Social utsatthet i prostitution/sexarbete och behovet av stödinsatser - En diskursanalys av brukarorganisationerna Fuckförbundet och #intedinhora

Sammanfattning: Since the legal reform and adoption of the new sex purchase act in 1999, the efficiency of governmental actions and continuance of social vulnerability among prostitutes/sex workers in Sweden have been recurring topics in public debate. Conflicting views on what the problem actually is and how it might best be dealt with, create a divide between those who advocate a liberal feminist perspective, and those who advocate a radical feminist perspective. The aim of this study was to explore the discourses regarding prostitutes’/sex workers’ social vulnerability as constructed by the Swedish user organisations, Fuckförbundet and #intedinhora, and to analyse which social support measures - based on the different representations of the problem – that appear to be appropriate in order to address and reduce social vulnerability. We conducted a discourse analysis on members’ stories of personal experience of social vulnerability when selling sex. Both written and oral narratives were collected from the organisations websites, as well as from radio shows, podcasts etc. Carol Bacchi’s analytical approach ”What’s the problem represented to be?” was used as an inspiration and guide throughout the entire study and became a useful tool in our analysis. Bacchi’s approach is based on the premises that the way a problem is represented have implications for what is suggested to be done in regards to this problem. Our analytical method presupposes a social constructivist theoretical perspective. The study found that Fuckförbundet and #intedinhora construct two very different discursive representations of prostitutes’/sex workers’ social vulnerability. Expressing a liberal feminist perspective, Fuckförbundet depicts the current legal regulations and widespread stigmatisation and discrimination of sex workers as the main causes of vulnerability. #intedinhora, on the other hand, derives the vulnerability to the very essence of the activity of selling sex itself; prostitution is understood as an expression of violence, an objectification of women and a last resort and source of income for vulnerable individuals, views central to a radical feminist analysis. The study also found that despite opposing discursive constructions of the problem of social vulnerability, the two organisations have similar views on what is lacking in the current social support system in Sweden and what measures are necessary to reduce the social vulnerability among people selling sex.