ABSTRACTrnrnThis thesis explores the social context of sex work in the city of Addis Ababa. It focusesrnon the social ties between sex workers and a variety of other categories of people, from their familyrnmembers to their relatives, from their roommates to their neighbors, from their coworkers to theirrnclients. It explores which of these social ties are affirmed and reinforced, which come under strainrnand which are cultivated and built by the women as a result of their engagement in sex work. Itrnargues that these things depend on the women's background, on the conditions under which theyrnturn to sex work, on the specific types and conditions of sex work that they do and on the placesrnand conditions of their residence. The main thesis of the work is that sex workers share the samernsocial milieu and value system with non-sex workers and that, despite severe constraints put onrnthem by poverty and very difficult working conditions, they struggle on a daily basis to have socialrnlife and social relevance. The work critiques the very common castigation of sex workers as socialrnmisfits who pose dangers to society and proposes a humane approach towards them and theirrndependents, an approach that should begin by making a clear distinction between the institution ofrncommercial sex and the women who practice it.rnThe work employs both qualitative and quantitative methodology. It combines detailedrnone-to-one inteNiewing with focus group discussions and personal obseNation to bring out thernperspectives of the women themselves. The quantitative data is composed of responses to arnstructured questionnaire by 100 sex workers.