The Perceptions of Child Protection Officers toward Mothering in Prostitution

Author: Peled, Einat & Levin-Rotberg, Tal

Abstract: This qualitative study examines the perceptions of mothering in prostitution among Israeli female child protection officers. The authors hypothesize that their views are affected by social perceptions of motherhood and prostitution, as well as by their life experience. Data were collected through semistructured interviews. The study finds that the participants expressed views of mothering and prostitution through two narratives stemming from an underlying premise that linking mothering with prostitution is not necessarily problematic. One narrative supports that premise, while the other disputes it. The coexistence of these two narratives and the complex relationship between them creates difficulties in the discourse about mothering in prostitution. The discussion proposes that the participants’ views of mothering in prostitution reflect a conflict between a masculine and feminine ethics, and points to how the structural similarity between the two narratives has a limiting and a stifling effect on the debate about mothering in prostitution.

Keywords: mothering, prostitution, Israel, perceptions