Jurij Popov: PROSTITUTION

Thursday, 19th March at 6.30 pm, MMC Kibla - the presentation of the book Prostitution and discussion with the author Jurij Popov. Special guest was Mrs. Vlasta Nussdorfer, the state prosecutor and president of Beli obroč Slovenije Association. The discussion was hosted by the journalist Simona Kopinšek.

What do we really know about prostitution?

The journalist of Radio Slovenia Jurij Popov has spent all his life researching the social phenomenon, about which we know practically everything, yet our knowledge is often stereotypical, shallow, or even wrong. The discussion with the author and presentation of the book PROSTITUTION, which has recently been published by Pivec Publishing, will be aiming at unveiling the topic and at providing facts and numbers that might be quite shocking.

ABOUT THE BOOK
Prostitution is a relevant topic, about which everybody knows something and has a certain opinion. However, there is more to the phenomenon than meets the eye. Popov's prostitution provides a comprehensive overview of trafficking in human beings.

Prostitution is a social phenomenon present in each society, being one of major segments in globalised market economy. Despite its obvious presence and development, which grew particularly after the collapse or "fiasco" of communist economy and ideology in 1900's, the topic is mainly still considered a marginal social phenomenon, as such not being subject to the principles of multidisciplinary and interactive research.

With his work the author is aiming at breaking the wall of double morals and stereotypes, imposing on us as generally accepted and valid facts. He deals systematically with a wide range of prostitution operators - from individuals to social and economic institutions - as well as numerous related phenomena: legal regulation, historical overview and current position in space and time, cultural scope, medical, social, safety, criminal, and media aspect, and finally, argumentation pro et contra as well as migration around the world. Each chapter particularly exposes the activity and situation in Slovenia.

The monograph is a result of several years of study and analysis of a multidisciplinary range of sources related to prostitution. As such, this is the first comprehensive, systematic and transparent treatment of this social phenomenon in Slovenia.

ABOUT THE AUTHOR
The journalist Jurij Popov cannot and will not come to terms with the basic division of the world between the rich and the poor, the privileged and the unprivileged, masters and slaves, the respected and the despised, the hungry and the »overeaten«. He cannot and will not accept the fact that the world we live in is a world of injustice, although he realises it has always been and will continue to be like that. The majority of world population is living at the social margin, including prostitutes of both sexes who are unfairly or negligently treated as if not members of societies that create the conditions for their residence and activity. In 1999 he thus wrote his first book on prostitution, The Shadows of Red Lights (Sence Rdečih luči; Magnolija), and three years later the publication Trafficking in human beings (Trgovina z ljudmi; 2002), which was published by the NGO Society Ključ – centre for fight against trafficking in human beings, which was co-founded by him. Both his books and journalist articles maintain that prostitution should be treated as a multidisciplinary social phenomenon. As a representative of Slovene Association of Journalists he has been member of the governmental working group against trafficking in human beings since its establishment. He works as a journalist at Radio Slovenia, documentary programme.