Is the regulation of prostitution a demand for justice?

Abstract

This paper deals with the demand for the regulation of prostitution, trying to understand how it goes beyond the legal and institutional dimensions of obtaining rights and introduces a discussion about justice. The study focused on ten Brazilian associations of prostitutes and was produced in two stages: a) analysis of the posts in social networks and websites of the associations about their claims; b) production of semi-structured interviews. By the end, we can notice three fundamental pillars to formulate a notion of justice that includes the sex workers: a) parity of participation in social and political interactions, allied to the possibility of obtaining political representation; b) revision of unjust patterns of recognition, enabling the achievement of social esteem and the development of self-realization and self-esteem of prostitutes; c) modification of the frameworks of recognition, responsible for increasing the precariousness of prostitution.