December 3, 2013 11:24AM 

# This Month at *Cato Unbound* : Sex Work and the Law 

By [Jason Kuznicki](https://www.cato.org/people/jason-kuznicki) 

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This month’s *Cato Unbound* tackles an issue as old as humanity, and maybe even older: [Sex work has been a part of nearly all human societies, even despite frequent prohibitions](http://www.cato-unbound.org/issues/december-2013/perverse-incentives-sex-work-law). Well, some say, we should allow it — but we should regulate it very heavily.

[Lead essayist Maggie McNeill takes a much more libertarian view: simply allow it](http://www.cato-unbound.org/2013/12/02/maggie-mcneill/treating-sex-work-work). Sex work is “not a crime, nor a scam, nor a ‘lazy’ way to get by, nor a form of oppression,” she writes. “It is a personal service, akin to massage, or nursing, or counseling, and should be treated as such.” As a former call girl and madam, she draws on personal experience, as well as the remarkable body of knowledge found at her blog, [The Honest Courtesan](http://maggiemcneill.wordpress.com/).

Obviously we wouldn’t be a journal of debate without some vigorous dissent, and it will come this month from a panel of three other experts in the field: [Ronald Weitzer](http://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/ronald-weitzer) is a sociologist at the George Washington University; [Dianne Post](http://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/dianne-post) is an international legal advocate who works on gender-based violence; and [Steven Wagner](http://www.cato-unbound.org/contributors/steven-wagner) is the president of Renewal Forum, a nonprofit opposed to human trafficking.

Be sure to stop by and see what they have to say over the coming week; feel free to reply in the comments. And if you like what you read, you should also follow us on [Facebook](https://www.facebook.com/CatoUnbound) and [Twitter](https://twitter.com/CatoUnbound) for regular updates.

##### Related Tags 

[Constitutional Law](https://www.cato.org/constitutional-law), [Robert A. Levy Center for Constitutional Studies](https://www.cato.org/robert-levy-center-constitutional-studies) 

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