Public attitudes towards prostitution in Bulgaria in the context of social and legal neglection

Abstract

The article discusses the public perception of prostitution and its regulation in Bulgaria in the light of absence of knowledge-based discussions and legal regulation. A starting point for the paper is the premise that due to the specifics of the studied social phenomenon, the public opinion is one of the important components required in the process of acceptance of legal regulation towards prostitution, in accordance with the national context. The paper presents briefly the existing regulation models for prostitution around the world. It makes an overview of the sporadic initiatives to introduce regulation of prostitution in Bulgaria. The data used in the text is from two public opinion surveys on prostitution in Bulgaria, representative of the adult Bulgarian population. The surveys were carried out in 2010 and 2020 by reputable sociological agencies using questionnaires prepared by the author. The results of the two surveys, conducted with a 10-year gap, offer an important comparative perspective with regard trends and changes in the public attitudes towards prostitution. The attitudes towards the different types of regulation on prostitution as well as the differences in the opinion about the phenomenon depending on gender, age, education, settlement and ethnicity are explored. The importance of the relationship between moral judgments and (lack of) knowledge in the creation of public policies is discussed.