Myths and Facts about Trafficking for Legal and Illegal Prostitution (March 2009)

1. MYTH: Legalizing prostitution gets rid of its criminal elements - pimps and traffickers.
FACT: Legalizing prostitution benefits pimps and traffickers. It also benefits johns.

Read more myths and facts

Janine Benedet 2009

Supporters of the prostitution industry want us to believe that women would be safe if men's purchase of women for sex is legalized. In the name of women's security, they are arguing in an Ontario court this week that male johns and pimps have a constitutional right to buy and sell women. They are claiming that prostitution is women's work and that legalizing it would advance women's liberty. Opposition is dismissed as based on “moral panic.” A closer look at the violent reality of prostitution exposes the utter fallacy of these claims.

On the same wonderful evening that Barack Obama was voted in as our next president, Proposition K which would have decriminalized prostitution in San Francisco, was defeated. A strong majority (59%) of the people of San Francisco voted against decriminalized prostitution.

Melissa Farley

1. Violence in prostitution continued after prostitution was decriminalized in New Zealand, according to the New Zealand Law Review Committee.

2. Stigma and prejudice against prostitution, and the shame associated with prostitution, continued since decriminalization of prostitution in NZ.

Continue reading report

Melissa Farley 2008

PRE has documented the harms of decriminalized prostitution on this website for many years. Now, San Francisco voters face a real risk of across-the-board decriminalization of the sex industry. Melissa Farley recently wrote this op-ed piece (October 17, 2008):

Prop K is a Trojan Horse that Would Turn San Francisco into a Sanctuary City for Pimps and Traffickers

Contact: xpalss@shaw.ca

A statement by members of Ex-Prostitutes Against Legislated Sexual Servitude. Includes a version of the statement in French.

"We are women who have been harmed by prostitution. We believe that no amount of changing the conditions or the locations in which we were prostituted could ever have significantly reduced that harm. We experience the normalizing of that harm by calling it “work” insulting at best."

Continue reading

Melissa Farley 2005

This article describes the social invisibility of indoor prostitution, the lack of evidence suggesting that indoor prostitution is “safe,” and summarizes testimony of women who reported violence in strip club prostitution and warnings about violence from groups promoting indoor prostitution.

Read entire article (PDF format)

Melissa Farley 2006

This article discusses and analyzes empirical data on the harms of prostitution, pornography and trafficking. This information has to be culturally, psychologically, and legally denied because to know it would interfere with the business of sexual exploitation.

Read entire article (PDF format)

Janice Raymond 2004

Research, programs, and legislation related to sex trafficking are often premised on the invisibility of the male buyer and the failure to address men’s role in buying and abusing women in prostitution. Governments, UN agencies, nongovernmental organizations (NGOs), and others act as if the male demand for sexual exploitation is insignificant. This article looks at the demand—its meaning, the myths that rationalize why men buy women in prostitution, qualitative information on the buyers in two studies conducted by the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW)—as well as best practices that address the gender of demand.

Read entire report (PDF format)

Melissa Farley 2004

With examples from a 2003 New Zealand prostitution law, this article discusses the logical inconsistencies in laws sponsoring prostitution and includes evidence for the physical, emotional, and social harms of prostitution. These harms are not decreased by legalization or decriminalization. The article addresses the confusion caused by organizations that oppose trafficking but at the same time promote prostitution as a justifiable form of labor for poor women. The failure of condom distribution/harm reduction programs to protect women in prostitution from rape, sexually transmitted diseases (STDs), and HIV is discussed. The success of such programs in obtaining funding and in promoting prostitution as sex work is also discussed.

Read entire report (PDF format)

Gunilla Ekberg 2004

After several years of public debate initiated by the Swedish women’s movement, the Law That Prohibits the Purchase of Sexual Services came into force on January 1, 1999. The Law is the first attempt by a country to address the root cause of prostitution and trafficking in beings: the demand, the men who assume the right to purchase persons for prostitution purposes. This groundbreaking law is a cornerstone of Swedish efforts to create a contemporary, democratic society where women and girls can live lives free of all forms of male violence. In combination with public education, awareness-raising campaigns, and victim support, the Law and other legislation establish a zero tolerance policy for prostitution and trafficking in human beings.

Read entire report (PDF format)

Esohe Aghatise 2004

This article gives an overview of the problem of trafficking for prostitution in Italy and notes different trafficking dynamics according to countries of origin of the victims. It examines changes in trafficking patterns, various activities carried out by the Italian government and nongovernmental organizations (NGOs) to assist victims, the Italian legal framework used to combat trafficking, and the recent government proposal to legalize brothels. In conclusion, the article suggests strategies to combat prostitution and trafficking. The main emphasis is on the trafficking of Nigerian women and girls to Italy.

Read entire report (PDF format)

Julie Bindel 2004

In the debate about prostitution, there are those, like the Dutch, who advocate legalising it, and those, like the Swedes, who want to get women off the streets by cracking down on customers and pimps. Julie Bindel investigates the current debate in the U.K.

Janice Raymond 2003

Discussion of ways that legalized or decriminalized prostitution promotes trafficking expands both legal and illegal prostitution, and fails to promote women's health or make them any safer.

This law is a brilliant example of how a truly progressive society addresses prostitution: the law decriminalizes the prostitute but criminalizes customers, pimps, and traffickers. The Swedish government's logic is articulated in this brief article.

Catharine MacKinnon 1993

"The gap between the promise of civil rights and the real lives of prostitutes is an abyss which swallows up prostituted women." This article discusses the lack of civil rights among those prostituted, and discusses some legal remedies.

Catharine MacKinnon 1993

"The gap between the promise of civil rights and the real lives of prostitutes is an abyss which swallows up prostituted women." This article discusses the lack of civil rights among those prostituted, and discusses some legal remedies.