Women In Prostitution Research Articles

Проституция как форма саморазрушающего поведения

<p style="text-align: justify;">The article presents the results of a theoretical analysis and comparative study of prostituted women in the context of the study of prostitution as a phenomenon of self-destruction. The results of an empirical study are presented, including the peculiarities of experiencing bodily experience and the psychosocial organization of respondents with different forms of self-destructive behavior. A total of 526 women aged 18 to 41 years (M=25.3 years) participated in the study. Including: those involved in prostitution (N=44); with experience of self-harm (N=198); diagnosed with an eating disorder (N=82) and control sample respondents (N=202). The results of theoretical and empirical research allow us to conclude that prostituted women can be classified as persons prone to self-destruction. The study revealed in them markers of autoaggression towards their bodies, the thinness of psychological boundaries, deprivation of psychological space and diffuse ego identity.</p>

Sex and Women in the Archive and New Imaginaries of Female Same-Sex Relations in the Late Nineteenth Century

The article aims to contribute to queer histories of marginalised people and those who have left behind limited traces. It analyses medical sources informing about female same-sex relations among poor and marginalised women in Copenhagen, Denmark, during the late nineteenth century. The medical sources repeatedly mention how women in prostitution engaged in sexual and romantic relations with one other. The article provides examples of how female same-sex relations were described as passionate and dramatic, as well as violent, and proposes an expanded notion of female same-sex relations to accommodate “grim” stories of intimate partner violence and death. Furthermore, the medical reports associated women’s relations with carnal sex, . Finally, the article suggests that it might not have been the gender of a woman’s same-sex partner but rather the woman’s sexual activity, that caused condemnation. As the medical sources are confined to inform about women’s encounters with power authorities, such as doctors and police, I employ “imaginary scenarios” (Hartman 2021) to be able to represent the same-sex relations in a more profound way.

Covert Prostitution Mode of Migrant Women in a Dimly Lit Café

This research is a research that explores the mode of prostitution of migrant women in dim stalls, Wajo Regency, South Sulawesi Indonesia. Such research as a study of the phenomenon of "rural culture", and as a reference for decision makers in eliminating the distance of anomy from the practice of prostitution. Illegal prostitution is part of immorial sex, in the form of provocative sexual relations with many men (promiscuity). This study, using descriptive qualitative methods, to describe the phenomenon of prostitution as a pathology containing retretism, neglect of "cultural goals/morals", in building a socio-economic order of society that relies on institutionalized values/regulations. The results showed the rise of dim stalls in Wajo, which are inhabited or managed by migrant women from various regions: Bone, Luwu, Toraja, Makassar and various other regions such as Java and Mamuju. The mode of prostitution in Wajo, under the guise of selling coffee drinks, boiled instant noodles, is offered to visitors truck drivers, public transport car drivers and other visitors. The women offered this merchandise but behind that he also offered sex services with a single service of Rp. 120,000,- Rp. 200,000, depending on the agreement. Tips made by women in offering sex services to visitors with verbal seduction or with silence, which indicates they expect sex services.

Barriers to Escape: How Homelessness and Drug Addiction Prevent Women from Escaping Sex Trafficking and Commercial Sex

Victims of sex trafficking and women purportedly involved in prostitution volun-tarily face a complex web of interconnected challenges when attempting to escape their current circumstances. By analyzing the shared and distinct challenges faced by these women, the paper aims to inform policymakers and service providers, offering recommendations to empower women seeking to escape exploitation through multi-disciplinary and interconnected networks of providers. This study surveyed 74 wom-en in Detroit, Michigan, using nonprobability convenience sampling over a 10-month period in 2020. It compared three groups of women who self-reported as victims of sex trafficking, women who voluntarily engaged in some form of commercial sex, and women currently not in the sex industry. The study examined five outcome dimen-sions: substance use, housing stability, violence, interactions with law enforcement, and healthcare barriers. Among surveyed women, 45 reported sex trafficking experi-ences, 20 engaged in prostitution voluntarily, and nine were currently neither traf-ficked nor in prostitution. While some experiences were shared, like drug use and child presence, unique challenges emerged for sex trafficking victims. Victims of sex traffick-ing reported higher rates of homelessness, violence, lower education, and poorer health compared to others. However, those who were trafficked and those who report-ed being voluntarily involved in the sex trade had many similar problems. The survey highlights the interconnected barriers faced by women in sex trafficking or prostitu-tion: substance abuse, homelessness, and health problems. All three groups of women reported having children, which underscores the great need for support systems for families of trafficking survivors or those in the sex industry. Educating professionals and raising awareness can enhance responses and interventions, enabling more women to design exit strategies and begin the path to recovery.

Vulnerability to Sex Trafficking: Adult Women’s Experiences While They Were Adolescents

The concept of vulnerability to sex trafficking has been the subject of intense academic debate. It is well documented in the literature that child sex trafficking is facilitated by the abuse of a position of vulnerability, though limited research has focused on children’s order of birth as an element of vulnerability to sex trafficking. The objective of this article, based on a sample of 112 Central American women smuggled to the United States for the sex trade before they had attained the age of eighteen years, is to examine whether the order of birth constitutes an element of vulnerability to sex trafficking. Trafficked minors had vulnerabilities linked to structural-level and individual-level factors. We conclude that sisters occupying the first place in the order of birth are the most susceptible to being recruited by an international network that smuggles women for prostitution. On the contrary, the youngest and middle sisters are less at risk due to the protection and guidance of the other sisters.

Navigating Dual Realities: An In-depth Look at Highly Educated Women in Prostitution

This research investigates the factors driving highly educated women into prostitution and examines the impact of this profession on their lives. Using a qualitative methodology, five in-depth interviews were conducted with women holding master’s degrees or professional qualifications, including MBBS, who have worked as prostitutes for over two years. The study reveals that while prostitution offers benefits such as flexible working hours and client autonomy, it leads to significant socio-cultural and economic consequences. These women experience social isolation, emotional desolation, and cultural stigma, even if they are above the poverty line. The research underscores the lack of societal and policy understanding of the complex factors contributing to prostitution, which remains a taboo subject shaped by male-centered narratives.

Ambivalence of Female Power and Prostitution in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero

Several factors in contemporary society have made diverse demands of women. The demands have necessitated the search of options so as to lope with the challenges and pressures of modern life. This study identifies that most studies of the status of women usually focus on the oppression, stereotyping, and dehumanisation of women in patriarchal society only. However, this paper examined how the female in Nawal El Saadawi’s Woman at Point Zero transcended the limit, exhibiting qualities that are perceived to be those of the male and in addition recognises that many women identify prostitution as a survival strategy; the reality of using what they have to obtain what they need. This creates ambivalence in their nature. This study on one hand projects the weakness of women in prostitution and on the other fills the critical gap by showing how the stereotype of the weaker sex is broken by women in the novel. The paper adopts feminism as a theoretical framework to explore the ambivalence of the female power and prostitution. Deploying the qualitative method of analysis and the eco-critical method, the study explains the ambivalence of womanhood in the novel. The women’s strength is visualised by their becoming a voice, sexually active, economically and independently successful, fearless, defending themselves from their oppressors, and consequently asserting their womanhood. The woman’s weakness is viewed in their indulgence in prostitution for economic empowerment. The paper concludes that patriarchal forces push the women into prostitution but when the oppressed (women) are pushed to the wall, they have no other option but to revolt. Consequently, the radicalism in the novels is not only aimed at challenging patriarchal agents but to also raise the consciousness that women should be treated fairly and given equal opportunities.

I'm a 45-year-old woman in the body of an 80-year-old: The multiple losses of living and aging in the shadow of prostitution.

Research on aging women who are involved in prostitution is currently limited, both in terms of the number of studies conducted and their scope. Nevertheless, the available research suggests that women who are aging while involved in prostitution may confront some unique challenges. Thus, the study aims to explore the experiences of aging as narrated by Arab women in prostitution, using Intersectionality as a theoretical framework. Interpretive phenomenological analysis was used, and semistructured interviews were performed with 12 participants. Four themes emerged: "I'm a 45-year-old woman in the body of an 80-year-old:" Loss of physical and mental health; "There is no retirement plan in prostitution: Economic and social losses; As they were taken, my soul went with them too: The loss of the parenting experience and motherhood"; and "I'm going to get older with the disgust clinging to me:" The loss of authentic identity and dignity. The findings demonstrate how aging serves to exacerbate overlapping forms of discrimination and marginalization. Healthcare professionals, including nurses caring for older women in prostitution, should be aware of their unique circumstances, considering the social, economic, and healthcare obstacles they face. By being cognizant of these factors, healthcare practitioners can provide meaningful assistance in their pursuit of improved quality of life.

APPS-S: A Tool for Measuring the Attitudes Toward Prostitution and Women in Prostitution in the Spanish Population.

This study was designed with the purpose of testing the psychometric properties of the Spanish version of the Attitudes toward Prostitution and Prostitutes Scale through three studies with different samples. The first one explores the test's dimensional structure or constructs validity through confirmatory factor analysis, as well as internal consistency and test-retest reliability. The second one focuses on discriminant and criteria validity. Finally, the third one examines the scale's convergent validity and its sensitivity to detecting changes. The results support two subscales with an optimal index of internal consistency, structural stability over time, and discriminative power between groups of participants. It is, therefore, an adequate tool for adults as well as young people and teenagers, and for detecting changes in the context of intervention or awareness workshops.

Torture and its sequelae among prostituted women in the United States.

Background: Extreme violence and psychological abuse have been extensively documented and are pervasive in prostitution. Survivors of prostitution report high levels of posttraumatic stress disorder, dissociation, depression, and self-loathing. These are the same sequelae reported by torture survivors.Objective: Severe forms of violence have been categorized as torture by experts. The authors note that torture is commonly suffered during prostitution and should be appropriately named.Method: Using standardized measures and including a new measure of torture, we interviewed 45 women in the United States about their torture experiences in prostitution and their symptoms of PTSD, dissociation, childhood trauma, health status and somatic symptoms. The interviewees had exited prostitution and were in supportive programmes.Results: Formerly prostituted interviewees reported acts of physical, sexual, and psychological torture, including strangulation, rape, beatings, restriction of movement, denial of privacy, sleep, or food, and being forced to witness the torture of others. The 45 women had high levels of PTSD and dissociation. They endorsed needs for individual counselling, substance abuse treatment, and other medical care.Conclusions: A recognition of the physical, sexual, and psychological torture experienced in prostitution would strengthen psychological and medical interventions for survivors. Naming specific acts of prostitution as torture will reduce the survivor's shame and self-blame. Holistic treatment includes medical and psychological interventions and peer support, as seen in torture rehabilitation programmes for survivors of state-sponsored torture. This research supports the perspective that private or non-state-sponsored torture against women and marginalized populations should be clinically and legally understood in the same way as state-sponsored torture.

Trafficking In Persons, Especially Trafficking In Women As Prostitutes

Trafficking in persons, particularly trafficking in women for prostitution, is a troubling crime that violates human rights. This paper aims to delve deeper into the phenomenon of trafficking women for prostitution, the factors influencing this practice, and the efforts that have been made to address this problem. The research method is comprehensive and descriptive, involving literature studies, accurate case analysis, and interviews with various related parties. The results of this study are expected to provide a more complete picture of the problem of trafficking women for prostitution, as well as develop more effective recommendations in the fight against this cruel practice and protect vulnerable victims. Through deeper understanding, it is hoped that concrete action can be taken to end trafficking in persons and restore the dignity of victims caught in this cruel trap.

Policy for People with the Fewest Choices: Ontology and Actorhood for Sex Trade Abolition

Prostitution is historically one of the most violent arenas for women, with exceedingly high rates of physical and sexual abuse reported by prostituted women. In this essay, I examine the debate over how best to provide safety and freedom for women involved in prostitution occurring between advocates for full decriminalization and advocates for the equality model, an abolition initiative led by survivors working for an end to the sex trade. Insights from cultural sociological analyses of actorhood and visibility are applied to reveal the divergent ontologies underlying these two policy pathways. While full decriminalization reforms aim to legalize and regulate prostitution within a capitalist, misogynistic marketplace, advocates for the equality model are committed to transforming social systems so that prostituted people have the opportunity to live their lives outside of the sex trade. Their systems‐changing policy, guided by sophisticated theorization of how best to support women's freedoms, is an exemplary model for ending violence against women.

GANGUBAI KATHIAWADI (2022): THE EMPOWERING RESISTANCE

The paper argues that we can view the filmic representation of Gangubai Kathiawadi (2022) as a symbolic 'empowering resistance' to injustice in forced prostitution in Asia. The analysis relies on an empowering feminist point of view throughout an investigation of film elements of narration, language use (as translated into English), and symbolization. The paper demonstrates that the resistance is based on three reasons: (1) Depictions of traumatic realities in prostitution with four factors related to India's prostitution, (2) Representation of the objectification of female bodies observed through Catherine Barry's four stages of dehumanization in prostitution, and (3) Portrayal of Gangubai as a moral character, being a virtuous leader and mother figure, which contradicts her conceived social stigmas as a 'devalued prostitute' and the underworld 'Mafia Queen of Mumbai.' Adding to the study, the symbolic analysis reveals that the representation of the color 'white' signifies the character's morality and purity, highlighting her position as an alleged victim. Furthermore, the color endorses a resisting message against prejudice against women in prostitution. The study sheds light on the social conduct of female prostitution that traumatizes women. Most importantly, it offers an alternative interpretation of the representation of a prostitute character, not as a woman in vulnerability, but as a victorious powerful feminist figure.

Does criminalizing the purchase of sex reduce sex-buying? Evidence from a European survey on prostitution

AbstractWhether to criminalize or legalize the purchase of sex has given rise to heated discussions and different policy initiatives. Opponents of the criminalization of sex-buying argue that prohibition pushes the sector underground, increasing the harm for women in prostitution. Proponents instead view prostitution as violence against women, calling for prohibition. Despite these debates, few studies examine the effect of prostitution laws on the quantity of sex bought. By employing unique data on attitudes to, and experiences of sex-buying behaviour in different prostitution regimes in eight European countries, the paper examines the relationship between prostitution law and sex-buying. The results are robust to the inclusion of a list experiment, and the findings suggest that people living in countries where purchasing sex is criminalized buy less sex than people living in countries where sex-buying is legal.

Inside the dark world: Women's trade and prostitution in Patricia McCormick's Sold and Awais Khan's No Honour

Trafficking, sexual exploitation, and violence are substantial issues for women living in the patriarchal societies of the Global South. McCormick foregrounds these issues in India and Nepal in her Sold (2006), as Khan does in Pakistan in his No Honour (2021). This article argues that South Asian patriarchal societies, including Nepal and Pakistan, are sexually saturated, rooted in gender inequality, and treat the female gender as the lesser and oppressed, a commodity and an object to be traded and sold for domiciliary purposes. Masculine privileges are threaded through South Asian patriarchal cultures in the form of male-designed doctrines. Contesting the patriarchal notion that prostituted women are objects, this article establishes them as subjects since both protagonists of the selected novels challenge patriarchal norms to become autonomous. Kathleen Barry's concepts on the close ties between trafficking and prostitution are used to capture the engagements of the two selected novels with the designated problems of women's trade and prostitution through textual analysis. This article concludes that sexism, masculinized privileges, and gendered misogyny are insidious forces at work that perpetuate the bleak social realities of women's trade and prostitution in patriarchal societies and can be overcome through women's empowerment.

여성인권 보장을 위한 성매매 법제에 관한 연구

According to Korea's current law, both sex sellers and sex buyers, who are parties to prostitution, are punished, but those forced to sell sex due to hierarchy and power are excluded from the punishment, and the burden of proof of the damage is placed on women in prostitution. Although prostitution is currently illegal, the market size of prostitution is estimated to be more than 30 trillion won, and it is becoming more organized and intelligent. At the same time, the problem of human rights violations such as exploitation and violence against sex-selling women is accelerating. This shows that the current method of regulating prostitution has limitations in eradicating prostitution, blocking demand, and protecting the human rights of prostitution women. Above all, the current punishment clause for both parties of prostitution is abused as a means of threatening women even if they are victims of various crimes such as sexual violence and abuse. In addition, if prostitution women fail to prove the damage that they were forced to trade sex by others, they will eventually be punished, which makes them hesitate to report. In this situation, practical solutions are needed to effectively block the growing demand for prostitution and to protect prostitution women, and as part of this, it is essential to consider the Nordic model of punishing sex buyers and brokers without punishing sex sellers.

“Every patriarch has his prostitute”: the prostituted woman in Virginia Woolf’s writings

ABSTRACT The marginalized figure of the prostituted woman haunts Virginia Woolf's writings throughout her career. Lola Mendoza in The Voyage Out, Florinda and Laurette in Jacob's Room, Nell and her friends in Orlando, and the musings on prostitution in Three Guineas all indicate that, despite her status as the privileged daughter of an educated gentleman, Woolf empathized with women who were ostracized by society because they sold their bodies for money. That profound empathy stems from Woolf's childhood experiences of sexual abuse at the hands of her half-brothers. Like many survivors of childhood sexual abuse, Woolf was given presents by her abuser to reward her for her cooperation and to ensure her silence. That particular tactic frequently makes the abused child feel complicit in her own abuse. Consequently, Woolf identified with prostitutes, as Leonard's nickname for her, “Aspasia,” suggests. In Three Guineas, Woolf writes from her position as a prostituted woman (or girl, really) while resisting its abjection. Unlike her fellow modernists, Woolf directs our sympathy toward society's traditional scapegoat and documents that the prostitution of women is the inevitable result of the systematic oppression of women at every level of society.

Variables predictoras del inicio y del abandono de la prostitución en mujeres pobres dominicanas

The objectives of the present study were to know what factors differentiate women who in poverty practice prostitution from those who do not practice it and what factors differentiate women who decide not to continue practicing prostitution from those who continue to practice it. The sample consisted of a total of 308 women from the Dominican Republic with an average age of 25.46 years, of which 200 were in poverty and 108 women in poverty and prostitution. The results indicate different psychosocial profiles between women who start prostitution compared to those who do not practice it and between women who leave prostitution and those who continue to practice it. While a greater number of children, having a partner and a better family climate predict the initiation of prostitution in women affected by poverty, a lower age and lower confidence predict the abandonment of prostitution. It can be concluded that in the Dominican context, among poor women, the sociodemographic variables related to being a mother, having a partner and age are relevant variables both in the exercise and in the abandonment of prostitution.

Nationalising Women’s Bodies: Discourse and Politics of Prostitution in Ireland and Spain

This article explores how women’s sexuality has played a central role in building and reproducing the collective identity of the nation in two countries, Ireland and Spain. It argues how a nationalisation of women’s bodies created a symbolic and idealised version of womanhood, reinforced by a complex infrastructure of criminal code, places of rehabilitation and a system of surveillance operating through government, medical and religious institutions. We explore these processes through an analysis of the discourses governing prostitution in leading newspapers between 1939 and 1975, corresponding to the public nation-building projects to Catholic nationalism through the idealisation of family, motherhood and domestic life. Three key discourses from the newspaper coverage have been identified around prostitution: protecting the national body, the exile of women in prostitution and ordinary women as a threat, to trace the process of renewed nation building that occurred in both countries from the 1940s onwards.

The Experiences of Latina Transgender Women in Prostitution in Spain during COVID-19 Pandemic

The Experiences of Latina Transgender Women in Prostitution in Spain during COVID-19 Pandemic