Professional Documents
Culture Documents
Is it sexy?
Prostitution
Is prostitution sexy?
It might be. Or maybe not. This is not a sociological question. You decide.
Certainly, it can seem sexy when it is portrayed with flashy images. And prostitutes make it seem sexy; that is their job. The images shown on the following pages, ones filmed in Amsterdams renowned Red Light District, make prostitution look sexy. The facts about prostitution presented on the pages after the images show prostitution in a different light.
Prostitution: Images
Prostitution: Facts
Prostitution: Facts
1. The average age of entry into prostitution is between 13-14 years. Most of these 13-14 year old girls are recruited or coerced into prostitution. The age of entry into prostitution is decreasing.
2. Incest is boot camp for prostitution. Estimates of the prevalence of incest in the personal histories of prostitutes range from 65% to 90%. 85% of prostitutes report a history of sexual abuse in childhood. 70% report being victims of incest.
Prostitution: Facts
3. Pimps target girls that are vulnerable, nave, lonely, homeless, rebellious. Once recruited, or purchased, prostitutes are kept in bondage to the pimp by verbal and physical abuse. 85% of prostitutes report being raped by their pimps.
4. Why do prostitutes stay with pimps? Humans bond emotionally with their keepers in captivity. Pimps isolate prostitutes to make them totally dependent upon them. Pimps use force to hold prostitutes captive.
Prostitution: Policy
If prostitution is sexy, then should it be either decriminalized or legalized? Legalized: Government control of prostitution. Decriminalized: No laws against prostitution.
Prostitution: Policy
If we view prostitution as violence against women, then it makes no sense to legalize or decriminalize it. Decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution would legitimate practices that are human rights violations, and in any other context would be illegal. Studies show that decriminalizing or legalizing prostitution increase rather than decrease rates of human sex trafficking.
Prostitution: Policy
In 1999, the Swedish Parliament put into effect a law that criminalizes the buying of sexual services, but not the selling of sexual services. Social reformists consider the Swedish law as a humane alternative because it places the criminal burden on the perpetrator rather than the victim. Studies indicate that the Swedish laws significantly reduce rates of prostitution and human trafficking.
Sources:
Prostitution
Is it sexy?