arcos, Mª Mar, 2023. "The agri-food crisis in the post-truth age: an application to the Spanish greenhouse sector," MPRA Paper 119882, University Library of Munich, Germany.
    9. Naudé, Wim, 2023. "Destructive Digital Entrepreneurship," IZA Discussion Papers 16483, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:gam:jscscx:v:10:y:2021:i:2:p:58-:d:495677. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: MDPI Indexing Manager (email available below). General contact details of provider: https://www.mdpi.com .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.