ABSTRACT
This chapter deals with a variety of representations associated with debates around sex work in Russia. It analyses the articulations of feminist positions to sex work in Russia mostly published in online sources. It is important to underline from the outset that both pro-sex work and neo-abolitionist feminist groups are rather sceptical of the state. There are exceptions from the general trend in Russian academic ‘sex wars’. However, this discussion shows that Russian neo-abolitionists and conservatives share a great deal of reliance on the state and its monopoly on legal violence. LGBT rights, the war in Ukraine and international relations between Russia and the West were the most common topics of political discussions in the interviews, which is not surprising given the current direction of Russian’s national and foreign politics. Some of the sex workers who participated in the project also argued that their occupation is not simply work, but something more than that. This idea took different forms.
