Identifying Research Gaps in the Prostitution Literature

Preface

The Research and Statistics Division at the Department of Justice Canada has played an important role in several research projects on prostitution-related issues in Canada. In 1989, the Department coordinated research that assessed the impact of the communicating law on street prostitution (1989). More recently, in 1995 the Department commissioned regional studies on violence against persons involved in prostitution. This year, the Research and Statistics Division will publish a literature review on youth involved in prostitution, and results from Dr. Susan McIntyre’s research on the process of exiting the sex trade. In March 2001, the Research and Statistics Division commissioned two independent examinations of the prostitution-related literature to identify the main research gaps in this area. This report was completed by Dr. John Lowman and outlines several trends in the prostitution literature, as well as 9 ‘research priorities’. The results of this document will provide the Division and other interested partners with valuable information on research needs in this important policy area. 

About the Author

Dr. John Lowman is Professor of Criminology at Simon Fraser University, Burnaby, British Columbia. For over twenty years, Dr. Lowman has conducted research on various aspects of the sex trade in Canada. He is co-editor of Regulating Sex (with Margaret Jackson, Ted Palys and Shelley, Gavigan, 1986), Transcaceration (with Bob Menzies and Ted Palys, 1987) and Gambling in Canada (with Colin Campbell 1989). In addition to numerous journal articles on prostitution, he is the author of several Department of Justice reports, including : The Vancouver Field Study of Prostitution (1984) Street Prostitution: Assessing the Impact of the Law (1989) and Violence Against Persons who Prostitute: The Experience in British Columbia (1995).