Policy field of prostitution: the case of Lithuania
Author
Paulauskaite, Modesta
Term
4. term
Publication year
2018
Submitted on
2018-05-31
Pages
56
Abstract
Prostitution har eksisteret siden oldtiden, men først for nylig er den kommet mere i fokus i internationale og nationale debatter om, hvordan den skal reguleres. Mange aktører—regeringer, internationale og nationale organisationer, NGO’er, menneskerettighedsaktivister, sociale bevægelser og religiøse institutioner—har modstridende syn på styringen af prostitution. Disse synspunkter, sammen med landets historie og de dominerende måder at tale om emnet på, former den førte politik. Fordi prostitution er et følsomt emne, fremstilles personer, der sælger sex, ofte primært som ofre for seksuel udnyttelse. Dette speciale analyserer kritisk prostitutionspolitikken i Litauen. Det anvender Carol Bacchis policyanalyse What’s the Problem Represented to Be? (WPR), en metode der undersøger, hvordan politikker definerer det problem, de siger, de vil løse. Studiet afdækker, hvordan prostitution beskrives og indrammes i Litauen, og hvordan disse fremstillinger ligger til grund for lovgivningen og statens begrundelser. Resultaterne peger på, at den litauiske stat i høj grad fremstiller prostitution som noget tvungent og dermed som et resultat af menneskehandel. Personer, der sælger sex uden for denne forståelsesramme, kriminaliseres og bringes til tavshed. Den overordnede diskurs er overvejende fjendtlig, hvilket er med til at forklare den aktuelle position og lovgivning.
Prostitution has existed for centuries, but only recently has it become a stronger focus in international and national debates about how to regulate it. Many actors—governments, international and national organizations, NGOs, human rights advocates, social movements, and religious institutions—hold competing views on how prostitution should be governed. These views, together with a country’s history and dominant public narratives, shape the policies that are adopted. Because prostitution is a sensitive topic, people who sell sex are often portrayed mainly as victims of sexual exploitation. This master’s thesis critically examines prostitution policy in Lithuania. It uses Carol Bacchi’s policy analysis approach, What’s the Problem Represented to Be? (WPR), which asks how policies define the problem they claim to address. The study unpacks how prostitution is described and framed in Lithuania and how these representations underpin legal rules and the state’s reasoning. The findings suggest that the Lithuanian state largely represents prostitution as something forced and therefore an outcome of human trafficking. Those who sell sex outside this framing are criminalised and silenced. Overall, the dominant discourse is hostile, which helps explain the current stance and legal framework.
[This abstract was generated with the help of AI]
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