Controlling the ‘anti sexual’ city

Abstract

This article makes connections between the politics and policies relating to prostitution and anti social behaviour, with the construction of sexual citizenship. Through an analysis of what I have termed policing the ‘anti sexual’ city, I argue that new social technologies of control applied by a range of policing agencies include a gendered and sexual dimension to enforce ‘appropriate’ conduct among those considered to be sexually ‘disordered’ and ‘uncivil’. I apply the concept of public patriarchy to the case of the management of female street prostitution, through New Labour’s insistence on an eradication and ‘exiting’ agenda. I argue that ‘forced welfarism’, through anti social behaviour mechanisms, are used to enforce ‘correct’ sexual citizenship through the tools of public patriarchy. Mechanisms of coercion, rehabilitation, and responsibilization are applied to sex workers through the contradictory narratives of ‘victim’ and ‘offender’ that are played out in policy and practice. In summary, I argue that anti social behaviour policies that implement contractual governance have become a vehicle for ensuring that the benchmarks of sexual citizenship are maintained through the politics of inclusion and exclusion.