성매매는 ‘죄’인가? ‘여성혐오’에 기반한 구조적 폭력인가? : 헌법재판소의 성매매특별법 합헌 판결을 통해 본 성매매 문제 재고

초록

With the recent ruling by the Constitutional Court on Korea’s current anti-prostitution law, a debate on prostitution was reignited among Korean people and organizations. While women’s rights organizations and feminist scholars oppose reducing women’s social and/or financial vulnerability into ‘choice,’ some pro-sex work groups, scholars and sex workers are in full support of decriminalization. The purpose of this paper is to go beyond the conventional debates on prostitution based on enforced/voluntary, violence against human rights/choice, and criminalization/decriminalization as considering a feminist alternative imaginary. Specifically, I analyse the limits and contradictions embedded in the current law and institutions and explore the meanings and practices of prostitution drawing on the theoretical ideas from Zizek, Nussbaum, and Bauman. I argue that systematic violence based on misogyny is a fundamental principle of prostitution through which gender ideology and discrimination against women are (re)produced. Therefore, feminist responsibility is to (re)construct an insurgent knowledge to succeed the radical feminist politics as addressing the social structure of sexual exploitation.

키워드