Violence and health consequences among women in prostitution

History Of Prostitution

"There hasn't been a place on my body that hasn't been bruised somehow, some way, some big, some small," Marcia (pseudonym), a prostitute, reports in a study noted by Farley (2000). In addition to suffering the pain of a broken arm three times during the course of her "work," Marcia states she also had her nose broken twice and currently has a small fragment of a bone floating in her head that gave her migraines.

Along with experiencing these maladies, and suffering from a fractured skull, Marcia had her toes broken. The bottom of her feet had been burned and "whopped with a hot iron and clothes hanger." Marcia was cut with a knife, and beat with guns and two by fours. She also reports: "... The hair on my ***** had been burned off at one time...I have scars." (Giobbe, 1992, p. 126, cited by Farley, 2000)

Some scars from sexual scenarios prostitutes suffer may not be as visible or poignant as the ones Marcia notes, but instead may take invisible forms such as health and/or psychological problems. In San Francisco, when a john attempted to kidnap one prostitute, she broke her hips when she jumped out of a moving car. Some prostitutes report having teeth knocked out by their pimps and johns. (Farley, 2000)

Prostitution

Prostitution, according to Webster's, consists of "Offering sexual intercourse for pay." (Parker, 2008) prostitute, by definition," according to Overall (1992, cited by Dalla, 2000, p. 344) "is one who exchanges sex or sexual favors for money, drugs, or other desirable commodities). During the past decade, researchers have specifically focused more attention on women who engage in prostitution. (Dalla, 2000, p. 344) This research effort explores a number of components contributing to prostitution, including its history, aspects evident in contemporary American society and various related laws.

Prostitution, noted throughout recorded history, depicts the buying and selling of sexual services and favours, reportedly continues to reflect a part of the human condition. Evidence of prostitution is evident "in mythology, art, sculpture, drama, literature, music, and archaeological structures and ruins." (HISTORY TOPICS, 2008) a number of societies in various countries, including some in the U.S., during different times in history accepted prostitution as a norm, portraying one extreme. At differing times, albeit, a number of societies, including some in the U.S., deem prostitution to be a punishable crime. Between the two extremes of being the norm and depicting a crime, prostitution has variously been regarded, as "a necessary evil."

It is portrayed as a blight on the community, with those who engage in prostitution, often judged as the immoral dregs of a society. Even though men and boys have been "used" as prostitutes in some cultures, women primarily have been associated with prostitution. In the U.S., during the past quarter century, Minnesota reports the number of young girls and boys, often homeless children, many of them runaways or throwaways, forced into prostitution, has risen. Frequently, instead of the abusers or patrons being penalized by social stigma, fines, or jail time, victims of sexual and physical abuse, particularly prostitution have been punished. (HISTORY TOPICS, 2008)

In the U.S., during the years from 1870 to 1930, more women than ever in the recorded past reportedly supported themselves through prostitution. Prostitutes were more visible in the cityscape, in towns such as New York, San Francisco, and New Orleans, than in less populated areas.

New York, London, Paris, and shanghai had the highest numbers of prostitutes, but the phenomenon was far more apparent in... New Orleans, "the greatest brothel city of all times." Ringdal (2005, p. 315)

Myth and Facts

Some proponents of legalizing sex-work in the United States insist prostitution is "just another recreation-oriented service industry.... Working outside the law, prostitutes have few legal protections and no right to unionize. Making sex-work criminal reinforces what philosopher Martha Nussbaum, of the University of Chicago, believes to be 'an unjust prejudice of the sort that once denigrated the activities of women actors, dancers, and singers.'" (Prostitution and Freedom," 2003)

Allowing prostitution might even be a social good, advocates contend. The freedom to use one's body as one wishes seems a basic right. And it gives everyone at least some fall-back employment. Prostitution might gain public esteem as what City University of New York philosopher Sybil Schwarzenbach calls "erotic therapy," and allow the sex worker to "be respected for her wealth of sexual and emotional knowledge."

Three kinds of arguments are usually made against legalization. One is based on traditional morality. A second asserts that prostitution spawns crime and disease. Finally, many feminists argue that prostitution furthers the degradation and subordination of women.

Anderson, a visiting professor of philosophy at the State University of New York at Albany, makes a fourth case. Sex for pay should be illegal, he asserts, because the chance to sell sex impinges on the seller's freedom -- what he calls her right to "sexual autonomy." "If sexual autonomy means anything, it means that sex does not become a necessary means for a person to avoid violence, brute force, or severe economic or other hardships." Recognizing sexual autonomy, in other words, requires barring any interchange between the bedroom and the marketplace. Sex cannot be "just another use of the body."

If society does not acknowledge sexual autonomy and legalizes prostitution, he asks, what's to prevent an increase of pressure to provide "unwanted sex"? Imagine the eerie results. Would schools offer vocational training in sex-work? Might welfare-to-work programs demand that clients consider prostitution as employment?

Legalized prostitution exists under tightly restricted conditions in a few places in Europe and elsewhere. But Anderson does not see how it advances sexual equality. Commerce, built on openness and mutual agreement, will always be at odds with intimate matters of sex, ever founded on privacy and self-determination. (Prostitution and Freedom," 2003)

The following table (1) reflects nine common myths related to prostitution and its legalization (Nevada, particularly).

Table 1: Myths and Facts About Prostitution (Myths and Facts. 2008)

Considerations

Brown et al. (2003) argues that women who frequently "share histories of abuse, violence, residential instability, racism, and discrimination." Most individuals became involved prostitutions as a means of survival. Along with a lack of formal educational or job experience, these recurring combined experiences, contribute to economic insecurity. (Brown et al., 2003) Prostitution not only scars and marks victims, it "marks" one of the more common "revolving door" offenses routinely occurring in many major metropolitan areas. Even though the behavior rarely reaches the felony level, Nelson (2004) argues that dealing with prostitution presents one of the more perplexing challenges within the criminal justice system. Using an earlier landmark study on criminal justice costs for prostitution, Nelson (2004) reports estimated 2001 costs in Chicago for each prostitution arrest was $1,554, with $9,089,252 estimated to be the legal system total.

In a 1994 study of health consequences of prostitution, it was found that women engaged in a variety of prostitution activities, including at strip clubs, in the street, at crack houses and through escort services. The study also found that prostitution had a profound impact on the women's personal health and that of their children. (Parriott, 1994, cited by Nelson, 2004). There also are the added burdens to welfare, child welfare, and neighborhoods and communities, which experience more costs and deterioration in quality of life. (Nelson, 2004)

Commercial sexual exploitation of minors by international tourists, Andrews (2004) notes, is one particularly disturbing aspect of prostitution.

Tourism, one of the largest, most lucrative global industries, and the sex industry mutually reinforce each other with some vacationers paying for sex with a male or female in their destination country. Every year, foreign travelers from predominantly Western countries, including the U.S., spend billions of dollars to purchase sexual services. This usually illegal practice, referred to as "sex tourism," has become widely acknowledged. (Andrews, 2004) Prostitution of children in developing countries, Andrews (2004) reports, continues to rise basically due to the increase in the number of foreign tourists. Some individuals contend the U.S. is one of the "sending" countries contributing to the market flourishing because of more wealthy and willing and customers. As the U.S. recognizes and understands more about the problem of prostitution regarding children, it also needs to establish more laws to counter international child prostitution. President Bill Clinton signed one such law, the Violent Crime Control and Law Enforcement Act of 1994, also known as the Crime Bill. This Bill states it constitutes "a criminal offence to travel abroad for the purpose of engaging in sexual activity with a minor." (Andrews, 2004)

No country, including the U.S., Matthews (2005) argues, is immune from the drama and tragedy of international child sex trafficking for prostitution. "Ling was thirteen years old and living in Burma when her family sold her to a neighbor under the guise of becoming a domestic worker in another country.

The neighbor transported Ling to the Thailand border where she crossed into more than a new country -- she walked into a terrifying new life.

Her captors took her to a brothel and forced her to have sex up to ten times per day, primarily with clients traveling from wealthy countries where such activities are illegal.

All the money she earned went to the brothel manager, who forced Ling to live with the most meager of possessions.

After enduring a year of this life and being exposed to the AIDS virus, police arrested Ling in a raid on the brothel and charged her with prostitution.

Upon completion of her sentence, officials deported Ling to Burma where there are no laws to protect victims of trafficking.

Her perpetrators remain unpunished.

In neighboring Cambodia, however, the police arrested sixty-nine-year-old Michael Clark, an American tourist, for participating in illicit sexual conduct with two boys under the age of fourteen.

Clark has since become the first person in the United States to be indicted under the PROTECT Act -- the U.S. legislation designed to curb sexual abuse of children.

Due to this strong new legislation and Cambodia's willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, the Cambodian victims may see punishment meted out, unlike the young girl in Burma. 9) Due to this strong new legislation and Cambodia's willingness to cooperate with U.S. law enforcement, the Cambodian victims may see punishment meted out, unlike the young girl in Burma.

Sexual exploitation and trafficking in children is a growing affront on human dignity that has gained greater international attention in recent years.

Trafficking in persons is one of the most rapidly growing transnational criminal enterprises, with child prostitution skyrocketing despite legislation designed to prevent and control the illegal activity.

In response, countries must pool their efforts and unify in the fight against the international trafficking trade -- both in those where children are forced into prostitution, as well as those providing a market for such trade.

Much legislation has been passed in response to this problem.

To date, this legislation has been "all bark and no bite," professing the importance of ending trafficking, but lacking the necessary force to impact this insidious crime.

Despite slight efforts by the United States and the international community, the system has not worked to protect children.

A multinational response with international coordination of law enforcement is required to thwart the enormous problem of trafficking.

The United States is not immune to the atrocities of sex trafficking in children. (Matthews, 2005)

Steps Away From Prostitution Taking steps to help reduce prostitution of children in developing countries, however, requires more than the U.S., taking steps to help reduce the problem. It also needs other countries to join forces with each other and the U.S. To do whatever needs to be done. On April 30, 2003, President Bush signed the Prosecutorial Remedies and Other Tools to End the Exploitation of Children Today Act (the "PROTECT Act"). This law significantly improved the United States government's ability to pursue American citizens and resident aliens who commit sexual crimes against children outside of United States territory. (Messigian, 2006)

Counters to "the World's Oldest Profession" as time has passed, Saban (2006) reports, the prostitutes' lot constantly shifted, as "whores and harlots have been elevated, abused, exploited and commodified sic)." Prostitution, nevertheless continues to constitute a "resilient profession that has defeated all attempts to suppress and control it." A current concern noted by several sex workers Saban (2006) interviewed questions if in the age of the internet and the cyber-hooker, the profession can ever be kept under check. A "John School," considered a success in combating prostitution, reported in the Washington Times, constitutes one current counter being implemented to try to check prostitution, also known as "the world's oldest profession." "Only one of the more than 500 men who have taken the District's 2-year-old anti-prostitution course has been arrested again for solicitation. 'I think it's certainly fair to say [the program is] a resounding success,' said Anthony Asuncion, chief of the misdemeanor section of the U.S. Attorney's Office. 'The only big change that has happened in the last two years is we have become very successful.'" ("John School' Called, 2003, p. a" B01)

One male participant of the John School reported: "All parts of the program were appropriate because I found I was responsible for my own actions...." Another man wrote, "They put a scare into me that will have more effect on my future decisions." Yet another participant stated: "the school maybe opened my eyes to what I never thought or expected from my actions." Still another man simply wrote: "I will never do it again."

During 2007, however, despite positive counters such as the John School, the Washington Times reported: "Stopping or at least curbing prostitution is primarily the work of the Metropolitan Police Department's prostitution enforcement uni.... Mark a. Gilkey, the unit's senior investigator, said "pimp cases" are his top priorities. "When you have the opportunity to make one of these cases, you put all available resources behind it," he said. "Prosecuting the pimps is difficult." ("Prostitution Unit Centers on," 2007, p. B01) Edwards (2003, p. 1) purports that America's home-grown religion, Mormonism, during 2003, was exercising excessive influence on the United Nations to try to reverse the effects of the UN Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination Against Women. "In the name of God and religious doctrine it seeks to prevent further gains by women and roll back some already secured." significant percentage of all prostitutes around the world are sexual slaves -- in clear physical bondage. And the overwhelming majority of ostensibly free prostitutes are nonetheless exploited or unwillingly and unhappily pressed into the work by unacceptable economic conditions. Unenlightened social attitudes toward sex are among the forces that play a role in this, as do regressive views about women and gays. Added to this, traditional religious and cultural values, instead of liberating prostitutes -- as is suggested by some passages in various scriptures -- more often contribute to the dispossessed status prostitutes experience. (Edwards, 2003, p. 1)

Prostitution can thus be seen as a textbook social issue for the application of humanist thought. But that doesn't mean all humanists are in complete agreement on the best socio-political conclusion to reach.... Kimberly Klinger argues for the decriminalization, and perhaps the legalization, of prostitution. She offers this, along with full support for the rights and dignity of sex workers, as a significant way to prevent sexual exploitation and slavery. Alice Leuchtag, on the other hand, sees legalized prostitution not only as contributing to the spread of these ills but as actually protecting sex traffickers and pimps from prosecution. Prostitution has been explored in the pages of the Humanist since at least the 1970s, but developments worldwide bring a new urgency to the subject. (Edwards, 2003, p. 1)

Despite urgent, universal questions, doubts, debates, challenges and considerations, today's world, including the U.S., "seems to be ever more tolerant of prostitution but increasingly concerned about exploitation. (Saban, 2006) Even so, the question of whether the behavior of an individual engaging in prostitution constitutes a crime demanding incarceration, Nelson (2004) contends the "legitimate burden of addressing and hopefully mitigating the problem rests primarily with the criminal justice system." The impact of prostitution today, as back in history, reaches far outside the legal system.

It, as noted at the start of this research paper, causes individuals like Marcia to say through their tears: "I have scars." (Farley, 2000)

Despite scars surfacing from prostitution, Dalla (2000, p. 344) notes: "As miserable and dangerous as prostitution is, there are many women who, given the opportunity, would choose not to get away from it. There is security in continuing to do what you already know."

Despite the facade of the sense of irrational security, some of those scarred by prostitution may present, this researcher... (needs thought added to conclude)