The interaction of law and poverty is a focus of the work on sex work of the Sexuality, Poverty and Law Programme of the Institute of Development Studies. As part of that work it has produced an online map of brief, accurate summaries of the laws and regulations that address female sex work across the world.
The impact of law on sex workers' rights claims for social and economic equality has increasingly come into focus in recent years as a wave of law reforms and campaigns and proposals for reform have triggered national and international debates.
Filling a gap in the available information about sex work, the map is intended to be useful to a wide audience of people concerned with sex work issues including those working on health and welfare programmes, policy analysts, researchers, activists, development agencies and journalists.
The map allows you to search for countries with similar legal approaches or particular regulatory frameworks that shape sex industries and influence sex workers' lived experience. Users will also have an opportunity to help expand and improve the map over time.