Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain
During the COVID-19 health crisis, the Spanish Government launched a series of urgent measures to protect the population from its economic effects. At first, it seemed that sex workers would have access to this protection, given that, technically, their access to the star measure, the IMV (anagram i...
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| Format: | Article |
| Language: | English |
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MDPI AG
2022-05-01
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| Series: | Social Sciences |
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| Online Access: | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/5/199 |
| _version_ | 1797495554867986432 |
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| author | Estefanía Acién González Ángeles Arjona Garrido |
| author_facet | Estefanía Acién González Ángeles Arjona Garrido |
| author_sort | Estefanía Acién González |
| collection | DOAJ |
| description | During the COVID-19 health crisis, the Spanish Government launched a series of urgent measures to protect the population from its economic effects. At first, it seemed that sex workers would have access to this protection, given that, technically, their access to the star measure, the IMV (anagram in Spanish for Ingreso Mínimo Vital) (minimum living income), was explicitly expressed. However, in the end, this group was excluded as the final text specified that only those deemed to be victims of gender violence, sexual exploitation, or trafficking could access said measure. We propose to study the usefulness of the concept of deservingness of social benefits to explain this lack of protection in a framework that takes into account political power contexts, the empirical observations of sex workers on their level of access to the IMV, and an exploration of its association with the theoretical construct of deservingness. Through a revision of secondary sources, interviews with key informants, and applying discourse analysis, we found these connections and the evident exclusion of sex workers from the social benefit. Likewise, we found that social stigma and moral and ideological judgments are behind this undeservingness and confirm a process of “NGOization” of care for this group that implies the depoliticization and professionalization of civil society entities such as NGOs. |
| first_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:51:05Z |
| format | Article |
| id | doaj.art-76cf5eae1338408f87bcd6fc08a0f09b |
| institution | Directory Open Access Journal |
| issn | 2076-0760 |
| language | English |
| last_indexed | 2024-03-10T01:51:05Z |
| publishDate | 2022-05-01 |
| publisher | MDPI AG |
| record_format | Article |
| series | Social Sciences |
| spelling | doaj.art-76cf5eae1338408f87bcd6fc08a0f09b2023-11-23T13:05:05ZengMDPI AGSocial Sciences2076-07602022-05-0111519910.3390/socsci11050199Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in SpainEstefanía Acién González0Ángeles Arjona Garrido1Laboratory of Social and Cultural Anthropology (HUM-472), University of Almería, s/n, La Cañada, 04120 Almería, SpainLaboratory of Social and Cultural Anthropology (HUM-472), University of Almería, s/n, La Cañada, 04120 Almería, SpainDuring the COVID-19 health crisis, the Spanish Government launched a series of urgent measures to protect the population from its economic effects. At first, it seemed that sex workers would have access to this protection, given that, technically, their access to the star measure, the IMV (anagram in Spanish for Ingreso Mínimo Vital) (minimum living income), was explicitly expressed. However, in the end, this group was excluded as the final text specified that only those deemed to be victims of gender violence, sexual exploitation, or trafficking could access said measure. We propose to study the usefulness of the concept of deservingness of social benefits to explain this lack of protection in a framework that takes into account political power contexts, the empirical observations of sex workers on their level of access to the IMV, and an exploration of its association with the theoretical construct of deservingness. Through a revision of secondary sources, interviews with key informants, and applying discourse analysis, we found these connections and the evident exclusion of sex workers from the social benefit. Likewise, we found that social stigma and moral and ideological judgments are behind this undeservingness and confirm a process of “NGOization” of care for this group that implies the depoliticization and professionalization of civil society entities such as NGOs.https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/5/199deservingnesssocial policysex worksocial exclusionstigmaCOVID-19 |
| spellingShingle | Estefanía Acién González Ángeles Arjona Garrido Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain Social Sciences deservingness social policy sex work social exclusion stigma COVID-19 |
| title | Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain |
| title_full | Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain |
| title_fullStr | Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain |
| title_full_unstemmed | Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain |
| title_short | Prostitution and Deservingness in Times of Pandemic: State (Non) Protection of Sex Workers in Spain |
| title_sort | prostitution and deservingness in times of pandemic state non protection of sex workers in spain |
| topic | deservingness social policy sex work social exclusion stigma COVID-19 |
| url | https://www.mdpi.com/2076-0760/11/5/199 |
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