Book Review: Governing Refugees: Justice, Order and Legal Pluralism
| DOI | 10.1177/0964663916637717b |
| Date | 01 April 2016 |
| Published date | 01 April 2016 |
| Author | Naohiko Omata |
| Subject Matter | Book Reviews |
sexually transmitted infections, and adviceabout sexual health – all of whichare important
for reducing the incidence of disease, including HIV and hepatitis – is seen simply as
condoningand enabling involvementin prostitution and reinforcingthe false consciousness
of women who believe, wrongly, that they are exercising any real agency or choice when
they ‘choose’ to engagein such work. If women want help (the focus is almostexclusively
on women – men who sell sexare an ignored and awkward exception), they must come to
one of the units,where access to condoms may be conditional on counsellingor psychother-
apeutic intervention. As one ofthe interviewees from the Stockholm Unit puts it,‘we don’t
just handout condoms. People are welcometo come here, because wewant to, what do you
say, not just hand o ut the condoms, but try and, you know, c atch the person’ ( p. 144).
There is, of course, a division of opinion on the ethics of sex work; but whatever one’s
own view, the fact is that it exists. The fact that a country, especially one that espouses a
commitment to the promotion and protection of fundamental human rights, including the
right to the highest attainable standard of health and well-being, can so signally fail to
recognize the importance of ensuring the safety of those who engage in it is a shameful
and damning indictment. Just as Sweden is failing those who inject drugs (its goal of a
drug-free society and failure to provide adequate harm reduction measures for injecting
drug users has resulted in a massive increase in drug-induced mortality there in recent
years), so it is failing those who sell sex. In its desire for a pure and clean society –
Sweden had an active eugenics programme until the mid-1970s – the voices of those who
disrupt, challenge, disagree, who do not ‘fit’ the Swedish ideal are silenced. As Dr Levy
explains, when the sexko
¨plagen was reviewed 10 years after its introduction, in 2010, its
critics were sidelined and its ‘success’ (fewer prostitutes on the streets) trumpeted. The
flawed methodology of the review, which failed to give voice to those who wanted at the
very least to raise concerns about the law’s adverse effects was irrelevant, however, to
those for whom such voices were yet further evidence of a failure to understand the
‘truth’ of prostitution.
The Swedish Model has been imported and continues to be considered as a viable
option by other countries concerned with prostitution. Dr Levy’s book should be read by
all policy makers and legislators who think that it’s the right way to go. If they do they
may – and should – change their mind.
MATTHEW WEAIT
University of Portsmouth, UK
KIRSTEN McCONNACHIE, Governing Refugees: Justice, Order and Legal Pluralism. Oxford:
Routledge, 2014, pp. 200, ISBN 9780415834001, £80 (hbk).
Often portrayed as a ‘state of exception’ (Agamben, 1995), refugee camps are typically
associated with images of anarchy, disorder, violence or insecurity. In part, these percep-
tions can be attributed to the dearth of comprehen sive books that focus on existing
governance and political systems inside refugee camps, with the exception of a few
seminal works (e.g. Agier, 2011; Lischer, 2005; Turner, 2010).
Book Reviews 253
To continue reading
Request your trial