This book offers an original, critical analysis of the governance of sexual labour in Greece, tracing how state regulationism and feminist interventions have systematically separated sex work from other forms of women’s labour, constructing it as an exceptional field requiring heightened surveillance, discipline, and control. By analysing how feminist currents in Greece have at times aligned with state agendas—embracing punitive approaches under the banner of gender justice—it challenges dominant narratives that obscure class dynamics, migration realities, and the broader political economy of reproductive and intimate labour. At the same time, the book foregrounds sex workers’ strategies of resistance, community-building, and collective action.

The author wishes to dedicate this book to the memory of Paola Revenioti, who passed away shortly before publication.

Athena Michalakea is a scholar in socio-legal studies and radical criminology. She holds a PhD in Law from Birkbeck, University of London, and studied law and social and political theory at the University of Athens, Greece. Her research explores the intersections of state power, philanthrocapitalism, and dominant feminisms in the governance of sexual labour. With a background that spans academic research, institutional work, and activist engagement, she brings a multidimensional perspective to questions of law, gender, and labour. She is a member of the European Group for the Study of Deviance and Social Control and the European Sex Work Research Network.