Policing sexuality: the Mann Act and the making of the FBI

'Policing Sexuality' links the crusade against sex trafficking to the rapid growth of the Bureau from a few dozen agents at the time of the Mann Act into a formidable law enforcement organization that cooperated with state and municipal authorities across the nation.

In pursuit of offenders, the Bureau often intervened in domestic squabbles on behalf of men intent on monitoring their wives and daughters.

Working prostitutes were imprisoned at dramatically increased rates, while their male clients were seldom prosecuted.