Prostitution voluntary or forced. A contribution to the debate

The abolitionist thesis that no one can freely choose to sell their body has been challenged by those who advocate the recognition of employment rights for sex workers. Underlying both positions is a fierce argument about the voluntary or forced nature of prostitution. Evidence from in-depth interviews with 23 women (including five ex-prostitutes) suggests they are located at a midway point on the continuum that ranges from prostitution as a result of criminal coercion to prostitution as a career choice. Parts of the respondents’ stories relate specifically to the different entry routes into this world, enabling us to distinguish three types of prostitution. Each type differs in the degree to which taking up this route is a structurally constrained course of action, although the boundaries between these types cannot be traced precisely: classic prostitution, economic prostitution in the strict sense of the concept, and voluntary prostitution. Once more there is evidence of the diversity which characterises prostitution, a diversity that is also reflected in the different ways in which it is practised: full-time or part-time, recurrently or sporadically. Public intervention policies in Spain do not recognise this diversity and take for granted the stereotype of the prostitute as a victim of exploitation, a view informed by the abolitionist perspective. This can produce undesirable results, including a deterioration in the living and working conditions of women involved in prostitution.