The Challenge of Rethinking Social Work with Sex Workers in Italy: A Participatory Research Experience with the Capability Approach

Abstract

In Italy, the legal status of sex work is defined by the 1958 Merlin Law, which does not consider sex work itself to be illegal. Rather, the law prosecutes those who exploit or facilitate it, and prohibits indoor exercise. In the broader context of the Italian legislation and in the absence of further regulation, forms of indirect criminalisation of the activity and stigmatisation of those involved have developed. This includes the enactment of ordinances for urban decency. These conditions have been exacerbated by the emergence of phenomena such as trafficking and sexual exploitation (Garofalo Geymonat 2014). The Italian sex work field is thus characterised by a very strong crystallisation of power exercised by clients, pimps and public authorities. This power is fueled by a specific social stigma attached to sex work, which is frequently mediated by factors such as class, race, ethnicity and gender (O'Connel Davidson 1988; Mozzini 2002; Carchedi et al. 2003; Garofalo Geymonat 2014; Abbatecola 2018). Moreover, an evident dichotomy has emerged between anti-trafficking and pro-sex workers’ rights policies in the public discourse, academic debate, and among practitioners. Social work with sex workers has been deeply affected by this polarisation. This paper is based on a participatory research project and addresses two main research questions: (1) how to rethink social work in order to promote adequate and accessible non-stigmatising public services for sex workers, and (2) to what extent the Capability Approach, as developed by Amartya Sen and Martha Nussbaum, can provide a robust theoretical framework for this rethinking. The research was developed as part of the evaluation of a project supporting sex workers in Emilia Romagna, inVisibile, which has been promoted and funded by the Emilia-Romagna Region since 2008. The evaluation was carried out with the involvement of social workers and sex workers, within a participatory research framework (Bergold and Thomas 2012), and has contributed to problematising the condition of sex workers in terms of deprivation, understood as “the lack of freedom to pursue one's own well-being”. The findings demonstrated that this deprivation is multifaceted and intersectional and reinforced by the social labelling processes associated with sex work. A qualitative analysis of interviews with sex workers and focus groups with social workers was conducted with the objective of identifying potential domains of well-being, in accordance with the list of basic human capabilities proposed by Martha Nussbaum. A non-exhaustive list of potential functionings was then proposed for each of these domains. This study suggests that social work practices need to start from the assumption that there is no universal experience of sex work. Consequently, it is crucial to understand the autonomy that sex workers have in determining their own well-being, beyond any social or political labeling. Finally, it is important to understand the resources and the opportunities available to sex workers and their (cap)ability to access these resources freely.

Keywords: social work, sex work, freedom, capability approach, participatory research.