How and why do Sex Workers’ Rights NGOs’ demands contrast with the Positions and work of other civil society organizations on tackling the issues of prostitution in the European context? Rethinking Prostitutes’ Human, Labour and Civil Rights.
Author
Ramos, Ines
Term
4. term
Education
Publication year
2016
Submitted on
2016-11-01
Pages
75
Abstract
This thesis examines how and why Sex Workers’ Rights NGOs’ demands diverge from the positions and work of other civil society organizations addressing prostitution in Europe. Against a backdrop of four broad legal models, globalization, increased mobility, new technologies, and shifting norms around intimacy and work, the study maps a contentious policy field. Using a mixed-methods design, it combines comparative document analysis with Carol Bacchi’s WPR approach to unpack how actors represent the “problem.” The empirical corpus includes positions from sex workers’ rights networks (e.g., ICRSE, SWAN, TAMPEP, FSW) and other organizations and institutions (e.g., EWL, FEMM, Amnesty International), alongside relevant statistics. The analysis highlights two dominant frames: an abolitionist perspective that defines prostitution as sexual exploitation and violence against women, and a labor/regulatory perspective that treats sex work as work. Sex workers’ rights NGOs criticize existing models as ineffective and call for strategies of social and political inclusion that protect health, labor, and civil rights, alongside total decriminalization as the most empowering and protective approach. The thesis shows how competing problem representations shape policy options, the assumptions that underpin them, and the silences and blind spots they produce.
Specialet undersøger, hvordan og hvorfor Sex Workers’ Rights-NGO’ers krav adskiller sig fra andre civilsamfundsorganisationers positioner i håndteringen af prostitution i Europa. Med afsæt i et konfliktfyldt politisk felt, hvor fire overordnede lovgivningsmodeller sameksisterer, beskrives et landskab præget af global mobilitet, nye teknologier og skiftende normer for intimitet og arbejde. Gennem et mixed-methods design kombineres komparativ dokumentanalyse med Carol Bacchis WPR-tilgang for at afdække, hvordan “problemet” repræsenteres forskelligt. Empirien omfatter positioner fra sexarbejderes rettighedsnetværk (fx ICRSE, SWAN, TAMPEP, FSW) samt andre aktører og institutioner (fx EWL, FEMM, Amnesty International) suppleret af relevante statistikker. Analysen fremhæver to dominerende forståelser: et abolitionistisk perspektiv, der ser prostitution som seksuel udnyttelse og vold mod kvinder, og et arbejds-/reguleringsperspektiv, der betragter sexarbejde som arbejde. Sexarbejderrettigheds-NGO’er kritiserer de eksisterende modeller for manglende effektivitet og efterlyser inklusionsstrategier, der beskytter sundhed, arbejds- og borgerrettigheder, samt fuld afkriminalisering som den mest styrkende og beskyttende tilgang. Specialet synliggør, hvordan forskellige problemrepræsentationer former politiske valg, hvilke antagelser der bærer dem, og hvor tavsheder og blinde vinkler opstår.
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