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Critical analysis reveals neo-abolitionist frameworks compromise sex worker safety and autonomy in Ireland, highlighting the necessity of Beauvoirian existentialist ethics in social work practice.
Drawing on Simone de Beauvoir's existentialist feminism, particularly situated freedom, ambiguity and refusal of othering, this manuscript critiques contemporary social work. From a feminist social work standpoint, it situates sex work within intersecting regimes of gender, migration, criminalisation and moral regulation, arguing neo-abolitionist approaches reproduce paternalism alone. Sex work is a deeply contested site in feminist social work, where commitments to gender justice, protection and autonomy collide. In Ireland, these tensions intensified following adoption of the Nordic model under the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences) Act 2017, framed as feminist yet increasingly shown to harm sex workers’ safety and autonomy.
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Leigh-Ann Sweeney (2026) studied this question.
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