How to Deter Johns from Buying Sex

Far from the common belief that ‘prostitution will always be with us’, it’s not that hard to deter johns from buying sex. These two articles present the results of a survey of 110 Scottish men between the ages of 18 and 77 who had paid for sex:

Sex industry in Scotland: Name and shame the punters (Daily Record, Scotland, 4/28/08)

One punter said: “You can buy a lot of things but you can’t buy your reputation – losing your reputation is the biggest deterrent.”

…Men often used prostitutes in their lunch hour, some using company cars, and the interviewees said getting their car impounded and their company finding out would stop them…

A third thought rape was just men getting carried away and 12 per cent thought that it was not possible to rape a prostitute. A full 10 per cent claimed the concept of rape simply didn’t apply to these women.

And almost a quarter thought that once they had paid for sex, they had free rein…

[Said one punter,] “You need to know how to manipulate and control [prostituted women], which is easy with street prostitutes, you just dangle drink and drugs in front of them.”

Prostitute punters more violent (The Herald, Scotland, 4/28/08)

The report states: “54% of the men who frequently used women in prostitution had committed sexually aggressive acts against non-prostitute partners compared to 30% of the less frequent users.

“The more frequently a punter used women in prostitution, the more likely he was to have committed sexually coercive acts against non-prostituting women…

…some 89% would stop using prostitutes if “named and shamed” on the sex offenders’ register.

See also:

Prostitution looks chic, but truth is ugly (Chicago Tribune, 4/27/08)
A comprehensive 2004 mortality study, funded by the National Institutes of Health and conducted by the American Journal of Epidemiology, shows that workplace homicide rates for women working in prostitution are 51 times that of the next most dangerous occupation for women (which is working in a liquor store). The average age of death of the women studied was 34.

Some have argued that those working for “high end” escort services, as Dupre was, cannot be compared to the “average” woman working in prostitution. But the $1,000-an-hour escort of today will often become the woman on the street of tomorrow, as age, alcohol and sexually transmitted diseases take their toll.

Puncturing Alan Dershowitz’s Delusions about Prostitution

Prostitution: Factsheet on Human Rights Violations

Prostitution Research & Education: How Prostitution Works

Why Do Johns Buy Sex?

Dorchen Leidholdt, “Demand and the Debate”

Sweden’s Prostitution Solution: Why Hasn’t Anyone Tried This Before?

Bloomberg Columnist Likes Sweden’s Approach to Prostitution

Diane Sawyer Special Examines Prostitution in America; Challenge the Valley Advocate “Rat King”

Escort Prostitution: A Response to Tom Vannah, Editor of the Valley Advocate

MSNBC
Investigates Human Trafficking and Prostitution in the US; Valley
Advocate Advertises “Foreign Fantasies” Where “Everything Goes”

The Village Voice Earns $80,000/Month from Prostitution, Sex Trafficking and other Adult Ads (explicit language)
…Betty looks Vanessa over and observes that the more decrepit a
hooker looks, the more they get picked up. Johns see vulnerability;
they see a weakness, they see a five-dollar blow job…

…”If
[prostitutes] have good help, it is very possible to recover,” [Dr.
Patrick Carnes, a sexual disorders specialist,] says. “The biggest
problem is lack of resources.”

…In terms of social programs
and community education, Mitchell believes prostitution is where
domestic violence was 15 years ago. She wants to educate people about
the reality of prostitution as she knows it…

“[The police]
believe women are more of the problem,” Mitchell says. “They don’t
quite get it yet that if they get rid of the men customers, the women
aren’t going to be there because the money won’t be there.”