Feminism and prostitution: The persistence of a bitter dispute

Abstract

The liberalization of sexual customs in late capitalism, together with neoliberal market deregulation,
encouraged the expansion of a sexual market in which certain businesses operate illegally, as in the case
of people trafficking. In these pages, I reflect on the disagreement between feminists who support the new
abolitionism and those that advocate new forms of organizing labor and labor rights for sexual workers.
This opposition is a significant expression of the Sex Wars, waged particularly in the United States parallel
to the development of feminism, whose theoretical and political influence has framed the feminist debate
worldwide. In addition to this, there is the punitive approach of criminological and judicial policy regarding
sexual trade, which further expands the political gap between feminists