Survey Data on Perceptions of Sex Work and Its Legal Recognition as Labor in Bangladesh: A Multi-Stakeholder Dataset

This article presents a structured survey dataset capturing multi-stakeholder perceptions of sex work and its potential legal recognition as labor in Bangladesh. The dataset comprises responses from 86 participants drawn from five stakeholder groups: sex workers (n = 13), the general public (n = 55), religious scholars (n = 10), civil society and non-governmental organization (NGO) representatives (n = 5), and labor leaders (n = 3). Data were collected through face-to-face structured interviews using a pre-tested questionnaire administered in Bengali in Kushtia district, Bangladesh. The instrument comprises 43 variables: seven demographic items, two sex-worker-specific items addressing occupational history and earnings, and 34 five-point Likert-scale items (where respondents indicate agreement or disagreement on a scale with five levels) examining causes of entry into sex work, economic and social impacts, health consequences, religious and moral evaluations, and attitudes toward legal recognition under national labor law. Data preparation was performed in R (v4.5.3) following a six-step cleaning protocol (a standard series of data cleaning procedures for accuracy and consistency), yielding an anonymized, analysis-ready CSV file. The dataset supports descriptive analyses, between-group comparisons, factor analysis (a statistical technique for identifying underlying patterns of variables), and policy modeling. To the authors' knowledge, this is the first systematically collected quantitative dataset to capture perspectives from legally, religiously, and experientially diverse stakeholder groups on the sex work policy debate in Bangladesh. This dataset enables researchers to conduct comparative stakeholder analysis, test hypotheses about the relationship between religious beliefs and policy attitudes, and evaluate the feasibility of legal recognition frameworks in Muslim-majority contexts.