Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2025, 26 (2): 13-34 | DOI: 10.13060/gav.2025.016  

This article discusses the phenomenon of currency prostitution in Soviet Ukraine in the late 1980s, a period marked by glasnost – a policy of wider dissemination of information initiated under Mikhail Gorbachev – and increased public discourse on sexuality. The growing visibility of currency prostitutes in the mass media – predominantly women who engaged in relationships with foreigners in exchange for hard currency – challenged the state’s narrative of economic equality and justice. Drawing on declassified Soviet archival materials, media reports, legal decrees, and Soviet-era films, this study examines how hard currency...

Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2025, 26 (2): 35-60 | DOI: 10.13060/gav.2025.020  

This article presents an ethnographic study of an association in Paris that supports sex workers. Drawing on literature on Marxist feminism of social reproduction and humanitarianism, this paper analyses how the association became economically dependent on government institutions after 2020 during the Covid-19 pandemic and shows how this led the association to adopt sexual humanitarianism over community-led approaches. The author explores how the association’s relationship with sex workers operates in a top-down manner, as this relationship is framed not as one between workers, but rather as one between rescuers and those vulnerable individuals...

Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2025, 26 (2): 61-87 | DOI: 10.13060/gav.2025.019  

Over the past two decades, there have been attempts to organise sex workers in trade unions in Germany. Still, it is a complex and challenging issue, as they are often affected by stigmatisation and discrimination and have difficulties representing and protecting their interests. This article analyses the challenges and opportunities of organising sex workers in Germany, a country that is at the centre of public debate on prostitution and its regulation due to its current discussions about a possible ban on the purchase of sex. It is based on two case studies as initial findings from a doctoral project in which qualitative interviews with sex workers...

Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research 2025, 26 (2): 88-116 | DOI: 10.13060/gav.2025.018  

In an era of increasing content restrictions across digital platforms, specialised Reddit forums have emerged as spaces for queer individuals to express their sexuality, build connections, and market sexual content. While many mainstream social media networks restrict sexual or nude content, Reddit’s moderation structure allows for designated spaces where sexual content can exist. This paper explores the subcultures of three prominent queer and trans-centred NSFW (‘not safe for work’) Reddit communities (subreddits): r/transporn, r/FtMPorn, and r/EnbyLewds. We examined how these digital spaces function simultaneously as sites...