Religious Responses to Sex Work and Sex Trafficking

An Outrage Against Any Decent People

Lauren McGrow, Lauren McGrow

• Publisher: Routledge
• Year: 2022
• ISBN:
  9781000649451
• Edition: 1
• Topic: Theology & Religion
• Subtopic: Sexuality & Gender in Religion

This book examines the history, theological beliefs and current contextual practices of faith-based NGOs who work in the area of human trafficking that involves the sex industry. There are hundreds of religious organizations around the globe who minister with human trafficking survivors and sex workers, but what is really happening on the ground and how do theological beliefs support a faith-based response?

Many of these groups represent their work as a cosmic battle against evil forces, yet important structural critiques are ignored in the urgency to rescue women and children. Using perspectives from both NGO staff and sex workers, an interdisciplinary panel of contributors examine specific organizations, highlight marginalized voices, and analyze undergirding methodologies. In doing so, the authors provide clear critiques and establish best practice guidelines for faith-based NGOs and future religious leaders, affirming an intersection of justice based upon critical reflection and careful action.

This book addresses with nuance an important topic that is often over-simplified. It will, therefore, be of great interest to scholars studying the interaction of religion to sex work and human trafficking, as well as academics of religious studies and theology more generally.

Table of contents

• Cover
• Half Title
• Series Page
• Title Page
• Copyright Page
• Table of Contents
• List of Figures
• List of Contributors
• Acknowledgements
• Introduction: An Outrage Against Any Decent People
• 1. Abolition Mommas: Evangelical Women as Exceptional Citizens in the Fight to End “Global Sex Trafficking”
• 2. Do You See This (Wo)man? Lessons Learned from Sex Workers
• 3. Walking with Women in Sex Work: An Appraisal of the Role of the Nigerian Conference of Women Religious
• 4. Human Dignity in Sex Work and the Catholic Tradition
• 5. ‘A Catholic and an Agnostic Walk into a Homeless Camp…’ Collaborating Across Religious Differences
• 6. Towards an Ethical Framework for Practice: Three “Touchstones” for Faith-based Organizations at the Margins
• 7. Jesus Ate With Pras: Christianity and Commercial Sex Work in the Caribbean
• 8. When Survival Precedes Faith: Decolonial Perspectives on the Ethical Dilemma Confronting Female Christian Sex Workers in Africa
• Afterword: To Shape the Changes for Which We Long
• Index