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Melissa Farley

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Melissa Farley
Born1942
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Iowa (Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, 1973)
San Francisco State University (MS, Clinical Psychology, 1966)
Mills College (BA, Psychology, 1964)
Known forResearch on the effects of prostitution, sexual abuse, and violence against women[1]
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
InstitutionsProstitution Research and Education 1996–
Kaiser Foundation Research Institute (Oakland, CA), 1993–2000

Melissa Farley (born 1942) is a feminist research and clinical psychologist and anti-pornography and anti-prostitution activist.[1][2][3][4] Farley is best known for her studies of the effects of prostitution and trafficking on those engaged in those industries.

Farley is a leading proponent of the abolitionist view of sex work[5] (a term she is opposed to[6]) holding that all sex work is inherently exploitive and traumatizing, and should therefore be abolished. She is an opponent of wholesale decriminalization of prostitution, instead advocating the "Swedish model" in which selling sex is decriminalized, but the penalties for purchasing sex are increased. She is also largely opposed to sex workers' rights groups, such as COYOTE, which advocate legalizing or decriminalizing both prostitution and the purchase of sexual services.[7]

Since 1993, Farley has researched prostitution and trafficking in 10 countries. She is the author of several studies of street prostitutes in several parts of the world, which claim high rates of post-traumatic stress disorder among the women studied. Her studies, however, have been criticized (most notably by Ronald Weitzer, a social scientist at George Washington University) both for their methodology and for the way they have been more generally applied to demonstrate the harm of sex work of all kinds. Farley's critics also hold that her findings largely reflect her radical feminist ideology.[8][9][10]

Farley has also published several papers on the long-term effects of sexual abuse.

As of 2007, she is currently director of Prostitution Research and Education, a San Francisco nonprofit organization. In March 2007, she testified in hearings about Kink.com's purchase of the San Francisco Armory, comparing the images produced by Kink.com to images of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.[11][12] In September 2007, Farley published a report on prostitution and sex trafficking in the state of Nevada. In the report, Farley claims that, though Nevada has legal brothels, 90% of prostitution taking place in the state is illegal and that Las Vegas is a major destination for sex traffickers. She also claims that 81% of the 45 legal brothel workers she interviewed would like to leave prostitution, but in many cases are physically prevented from doing so. Farley claims to have been threatened at gunpoint by one of the brothel owners during the course of the interviews.[13][14]

Major works

  • Farley M. (2007). Prostitution and trafficking in Nevada: making the connections. San Francisco: Prostitution Research and Education. (information)
  • Farley M (ed). (2004). Prostitution, trafficking and traumatic stress. Binghamton, NY: Haworth Maltreatment & Trauma Press. ISBN 0789023784 (hardcover) ISBN 0789023792 (paperback)
  • Farley M. (2004). "Bad for the body, bad for the heart": Prostitution harms women even if legalized or decriminalized. Violence Against Women 10(10): 1087–1125. doi:10.1177/1077801204268607
  • Farley M, Cotton A, Lynne J, Zumbeck S, Spiwak F, Reyes ME, Alvarez D, Sezgin U. (2003). Prostitution and trafficking in nine countries: Update on violence and posttraumatic stress disorder. Journal of Trauma Practice 2(3/4):33–74. doi:10.1300/J189v02n03_03
  • Farley M, Patsalides BM. (2001). Physical symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder, and healthcare utilization of women with and without childhood physical and sexual abuse. Psychological Reports 89(3):595–606. doi:10.2466/PR0.89.7.595-606
  • Farley M, Barkan H. (1998). Prostitution, violence, and post-traumatic stress disorder. Women & Health 27(3):37–49. doi:10.1300/J013v27n03_03
  • Farley M, Baral I, Kiremire M, Sezgin U. (1998). Prostitution in five countries: Violence and posttraumatic stress disorder. Feminism & Psychology 8(4):405–426. doi:10.1300/J013v27n03_03
  • Farley M, Keaney JC. (1997). Physical symptoms, somatization, and dissociation in women survivors of childhood sexual assault. Women & Health 25(3):33–45. doi:10.1300/J013v25n03_03

References

  1. ^ a b "Melissa Farley: Curriculum Vitae", 2004.
  2. ^ "Prostitution: The oldest use and abuse of women" by Melissa Farley, off our backs, May 1994. (FindArticles.com archive, p 3.)
  3. ^ "Slick S.F. posters advocate decriminalizing prostitution" by Kevin Foley, San Francisco Examiner, August 14, 1995.
  4. ^ "Sober forum, street theater on prostitution ballot issue" by Patrick Hoge, San Francisco Chronicle, August 31, 2004.
  5. ^ "Feminists fight over prostitution" by Roberta deBoer, Toledo Blade, September 24, 2006.
  6. ^ "Prostitution, trafficking, and cultural amnesia: What we must not know in order to keep the business of sexual exploitation running smoothly" by Melissa Farley, Yale Journal of Law and Feminism 18(1):109–144, Spring 2006.
  7. ^ "Ex-prostitutes' quilt honors slain women" by Associated Press, Las Vegas Review-Journal, April 13, 1994, p 14.
  8. ^ “Flawed Theory and Method in Studies of Prostitution” by Ronald Weitzer, Violence Against Women 11(7): 934–949, July 2005.
  9. ^ Letter to Ambassador John Miller by Ann Jordan and others, Center for Health and Gender Equity, April 21, 2005, p 4.
  10. ^ Debate between Tracy Quan and Melissa Farley, Conversations with Krys Villasenor, KERA radio, February 6, 2002.
  11. ^ "San Francisco Planning Commission - Special Public Hearing", SFGTV, March 8, 2007. (link to streaming Windows Media video and downloadable MP3 audio)
  12. ^ "Kink.Com in San Francisco: Women and Gay Men's Abu Ghraib" by Melissa Farley, Traffick Jamming (blog), February 8, 2007.
  13. ^ "Outlaw industry, ex-prostitutes say" by Lynnette Curtis, Las Vegas Review-Journal, September 6, 2007.
  14. ^ "Panel: Brothels aid sex trafficking" by Mark Waite, Pahrump Valley Times, September 7, 2007.

By Melissa Farley

Criticism of Melissa Farley

Debates between Melissa Farley and others

Panel and symposium discussions

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