Sex work is commonly viewed as the oldest profession in the world. In some
cultures the art of giving sexual pleasure was taught at school, and only those
who successfully mastered the skills and knowledge related to sexual pleasures
were qualified to do sex work. As long as asking for and giving money or
material goods is not considered a crime in all other services, and as long as
two consenting adults who engage in sexual relations is not considered a crime,
the perception of “pure evil” is entirely wrong. The treatment of sexuality as a
felony contributes to distancing of all sex workers from health services.
Other reasons that triggered this research include the continual “dedication”
of government institutions to human right of human trafficking victims, but on
the other hand ignoring and violating sex workers’ rights on a daily basis by the
police, institutions and the media.
2.
Key objectives of the research
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Data collection, perceptions and attitudes towards voluntary sex work
and the legalization of sex work.
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Raising general population’s awareness about sex workers, sex work,
as well as presenting the advantages and disadvantages of sex works
legalization.
STAR-STAR, as a civil association that actively involves persons from the sex
industry since its inception, has an objective to promote sex work which is
most commonly a free choice and has absolutely no connections whatsoever
with issues regarding human trafficking. Based on the continuous assessment
of the realistic situation in the Republic of Macedonia in terms of general
population’s perception of sex work and sex workers in general, we have come
to a conclusion that it is necessary to conduct a research in the city of Skopje,
where most sex workers actually operate, in order to collect data and analyze
sex workers’ attitudes towards voluntary sex work and the legalization of sex
work.
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