2. THE HARM OF PROSTITUTION

Prostitution per se is a form of violence against women.

Prostitution, in itself, is intrinsically traumatising.

At an individual level, the harm is physical, social, emotional, and
psychological.

The harm extends to all women and humanity as a whole - socially,
culturally, and globally.

When one human person is degraded, all are degraded.

In prostitution, repeated physical and sexual assaults are sustained.
Beatings, extreme degradation and rape are frequent. The risk of murder is
always present and real.

Women in prostitution are often sought specifically for acts that are
humiliating, degrading and violent.

High numbers of women involved in prostitution report acute symptoms of
post-traumatic stress disorder.

Significant numbers of women in prostitution are drug and /or alcohol
dependent.
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2. THE HARM OF PROSTITUTION
Intrinsically harmful and traumatising
Prostitution, in itself, is a form of violence against women that is intrinsically traumatizing.
There are many levels of harm implicated - as well as the physical harm and damage,
there is the emotional and psychological harm of being sexually objectified. One study
found that while there is more physical violence in street, as distinct from, brothel
prostitution, there is no difference in the psychological trauma. The psychological damage
is intrinsic to the act of prostitution.1
When a human being is reduced to a body, objectified to sexually service another, whether
or not there is consent, violation of the human being has taken place2.
As well as the harm to each individual, there is the social, cultural and global impact - the
damage to the social position and perception of women both nationally and globally, the
proliferation of sex tourism and trafficking and the normalization of all forms of violence
against women. The sexual exploitation of prostitution is harmful to all women. The sexual
degradation of any woman is the sexual degradation of all humanity.
International studies show that women in prostitution experience extremely high levels of
violence such as beatings, rape, torture and terror.3 Women in prostitution are constantly
subjected to humiliations of all kinds, theft, physical and sexual assault, as well as the
health risks from being sometimes required to have unprotected sex. It is not claimed that
all men who use women in prostitution are violent but, essentially, what they purchase is
the power to be violent with the likelihood that there will be no sanctions. Even when the
violence does not occur, the threat and the lack of protection are always there. Sexual and
other physical violence is the normative experience for women in prostitution.4 The same
experiences are reported across the globe, regardless of culture or race.
Beatings, rape, and even murder are generally considered ‘occupational hazards’ of
prostitution. The Council for Prostitution alternatives in Portland Oregon reported that of
179 women in their programme who left prostitution in 1990 -1991, 78% of the survivors
were the victims of rape, a class A felony, 48% were raped by pimps an average of 16
1
Farley et al (1998) p.419
Barry, K. (1995), p.23
3
Farley et al (1998) and Lawless, K. & Wayne, A., and Ruhama (2005) Ch.7. and Raymond, J., (1998)
4
Farley et al (1998)
2
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times a year and more than 79% raped by johns (customers) an average of 33 times a
year5 The experience of prostitution has serious consequences for women’s health, quality
of life and actual life expectancy. One study puts the mortality rate of women and girls in
prostitution at 40 times higher than the national average6
Post traumatic stress
Studies of sufferers of post-traumatic stress disorder in US rate the condition in those
involved in prostitution as ‘enormously high’, higher than Vietnam veterans seeking
treatment for the condition. Two thirds of women in prostitution report suffering from post
traumatic stress disorder (compared to 5% of the general population). The vast majority
report sustained recurrent physical and sexual assault in working hours, feelings of being
emotionally numb and tortured by recurrent nightmares and flashbacks. European studies7
document the strain and trauma in prostitution and liken the effects to the effects on
victims of incest and rape.
Symptoms include acute anxiety, depression, insomnia, irritability, flashbacks, emotional
numbing, poor concentration and being in a state of emotional and physical hypervigilance and alertness. Suicide attempts and depression feature strongly8
As well as overt, direct physical violence, trauma in prostitution is caused by engaging in
multiple sex acts with strangers9. Having to tolerate this much intimate, bodily invasion
requires psychological or chemical (with drugs or alcohol) dissociation in order to cope.
The very nature of prostitution as an act of violence is compounded by the reality that
many men specifically seek out women in prostitution in order to be able to act out
humiliating, degrading and violent acts. Women report resorting to various ‘shutting off’
techniques – distancing, disengagement, dissociation, disembodiment and dissembling, as
survival strategies10 The women try to switch off, to separate from and fragment their real
selves, thereby intensifying the harm and damage caused by prostitution. Barry
conservatively estimates that if a woman stays in prostitution an average of nine years and
takes an average of 5 customers a day, 6 days a week, she will have sold sex in, on, and
through her body 9,540 times to different men in anonymous contacts.
5
Barry, K. (1995) p.36
Baldwin (1992) in Farley et al (1998) also Farley, M., (2004), for detailed accounts and Lawless K., and
Wayne, A. (2005)
7
Hoigard and Finstad (1986), Vanwesenbeeck (1994)
8
O’Neill and O’Connor (1999)
9
Barry, K., (1995) for statistics.
10
Barry (1995).
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Marginalisation and poverty
Women in prostitution in the so-called First World countries are disproportionately drawn
from economically and racially marginalized women and a significant proportion of the
women are drug-addicted.11 While some women may enter prostitution to pay for their
own, and, often, a partner’s or pimp’s drug habit, the experience leads to a vicious circle of
drug and alcohol dependency in order to numb the effects of prostitution itself.
With regard to developing countries it is becoming clear that reliance is growing on the
development of sex tourism to attract foreign currency.12 Ironically, the sacrificing of the
most vulnerable sectors of the population, rather than aiding development, only
accelerates the process of dependence and poverty by reinforcing the power of the strong
over the weak.13
Social stigmatization
Those in prostitution inevitably become social outsiders by the fact that their own sexual
objectification is traded for money. It is a form of social death. The stigma and shame of
prostitution forces women to live secret separate lives that have to be hidden and lied
about. They may be ostracized, humiliated, unable to share their lives with others, isolated,
and afraid to speak openly about their experiences and their difficulties. They are reluctant
to seek help and report crimes against them fearing judgment, prejudice and further
stigmatization14
Our wider, surrounding culture marginalizes, stereotypes and stigmatizes these women
and these attitudes are inevitably internalized by the women themselves, reinforcing
already poor levels of self esteem and self-worth. There can be great difficulty, therefore,
because of this stigmatization, degradation and shame in even imagining, not to say taking
steps to move to, an alternative lifestyle.
This experience of stigmatization and embarrassment and shame is reported in countries
such as the Netherlands and Germany and states in Australia where prostitution is
legalized and regulated. Proponents of regulation have always argued that regulation and
legalisation would diminish the stigmatization but reports show that underground and
11
Raymond, J., (1995)
Barry, K., (1995) Chapter 4, and Ehrenreich, B. and Russell Hochschild, A., (2003).
13
Le Mouvement du Nid, leaflet ‘Exploitation’.
14
McGee, H., et al (2002) and Lawless, K., & Wayne, A. & Ruhama (2005)).
12
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illegal prostitution has increased in these countries because many women would rather
work illegally than register and officially name themselves as working in prostitution15
Because they ‘agree’ to sell their sexuality as a commodity, women in prostitution are held
to have placed themselves outside the remit of the socially agreed rules that govern sexual
life. The sanctions that protect other women are felt by women and their customers not to
apply. The rape, even the murder, of women in prostitution does not evoke the same
degree of popular outrage as the rape or murder of others.16
Sources and further reading:
Barry, K., (1995) The Prostitution of Sexuality: The Global Exploitation of Women, New
York: University Press.
Barry, K., (1996) ‘The Prostitution of Sexuality: A Cause for New International Human
Rights’ in Hayes, A., Lyons, A., Shaughnessy L., (eds) Review, Vol 4. Galway:UCG
Women’s Studies Centre, at 95-108.
Ehrenreich, B, and Russell Hochschild, A, (2003), Global Woman: Nannies, Maids and
Sex Workers in the New Economy, London: Granta Books
Farley, M., et al, (1998) ‘Prostitution in Five Countries: Violence and Post-Traumatic Stress
Disorder’ in Feminism and Psychology, Vol 8 (4) London: Sage at 405-425.
Farley, Melissa, (2004), ‘Bad for the Body, Bad for the Heart: Prostitution Harms Women
Even if Legalised or Decriminalised’ in Violence Against Women, Vol.10, (10) at 10871125.
Hoigard, C. and Finstad, L., (1992) Backstreets: Prostitution, Money and Love,
Pennsylania: Pennsylviana State University Press.
Jeffreys, S., & Sullivan, M., ‘Legalising Prostitution is not the Answer: The Example of
Victoria, Australia’ www.catwinternational.org
Jeffreys, S., (2003) ‘The legalisation of prostitution: a failed social experiment’. Paper given
at Swedish Mission side event at the Commission on the Status of Women, United
Nations, New York 5/03/03. see www.sisyphe.org
Lawless, K., and Wayne, A., (2005) for TSA Consultancy and Ruhama, The Next Step
Initiative: Research Report on Barriers Affecting Women in Prostitution, Dublin:Ruhama
15
16
Farley, M., (2004) and Jeffreys, S., (2003)
O’Connell Davidson, J. STOP report. p.40
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Le Mouvement du Nid, leaflet ‘Exploitation’
McGee, H., et al (2002) The SAVI Report: Sexual Abuse and Violence in Ireland. Dublin:
Liffey Press.
Mansson, S.A. and Hedin, U.C. (1999) ‘Breaking the Matthew Effect – on women leaving
prostitution’ in International Journal of Social Welfare, 8, at 67-77
Mansson S. A. (2002) ‘Men’s Practices in Prostitution: The case of Sweden’. in Bob Pease
and Keith Pringle (eds.) A Man’s World: Changing Men’s Practices in a Globalised World,
London Zed Books
O’Connell Davidson, J. ‘Punter Fiction – Stories Clients Tell About Their Prostitute Use’ in
Jyrkinen, M. and Karjalainen, L., (eds) Minors in the Sex Trade, Report of the European
Commission STOP Project
O’Neill, M., and O’Connor, A.M. (1999) Drug Using Women in Prostitution, Report of
Women’s Health Project, Dublin: Eastern Health Board
Raymond, J., (1995) Report to the Special Rapporteur on Violence against Women.
Geneva: United Nations
Raymond, J., (1998) ‘Health Effects of Prostitution’,
http://action.web.ca/home/catw/readingroom.shtml?sh-itm=6e4c5eed5eco050d7ea4646
Vanwesenbeeck, I. (1994) Prostitutes Well-being and Risk, Amsterdam: Amsterdam
University Press.
Web sites:
www.catwinternational.org
www.prostitutionresearch.com
www.sisyphe.org
www.mouvementdunid.org
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