Världens äldsta yrke : Men vad innebär det att vara sexarbetare i Sverige idag?

This is a qualitative study inquiring ”What does it entail to be a sex worker in Sweden today?” Four female sex workers were interviewed in semi-structured interviews. Using methods for reflexive analysis, interpreting the interviews and their context theoretically through notions of Competence and Stigma, the results of this study shows that sex workers may be both competent agents and stigmatized. This informs the understanding of sex work, stigma and how learning, subjective room for action and social agency can be aggravated or hindered by stigma. The results are viewed in the context of Swedish legislation against sex purchase in relation to previous research which shows that said legislation is problematic. This study recommends; further studies on varieties of competence, room for action and social agency among sex workers; further studies on how sex workers subjective room for action is affected by the Swedish law against sex purchase; further studies on how the Swedish law against sex purchase affect sex workers prospects for learning; studies on how stigma and discrimination against people in socially vulnerable and/or excluded groups affect individual learning; as well as updated estimations on the prevalence of male, female and transgender sex workers in Sweden. It is also suggested that Sweden could look to other countries for constructive ideas on how to reform sex purchase laws. In this context, New Zealand and Germany are mentioned specifically.