Gender a výzkum / Gender and Research . X:X | DOI: 10.13060/gav.2026.001

Prostitutes and Social Parasitism: Sex Work during the Transition from State Socialism to Capitalism

Barbora Skalická Doležalová ORCID...

Charles University

This study analyses the discourse of prostitution and sex work in Czechoslovakia (and later the Czech Republic) during the period of transition from state socialism to a model of (neo)liberal capitalism. The text maps the continuities and discontinuities of narratives about sex work in scholarly publications and the popular press during this transformative period. Under socialist legislation, prostitution was criminalised through the law against ‘social parasitism’, as it was viewed as an attempt to avoid honest work. The study shows that this narrative persisted even after the repeal of socialist law and the fall of the regime. The discourse-historical analysis thus reveals the enduring influence that medical, legal, and criminological frameworks have on shaping the image of sex work, especially in reference to women’s sexuality and the value of labour, from which sex work is excluded. Through an analysis of political and expert discourses in one European post-socialist country, the study demonstrates how women – especially those facing additional forms of disadvantage, such as Roma women – continue to be subjected to ostracising and pathologising tendencies on the part of state and other institutions. These tendencies are still driven by the ideologies of racism, sexism, and the fetishisation of labour, which were dominant both during state socialismand in contemporary capitalism. The anti-work theories employed here offer a different perspective on labour, one that does not regard it as an inherently meritorious activity that should determine a person’s rights and social status. From the perspective of sex work, an exclusive focus on the state and the law as the sole sources of justice or solutions to this issue is highly problematic and ineffective. Looking ahead, it is highly unlikely that these institutions will act in the interests of sex workers. It is therefore important to discuss struggles for their rights beyond legislative reforms and the possibilities offered by the formal institutions of nation-states – for example, by looking to supportive civil society networks and various forms of community self-organisation.

Keywords: prostitution, sex work, emancipation, anti-work theories, Czechoslovakia

Received: August 18, 2025; Revised: March 4, 2026; Accepted: March 17, 2026; Prepublished online: May 19, 2026