Naslov
Policing the sex work sector in Croatia: outdated laws, discretionary decisions and local differences

Autori
Antić, Marija

Vrsta, podvrsta i kategorija rada
Sažeci sa skupova, neobjavljeni rad, znanstveni

Skup
The Sex Work Research Hub & Irish Sex Work Research Network PGR Conference 2022

Mjesto i datum
Online, 26.04.2022

Vrsta sudjelovanja
Predavanje

Vrsta recenzije
Međunarodna recenzija

Ključne riječi
sex work ; Croatia ; police practices ; discrimination

Sažetak
Sex work is prohibited in Croatia under the Act on Misdemeanours against Public Order and Peace adopted in 1977 when Croatia was a part of the Socialist Federal Republic of Yugoslavia and transferred in Croatian legislation in 1990. At the time of the adoption, sex work was seen as immoral and unproductive work and sex workers as 'social parasites'. Croatian transition to liberal democracy, while not without problems and with occasional backsliding, was mainly straightforward with notable progress in respect and protection of human rights, including the appropriate legislative reform. However, that progress bypassed the sex work regulation, and outdated and vague provisions regulating sex work, as well as lack of specific policies and public debate, indicate that sex work is a fringe topic and sex workers' rights a matter of little interest. This paper draws on qualitative research carried out between 2020 and 2021 and explores policing of the sex work sector in Croatia. One-on-one, semi- structured interviews were conducted with police officers in three largest Croatian cities: Zagreb, Split, and Rijeka (N=14). Preliminary thematic analysis shows that in the context of vague and outdated provisions, police practices are mostly shaped by discretionary decisions of superior officers and specific local conditions. The different contexts in which they operate also shaped police officers' understanding of the ‘prostitution problem', varying from understanding sex work as a deviant behaviour to free choice. The aim of this paper is to show how different local conditions and sites of sex work, in the context of vague and outdated legal provisions, lack of specific policies and public debate, resulted in different discursive constructions of the ‘prostitution problem’ and police practices that create vulnerabilities unequally across prostitution sites.

Izvorni jezik
Engleski

Znanstvena područja
Sociologija, Rodni studiji

POVEZANOST RADA