FAKTORER BAKOM SYNEN PÅ PROSTITUTION : EN TVÄRNATIONELL JÄMFÖRELSE

Abstract This study investigates how public attitudes toward prostitution vary across European countries, focusing on the interaction between legal frameworks, economic context, and individual-level values. Using data from the European Values Study (2017), we analyze support for prostitution in relation to gender, education, religion, political orientation, moral liberalism, GDP per capita, and national legal models, including regulated legalization, the Nordic model, and full criminalization. Multiple regression analyses show that moral liberalism is the most consistent and powerful predictor of support. Gender is also significant, with women expressing lower support across all contexts. The effect of education varies by legal environment, suggesting that it doesn´t have a universal effect, rather that it depends on context. The analysis is grounded in a multi-theoretical framework combining modernization theory (Inglehart & Welzel), institutional theory (Rothstein), and sociopolitical theories of sexuality and power. Rothstein’s concept of Quality of Government is used to explore how formal institutions, and informal norms jointly shape public attitudes. Drawing on Foucault’s notion of biopolitics, we examine how states regulate sexuality as a form of population governance. Radical feminist theory helps explain the persistent gender gap in attitudes, while Gayle Rubin’s theory of the sexual hierarchy provides insight into cross-national variation in normative tolerance. Altogether, the findings suggest that prostitution policy is not only a legal or moral issue but a reflection of deeper institutional logics and power structures.