NCJ Number
231543
Journal
Revija za Kriminalistiko in Kriminologijo Volume: 2 Issue: 61 Dated: April 2010 Pages: 152-163
Date Published
April 2010
Length
12 pages
Annotation
This study examined the myth of prostitute victims.
Abstract
Prostitutes have traditionally been treated in two distinct ways. They have either been stigmatized as immoral, impure, or criminal, or been seen as victims (of their pimps, clients, trafficking, poverty, or the social environment). In particular, the apparently liberal public often sees prostitution in terms of victimization, as if it is easier for them to show sympathy and understanding towards the prostitute if she is a "victim." At the same time, they condemn exceptions, prostitutes who break out of the myth of a prostitute as necessarily a victim and challenge their presentations of prostitution and paid sex. The article analyzes some such example of a prostitute, a non-victim, and reveals contemporary social representations of prostitutes. It further examines (the need for ) victimization of prostitution and exposes quasi-liberal arguments that , on further inspection, often reveal old-fashioned moralism, albeit couched in terms of social responsibility, and arguments supporting Moscovici's hypothesis about mental resistance to changing established social representations. In addition, the paper explains some die-hard myths about prostitution and the State-legal approach to prostitution, which reflects the existing images thereof, as well as (co)constructs them. (Published Abstract)