Symposium on Sex as Crime: Addressing the Intersection of the Legal World and the Sex Industry
Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society
March 26th, 2022
We are pleased to announce the 2022 Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society symposium on “Sex as Crime: Addressing the Intersection of the Legal World and the Sex Industry.” Sex work is one of the most divisive professions in the United States. Traditionally, the United States has used a criminalization model for sex work, making the consensual buying and selling of sexual services illegal. While the sex work industry is diverse in practice and experience, this approach to the industry endangers all sex workers with higher rates of sexual, physical, and economic violence. Violence towards sex workers recently came to the public’s attention on March 16, 2021, after the Atlanta spa shooting, when a racially and sexually motivated man shot and killed massage parlor workers and customers. This tragedy, along with changing social attitudes towards sex work, has reinvigorated the conversation about the legal implications of criminalization and the proper regulation of sex work in the United States.
The virtual symposium will feature research and papers comparing a variety of legal issues and pitfalls and the implications of different legal models as possible solutions. The symposium seeks scholarship on sex workers and sex trafficking victims within the criminal justice system and broader legal context. The journal will prioritize articles that discuss the intersections of sex work with race and ethnicity, gender or gender identity, sexuality, social class, disability, and citizenship status, as well as any other diverse aspect of our society. This symposium seeks to foster a broad discussion about effective solutions for legal issues within the sex work industry.
Proposals should be submitted to Sarah Jones at spjones@wisc.edu and Tanja Skiljevic at skiljevic@wisc.edu no later than October 17, 2021. Submissions may be a finished work or a proposed outline. The Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender & Society will likely publish accepted unpublished submissions. The organizers will communicate their decisions no later than November 14, 2021. If chosen, authors of accepted submissions must commit to submitting a final rough draft of their work no later than February 1, 2022. Authors of accepted submissions must virtually attend and present their work at the symposium on March 26, 2022.
Additionally, the Journal is seeking individuals who are interested in speaking at the symposium about their legal or scholastic work without a publication agreement. The above deadlines apply similarly to speakers’ proposals. The Wisconsin Journal of Law, Gender, & Society welcomes individuals from all backgrounds to submit their research or scholastic work to be fairly and equitably considered. Please direct any inquiries to Sarah Jones, Symposium Editor (spjones@wisc.edu).