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 times a year and more than 79% raped by johns (customers) an average of 33 times a
1 2

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)

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year5 The experience of prostitution has serious consequences for womens 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.

Marginalisation and poverty

5 6

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 ONeill and OConnor (1999) 9 Barry, K., (1995) for statistics. 10 Barry (1995).

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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 partners or pimps 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 12

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)).

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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 Womens 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) OConnell 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) Mens Practices in Prostitution: The case of Sweden. in Bob Pease and Keith Pringle (eds.) A Mans World: Changing Mens Practices in a Globalised World, London Zed Books OConnell 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 ONeill, M., and OConnor, A.M. (1999) Drug Using Women in Prostitution, Report of Womens 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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