Prostitution and Race : An Intersectional Analysis of a Black Woman's Experiences in the Swedish Sex Industry

Prostitution, arguably one of the world’s oldest profession has become a current and growing business across societies today. In Sweden, there has been an increasing recognition of the constant exploitation and abuse of women who are in the business of selling sexual services. As a majority of the sex workers in Sweden are non-ethnic Swedes, it has become increasingly difficult to distinguish the misogyny from the racism or exotification experienced in prostitution. This qualitative study explores if the intersection of race, misogyny and exotification has given rise to different kinds of vulnerabilities amongst women in prostitution in the Swedish sex industry. The purpose of this study is to examine the experiences of a black woman who has been prostituted in the sex industry in Sweden. The aim is to provide knowledge of intersectionality in prostitution and the complex effects it has on an individual woman’s experiences. The authors made use of case study as research design and relied on a semi-structured interview with a black woman who has been in prostitution and her experiences. The results of the study, with comparison to the literary review showed the different intersecting factors that affect a black woman, and how it, with the use of intersectionality as an analytical framework, can be argued that these factors give rise to a distinct experience in a woman with multiple marginalised identities. The study does also suggest the need for further research in the field with a larger selection of respondents that aims at acquiring national data as well as research on prostitution that focuses on power structures and the intersecting identities of persons with multiple dominant identities