Seminar paper from the year 2018 in the subject Theology - Biblical Theology, London School of Theology, language: English, abstract: In this essay, we will consider the role that the theological method has in engaging with these narratives, especially focusing on the conflicting concepts between the abolitionist narrative and that of sex workers rights. The goal is to use the framework of the theological method to engage with key epistemological differences in the narratives, in order to determine a more balanced and effective approach. There are three primary narrative approaches to define the relationship between sex trafficking and prostitution. The first is that of abolition, where the lines of delineation between prostitution and trafficking are often blurred and cases of exploitation within prostitution are categorized in a sex trafficking context. Here one commonly finds the language of rescue and restoration. In this context, individual actors such as pimps and traffickers, as well as the society itself which allows prostitution to flourish, are viewed as perpetrators. The second narrative is one of criminal justice, where the issue is framed by the language of legal prosecution against criminals and the war on trafficking done by the State and NGO actors. The third narrative is one of sex workers rights, where the human rights abuses surrounding prostitution are framed principally as gender migrant issues and the need for better working conditions is presented as the solution. Assistance from a sex workers rights approach speaks in terms of harm reduction and empowering agency among those in prostitution. This approach considers sex work to be a viable job when the conditions are correct and the women are free from exploitation. All narratives agree that sex trafficking is wrong. The departure takes place where views of prostitution are concerned. The prevalence of harm found in prostitution cause some to place it ontologically in the same category as sex trafficking while others would say that is overreaching and adds to the challenges women in prostitution face. In effect, presuppositions built by a commitment to any of these narratives tend to influence the orientation and praxis of an organization.

In this book Marion Carson brings us a profound, interdisciplinary account of how Christians have engaged with slavery in the past, and how they might respond in the future.

As a scholar and an activist, Glenn Harden seeks a theology of hope that can sustain opposition to evil. Looking into the face of evil without blinking, he uses the sex trade as an example of how horrendous evil can be. But he also uncovers stories of radical healing which are problematic for those who deny either God or the resurrection. This book is for those people of faith who walk in dark places and need deeper theological sustenance to sustain their journey.

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.

Selling Sex in the City offers a worldwide analysis of prostitution since 1600. It analyses more than 20 cities with an important sex industry and compares policies and social trends, coercion and agency, but also prostitutes' working and living conditions.

As societies live with diversity and yet struggle with both social fragmentation and increasing economic inequalities, populism is once again rising. Populist ethno-nationalist discourse seeks to ignite fear and hate, promote marginalization and exclusion of those who are regarded as not belonging to "the people". What is the role and responsibility of theology and the churches in the midst of these developments? Church leaders and teaching theologians from eighteen different countries offer analyses, trace emerging global trends and outline some country-specific developing situations. Examples are given of how churches take up the challenge to resist exclusion and advocate for strengthening participatory processes and people's agency. Widerstand gegen Ausgrenzung. Globale theologische Antworten auf den Populismus In Zeiten, in denen Gesellschaften mit der Vielfalt leben und dennoch mit sozialer Fragmentierung und zunehmenden wirtschaftlichen Ungleichheiten zu kämpfen haben, nimmt der Populismus wieder zu. Der populistische ethno-nationalistische Diskurs zielt darauf ab, Angst und Hass zu schüren und die Marginalisierung und Ausgrenzung derjenigen zu fördern, die als nicht zum "Volk" gehörend betrachtet werden. Welche Rolle und Verantwortung haben die Theologie und die Kirchen angesichts dieser Entwicklungen? Kirchenleitende und Theologen aus achtzehn verschiedenen Ländern erstellen Analysen, verfolgen neue globale Tendenzen und beschreiben einige länderspezifische Entwicklungssituationen. Anhand von Beispielen wird gezeigt, wie Kirchen die Herausforderung annehmen, der Ausgrenzung zu widerstehen und sich für die Stärkung von partizipativen Prozessen und der Handlungskompetenz der Menschen einzusetzen.

“Welcome to the European family!” When East European countries joined the European Union under this banner after 1989, they agreed to the free movement of goods, services, capital, and persons. In this book, Anca Parvulescu analyzes an important niche in this imagined European kinship: the traffic in women, or the circulation of East European women in West Europe in marriage and as domestic servants, nannies, personal attendants, and entertainers. Analyzing film, national policies, and an impressive range of work by theorists from Giorgio Agamben to Judith Butler, she develops a critical lens through which to think about the transnational continuum of “women’s work.” Parvulescu revisits Claude Lévi-Strauss’s concept of kinship and its rearticulation by second-wave feminists, particularly Gayle Rubin, to show that kinship has traditionally been anchored in the traffic in women. Reading recent cinematic texts that help frame this, she reveals that in contemporary Europe, East European migrant women are exchanged to engage in labor customarily performed by wives within the institution of marriage. Tracing a pattern of what she calls Americanization, Parvulescu argues that these women thereby become responsible for the labor of reproduction. A fascinating cultural study as much about the consequences of the enlargement of the European Union as women’s mobility, The Traffic in Women’s Work questions the foundations of the notion of Europe today.