Prostitution and Pornography
“We say that slavery has vanished from European civilization, but this is not true. Slavery still exists, but now it applies only to women, and its name is prostitution.” ~Victor Hugo
Sexual Slavery
A major proportion of Human Trafficking is for sexual purposes, with the victims overwhelmingly women and young girls. The average age of entry into prostitution is thirteen years old! That means that fully half are even younger. This shocking fact belies the notion that prostitution is a reasonable choice made rationally by a woman of her own free will. Often called sexual slavery, this may include not only prostitution, but also other roles in the ’sexploitation’ industry such as massage parlors, fetish clubs, phone sex operations, exotic dancing establishments, the production of pornography for the photo, video, and film markets, and even the selling of child ‘brides’. In all of these instances victims are coerced, cajoled, threatened, tricked, or simply forced… and end up in a situation where they are no longer in control. In 2006 the FBI estimated that 100,000 children and young women were trafficked for sexual purposes within the US, and that the majority of them were not runaways but people coerced by predators.
The manner in which women are initially induced and finally forced to resign themselves to being used by others, is a rigorously time tested method that relies on a host of techniques for breaking people. This is coldly known as the ’seasoning process’. It may involve any combination of humiliation, privation, isolation, violence and the threat of it, both to the victim and to her family.
The Coalition Against Trafficking in Women calls prostitution “the world’s oldest oppression!” and proposes that all forms of prostitution are necessarily exploitative. Some have suggested that prostitution is tantamount to ‘pay to rape’. While other views may differ, no one denies the clear connection between sex trafficking and prostitution.
The Demand
At the root of this enterprise, lies the seemingly boundless demand. This may be driven in part by the commercial nature of modern culture. Everything is for sale, and sex is successfully used to sell almost everything. Can it be surprising to find that people themselves have become commodified, regarded as disposable objects for sale or rent? We have a culture that glorifies pimping as some sort of glamorous vocation. Can you imagine if that same paintbrush were applied to brutal slave masters? Or to the traders that sold human beings on the slave block? There really is not much difference.
When you read newspapers that boldly advertise sexual services, you become complicit to some small degree. According to the Division of Criminal Justice Services in New York, ‘adult’ ads featuring specific ethnicities or ‘in call only’ escort services are most often found to have human trafficking ties. Clearly these newspapers and phone directories both promote and profit from human trafficking. But you do not need to remain silent. Write a letter to the editor. Phone some of the legitimate advertisers and express your concern.
A form of court mandated education for the clients of prostituted women, called ‘john schools’, have a very low recidivism rate. They attempt to teach respect for women, viewing them as the sisters, daughters, and mothers they truly are. They also teach that few women become prostitutes by choice, and commonly there are prior histories of sexual abuse. Even in those places where prostitution is legal, women are trafficked from other locations. They typically won’t announce their victim status, they may even deny it. By visiting a prostitute you are supporting an industry that most literally enslaves women.
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