Nearly 69% of respondents say they agree or strongly agree that prostitution is a form of violence against women—a figure that rises to 75.1% among women—according to the analysis carried out by Marina Martínez García and Irene Epifanio López, lecturers in the Department of Mathematics at the Universitat Jaume I in Castelló, of data from the Survey on the Social Perception of Prostitution. The survey was conducted by the Government Delegation against Gender-based Violence of the Ministry of Equality in collaboration with the Centre for Sociological Research (CIS).
The two Castelló-based researchers, specialists in statistics with a gender perspective, submitted a proposal that was selected by the Government Delegation—responsible for designing the questionnaire and the survey questions—and were tasked with analysing the data obtained in the survey and producing a report with the conclusions. The researchers followed an open-science approach in their analysis, and all the code (in R) is available to reproduce the results.
“It was quite a challenge,” say Martínez and Epifanio, who are also members of the Purificación Escribano Institute for Feminist and Gender Studies v at the Universitat Jaume I, “because the survey was very complex, but since it was carried out by the CIS there was an obligation to make the data public within a maximum of three months, whereas work of this scale usually takes up to a year.”
In addition, they evaluated associations between responses and sociodemographic variables and, for the first time in this type of survey, applied weighted archetypal analysis, which made it possible to identify three profiles: critical, moderately critical and permissive. The research group to which they both belong— Analysis of 2D and 3D Shapes, Statistical Learning in Artificial Intelligence, and Stereology —specialises in this type of analysis and is currently working on it within a Prometeo project.
SURVEY RESULTS
The study also shows that 79.1% of respondents agree or strongly agree with the statement that prostitution puts the dignity of those involved at risk, and more than 75% believe that most prostituted women are victims of sexual exploitation. In addition, more than three quarters of the population consider that prostitution is not “a job like any other”, and 79.8% reject the idea that it represents “a way of exercising sexual freedom”.
Citizens perceive prostitution as a phenomenon closely linked to socioeconomic vulnerability and violence. Seven out of ten respondents believe that women in situations of prostitution are there due to economic necessity, while 41.5% think they are forced into it.
Furthermore, six in ten respondents report being aware of digital platforms such as OnlyFans or JustForFans, with greater awareness among men and among people aged 16 to 34. A large majority of the population—95%—also believe that digital platforms should be required to remove non-consensual sexual content published on them.
Regarding measures to eradicate prostitution, nearly half of the population believe that the most necessary step is strengthening education in equality, sexuality and human rights from early childhood. There is also support for social and economic programmes to help women leave prostitution. In addition, three out of ten respondents believe that penalising those who pay for prostitution and those who profit from the prostitution of others—but not the prostituted women themselves—could be another effective measure.
Overall, perceptions of pornography are largely critical, linking it to violence, distorted views of sexuality and inequality. The results of the survey reflect a widespread rejection of positions that normalise prostitution, indicating a social orientation closer to abolitionist approaches.
The study, based on 10,019 interviews conducted between September and October 2025, analyses citizens’ attitudes, beliefs and perceptions regarding pornography, digital exposure to sexual content, victimisation through the dissemination or non-consensual use of sexual images—including those generated using artificial intelligence—the perception of prostitution and the measures considered appropriate to prevent and eradicate it. Its ultimate aim is to generate solid empirical evidence to guide data-driven public policies, with particular attention to the prevention of violence against women.
Analysis of data from the Survey on the Social Perception of Prostitution
Survey