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Original scientific paper

https://doi.org/10.20901/pm.60.4.05

Sex Workers’ Professional Experiences in the Interplay of Structure and Agency in Croatia

Ivana Radačić ; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Marija Antić orcid id orcid.org/0000-0001-7286-2759 ; Institute of Social Sciences Ivo Pilar
Mirjana Adamović orcid id orcid.org/0000-0002-2132-9345 ; Institute for Social Research in Zagreb


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Abstract

There are still relatively few studies on job satisfaction and the quality of work ‎among sex workers, partly due to the ideologies surrounding sex work. In this ‎paper we move away from dichotomous thinking and investigate the professional experiences of indoor independent sex workers in Croatia against the ‎background of criminalised context and gendered socio-economic realities. ‎We look into sex workers’ motivations, perceptions and experiences, their ‎control and safety strategies.‎ The study shows that despite many structural constraints on the sex workers’ agency, all participants exercise some degree of autonomy and control ‎over their working lives. The factors that seem to be the most relevant in terms ‎of their ability to set up their own conditions, which in turn influences their experiences, are their economic situation, motivation and self-perception. Negative experiences mostly stem from criminalisation and stigmatisation of sex ‎work, which affects women primarily, and creates more risks to their health ‎and safety. The results of the study call for integrative policy approaches, ‎which presuppose full decriminalisation of adult voluntary sex work.

Keywords

Sex Work; Motivations; Experiences; Control and Safety Strategies; Autonomy

Hrčak ID:

311997

URI

https://hrcak.srce.hr/311997

Publication date:

21.12.2023.

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