How do Sex Workers Perceive their Working Identity? Case Studies in Egypt

This study looks at Egypt’s sex workers’ perceptions of their working identity. It examines the different experiences and attitudes of sex workers by exploring the main features and dominant frames in the literature, and how it could be of relevance in the case of Egypt. Through conducting interviews with sex workers and other stakeholders, I argue that sex workers tend to perceive themselves as workers who should enjoy labour rights, except for those who consider religious guilt and shame as a barrier in being visible to the public. The decriminalising of sex work diminishes state control and discrimination over the lives of sex workers in Egypt. My findings demonstrate that there is a relationship between state policies to discipline sex workers and the control of women’s body.