ABSTRACT
This chapter explores a theoretical framework within which to study, understand and explain women's involvement in commercial sex. It deals with existing explanations of prostitution, followed by theoretical guidelines to accommodate all relevant factors contributing to the occurrence of sex trafficking and prostitution. The Rational Choice Perspective (RCP), put forth by Clarke and Cornish in the 1980s, is based on the free will and choice model of the classical school, as well as the economic model of rational man. Factors contributing to human trafficking and prostitution, such as poverty, unemployment and/or inequality, are often times overlapping. Whilst many prostitutes have undergone similar life experiences, it is impossible to identify a single factor that is responsible for women turning to prostitution. In explaining the occurrence of crime, the RCP makes a distinction between crime and criminality. The occurrence of specific crime events is "influenced by situational factors related to opportunity, effort, and proximal risks".
