Sex Work in Cambodia: Beyond the Voluntary/Forced Dichotomy

Abstract

This paper looks at the dominant voluntary/forced dichotomy shaping understandings of sex work internationally. It argues that the distinction between forced and voluntary participation in sex work cannot account for or help explain the multiple and contradictory subjectivities some women embrace and the constrained agency they exhibit in sex work. Based on ethnographic research and interviews with sex workers in Sihanoukville, Cambodia, this paper shows how elements of individual choice and coercion are intricately intertwined in women's experiences.