BEHIND THE PROSTITUTION DEBATE

Ekebrand, H & Mattisson, E. Behind the prostitution debate in South Africa – constructions of gender. Examination paper in social work 15 points. Malmö university: Health and Society, faculty of health and society, 2010. Prostitution is illegal in South Africa, but there is an ongoing debate about whether prostitution should be decriminalized or not. The purpose of this report is to look closely at some of the participants in the debate, their main aims, how they work to reach their aims and how structural gender relations are reflected in their argumentations. To answer to the purpose, the participants ’ argumentations are viewed from a social constructionism perspective. The participants have different opinions about what the main problem concerning prostitution is. They either consider prostitution itself or the stigma of prostitutes as the main problem. What they consider the problem to be, affects what they want to achieve by participating in the debate, and how they work to achieve this. Prostitution is constructed by the different participants as; a threat towards moral values, a threat towards national economy and public safety, a normal service industry or as a result of structura