Reconciling Paradigms of Prostitution through Narration

Abstract

The article focuses on the sex work / violence controversy in debatesabout prostitution both theoretically and empirically, with an emphasison Central/South-Eastern Europe, and Slovenia in particular. The articlefirst analyses studies and debates on prostitution in the region duringthe (post)socialist years. It then moves on to discuss the twofoldeffect of the liberalization of prostitution during the transitionperiod: while, on the one hand, prostitution was destigmatized, on theother it was commodified to serve the economic interests of the emergingglobalized sex and trafficking industry. Interviews with variousprotagonists involved in prostitution in Slovenia show how theseprocesses affected their living and working conditions. The experiencesof prostitutes reveal the complexity of their situations, showing thatthere is no clear-cut distinction between prostitution and traffickingand that both voluntary and involuntary elements are involved. Byevaluation of arguments of both the sex work and the violence paradigms,the article proposes to study prostitution beyond binarism, in itsheterogeneity, i.e. by thematizing its various aspects and by takinginto consideration the realities of actors engaged in prostitution.