Laura María Agustín is an anthropologist who studies illegal migration, informal labor markets, trafficking, and the sex industry. Blogging and speaking publicly as the Naked Anthropologist, she is critical of the conflation of the terms "

human trafficking Human trafficking is the act of recruiting, transporting, transferring, harboring, or receiving individuals through force, fraud, or coercion for the purpose of exploitation. This exploitation may include forced labor, sexual slavery, or oth ...

" and "

prostitution Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, no ...

". She argues that what she calls the "rescue industry" often ascribes victim status to people (most often women) who have made conscious and rational decisions to migrate knowing they will be selling sex, and who do not consider themselves to be victims. She states that such views on prostitution originate in what she calls "fundamentalist feminism".Kerry Howley
The Myth of the Migrant
''

Reason Magazine ''Reason'' is an American libertarian monthly magazine published by the Reason Foundation, with the tagline "Free Minds and Free Markets". The magazine aims to produce independent journalism that is "outside of the left/right echo chamber." A ...

'', 26 December 2007 She advocates for a cultural study of commercial sex, a theoretical framework she created in the journal Sexualities in 2005.Laura María Agustín (2005)
The Cultural Study of Commercial Sex
''Sexualities'', Vol 8(5): 681–694 Agustín carried out research on migration and sex work on the Mexico/US Border, in the Caribbean, in South America, and in several European countries. She did participatory research for several years with a range of social actors aiming to help migrants in Spain. She received a Ph.D. in Cultural Studies and Sociology from the

Open University The Open University (OU) is a Public university, public research university and the largest university in the United Kingdom by List of universities in the United Kingdom by enrolment, number of students. The majority of the OU's undergraduate ...

, United Kingdom, in 2004, with Tony Bennett as her supervisor. Her first book, ''Trabajar en la industria del sexo, y otros tópicos migratorios'', was published in Spain in 2004 (Gakoa, ). In 2007, she published her second book, ''Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry'' (Zed Books, ). In this book, she argued that contemporary anti-trafficking "crusades" have the effect of restricting international freedom of movement, and she compared today's anti-trafficking feminists with the "bourgeois women" of the 19th century who felt the need to save poor prostitutes, seeing women as weak, easily victimized, and in need of guidance. Agustín does not deny human trafficking or forced prostitution takes place, but, rather, argues that the campaigners against prostitution and undocumented migration over-estimate figures.Brendan O'Neill
The myth of trafficking
''

New Statesman ''The New Statesman'' (known from 1931 to 1964 as the ''New Statesman and Nation'') is a British political and cultural news magazine published in London. Founded as a weekly review of politics and literature on 12 April 1913, it was at first c ...

'', 27 March 2008 Agustín publishes in Spanish, English, and Swedish. In 2010, she was visiting professor in Gender and Migration in the Swiss university system, based at the

University of Neuchatel A university () is an institution of tertiary education and research which awards academic degrees in several academic disciplines. ''University'' is derived from the Latin phrase , which roughly means "community of teachers and scholars". Univ ...

, and participated in the Battle of Ideas in London.

References

External links

Website and Blog of Laura Agustín - the Naked Anthropologist, with list of publications

Guardian Profile

The Sex in Sex Trafficking
by Laura Agustín, in ''American Sexuality'', 28 November 2007
The Shadowy World of Sex Across Borders
by Laura Agustín, in ''The Guardian'', 19 November 2008
Border Thinking
by Laura Agustín, in ''Re-public'', June 2008]
Radio interview with Agustin
15 November 2007
Review of ''Trabajar en la industria del sexo''

Podcast of lecture - Sex at the Margins: Migration, Labour Markets and the Rescue Industry
* Reviews of ''Sex at the Margins'' *
The myth of trafficking
''

'', 27 March 2008 *
Exploding the myth of trafficking
'' Spiked Review of Books'', April 2008 *
All You Need To Know About Sex Trafficking, Harriet
, '' The Erotic Review'', issue 86, February 2008 {{DEFAULTSORT:Agustin, Laura Maria Living people Sex worker activists Sex industry researchers Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century anthropologists Alumni of the Open University 21st-century women scientists