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Prostitution is Not a Profession

It’s exploitation.

Prostitution is often referred to as the “world’s oldest profession.” This phrase implies that people, women especially, willingly choose to be prostitutes. People usually choose professions to further their ambitions or use their aptitudes and gifts. Prostitution is not a profession; it is the exploitation of a human being.

Why is this important and how does it relate to trafficking? Those wishing to legalize prostitution and thereby normalize it use the term “forced prostitution,” as opposed to “voluntary prostitution.” Some people believe that legalizing prostitution will end sex trafficking.

Abolitionists fighting to end sex trafficking see all prostitution as violent, exploitative and harmful to women, children and men. The distinction between forced and voluntary is a false one; it is all destructive and dehumanizing. Yes, some people willingly enter into prostitution; they are in the minority. According to research done by Melissa Farley, Ph.D., of Prostitution Research and Education, 88 percent of people working as prostitutes said they wanted to leave prostitution.

The hazards of the job and the toll it takes on mental health are some of the reasons for wanting to escape. Professor Donna M. Hughes at the University of Rhode Island listed the following statistics about violence perpetrated against women and girls by their pimps and “johns,” and the consequences:

Women in prostitution are 18 times more likely to be murdered than women of similar age and race;
80% sustained bruises, 35% sustained broken bones;
47% sustained head injuries, 53% sustained mouth and teeth injuries;
86% felt depressed, 41% felt hopeless;
64% felt suicidal, 63% have hurt themselves or attempted suicide;
68% of women in prostitution meet the criteria for diagnosis of post-traumatic stress disorder.

In Chicago:

25% of the women in drug houses, hotels, and on the street were raped more than 10 times;
21% of the women in escort services were raped more than 10 times;
“Johns” – men who purchase sex acts – were the most frequent perpetrators of violence.

This does not sound like a profession, it sounds like torture. Pro-prostitution groups contend that legalization will make it safer and take the away the stigma felt by prostitutes. Abolitionists contend that banning prostitution and prosecuting the perpetrators, such as pimps, johns and traffickers, will free victims from slavery and degradation and be the first step to giving them back their dignity and self-worth.

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