The aim of this study in social work was to investigate Swedish part-time sex workers' experiences of selling sex, of the Swedish Prohibition of Purchase of Sexual Services Act, of people's attitudes toward selling and buying sexual services and the consequences thereof. In the analysis the Erving Goffman stigma theories were used. Three part-time sex workers described their day-to-day experiences of selling sex as well as holding an ordinary job. None of them experienced that the Prohibition of Purchase of Sexual Services Act had an immediate effect on them in their work, what bothered them most was the attitudes toward sex work from society, friends and relatives. The negative attitude forced them to live a double life. None of the sex workers had the impression that the legislation had any concrete effects on their customers. One sex worker expressed the view that the law itself could be a trigger for some customers and that it also helped preserve a negative and disparaging attitude toward sex workers in society. The study concluded that prostitution is a multifaceted phenomenon that has been a victim of simplification in many previous studies, partly for ideological purposes, and recommended a more individual perspective on the matter.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:UPSALLA1/oai:DiVA.org:su-40243 |
| Date | January 2010 |
| Creators | Engnell, Hans |
| Publisher | Stockholms universitet, Institutionen för socialt arbete - Socialhögskolan |
| Source Sets | DiVA Archive at Upsalla University |
| Language | Swedish |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Student thesis, info:eu-repo/semantics/bachelorThesis, text |
| Format | application/pdf |
| Rights | info:eu-repo/semantics/openAccess |
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