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In August 2021, Baltic Research Lithuania conducted a public opinion questionnaire “Public Opinion on Prostitution in Lithuania: Ending Commercial Sexual Exploitation in Lithuania”. The survey covered 1006 persons aged 18 years and over, of whom 56% were women and 46% men. The respondents answered questions about sexual exploitation, prostitution, legalisation and the current situation in Lithuania.
More than 90% of respondents
believe that people who are sexually exploited in prostitution experience sexual violence and psychological trauma as well as sexual health problems.
84 %
of respondents think that paying for sex is unacceptable.
69 %
agrees that the government needs to create such living conditions that help people avoid being involved in prostitution.
91 %
Respondents agree that sexually exploited people are at high risk of sexual violence.
73 %
agrees that legalising prostitution can undermine a person’s healthy sexual development.
81 %
agree that prostitution is a form of sexual violence and should be abolished.
More than half of respondents
believes that buying sex from people who have no other source of income is a form of sexual abuse and that the government must provide the necessary financial support to prevent people from engaging in prostitution.
64 %
think that even if some people choose to sell sex, prostitution has a negative social impact that cannot be ignored.
68 %
believes that the legalisation of prostitution in Lithuania will make women less likely to report sexual abuse to the police.
67 %
agrees that this will reduce the support of police officers, prosecutors and judges in investigating sexual offences.
74 %
shares the view that people in prostitution will find it harder to get out of prostitution once it is legalised and to resist the demands of sex traffickers.
The survey was carried out by Baltijos tyrimai on behalf of Klaipėda Social and Psychological Support Centre