“ගණිකා” - ගර්හාත්මක ආකල්පයකට හේතුවක් නොවේ ද?

Abstract

On 14 August 2024 Dinamina and on 23 July 2024 Divaina reported on raids of sex service establishments, using the derogatory term “ගණිකා නිවාස” in both headlines and content. In its 31 July 2024 report on the arrest of four sex workers, Divaina also used the term “ගණිකා වෘත්තියේ” in both the headline and content. Stigmatizing attitudes in society linked to the term "prostitute" increase marginalisation and worsen the social problems they face. The media is encouraged to avoid such derogatory terms and instead use "ලිංගික ශ්‍රමිකයා" (sex workers), "ලිංගික සේවය" (sex service), or "ලිංගික සේවා සපයන ස්ථාන" (sex service centres).