Problematizing the 'prostitution problem' in Ethiopia: The stigmatization of sex workers through moral discourses and their representations

This chapter explores the multi-layer discourses about female sex work/sex workers in Ethiopia and how these contribute to sex workers’ exclusion and stigmatization in society. Findings suggest that stigma limits sex workers to be/come ‘empowered’, or to gain a say over their life’s choices. We specifically ask: how are sex workers represented in legislation, policies, national directives, public discourses and practices, and how do such representations (re)stigmatize them, as well as entail solutions for we have termed a situation of existential stalemate for sex workers? We discuss various representations of sex work and sex workers as these tend to evoke moral panic, which in turn leads to government and non-government actors creating no-way-out solutions for resolving the ‘problem’ of sex work. The focus on stigma to sex work emerged during a participatory research project, in which various actors in one way or another deal with stories about, and representations of sex work and/or sex workers in Ethiopia. Unanimously, and pervasively, these actors framed sex work as highly problematic, or as a vice that needs to be abolished. We therefore argue that alternative discourses, policies and programs underpinned in the public health, human and civil rights of sex workers need to be advanced in order to gradually diminish the inherent (re)criminalization and one-sided targeting of sex workers as a source of evil. Key words: sex workers, discourse, stigma, Ethiopia, existential stalemat