Let’s not let Spitzer’s prostitute, "Kristen", displace the broader reality
Nicholas Kristoff of the New York Times wrote an article discussing the broader reality of prostitution–for most–it is a waking nightmare.
Some highlights from the article:
“Sometimes I meet a girl who says, ‘I have a really good pimp — he beats me only with an open hand,’ said Rachel Lloyd, a former prostitute who runs a program for underage prostitutes in NYC.”
“Pimps crush runaway girls with a mix of violence and affection, degradation and gifts, and then require absolute obedience to a rigid code: the girl cannot look the pimp in the eye, call him by his name, or keep any cash.”
“Every evening she must earn a quota of money before she can sleep. She may be required to tattoo the pimp’s name on her thigh. “
“Last year she [Ms. Llyod] worked with 250 teenage girls who had been prostituted, and not one of them ever merited an Amber alert.”
“With prostitution as with narcotics, no legal model has worked perfectly. I’ve argued that the approach with the best record is the Swedish model — decriminalizing the sale of sex, while making it an offense to pimp or to buy sex.”
Comment by thetodd on 16 March 2008 at 5:51 pm:
Do you have any thoughts about what sort of resources should be devoted to fighting prostitution and what the penalties should be for being a pimp or soliciting prostitution?
There’s a big difference between, say, no enforcement effort and a $50 fine vs. a “war on prostitution” and jail time.
Comment by Segen on 16 March 2008 at 6:25 pm:
In Sweden–a country with legalized sales of sex, but criminalized purchase of sex–prostitution is regarded as male violence against women and children. The government looks at prostituted women and children as victims and provide social and rehabilitative services to these individuals.
According to this article, the success in Sweden’s case of significantly reducing prostitution came with correct enforcement. After providing law enforcement officials with sensitivity training that prostitution was indeed violence against women that needed to be stopped, enforcement of the law became more effective.
As for the punishment for purchasing sex, in Sweden a “John” is subjected to fines or up to six months in prison–the information is also public and the John runs the risk of public humiliation. The attempted purchase of sex is also a criminal offense. Pimps can be sentenced to prison for up to four years. If the pimping is considered severe, the pimp must serve for at least two years and up to six years in prison. Check info it out here
I poked around online for actual arrests in Sweden related to prostitution, but was unsuccessful. Anyone else have better investigative skills that could find this information?
Comment by Kurt Subvert on 17 March 2008 at 12:24 am:
Whatever, everyone knows the real prostitutes are on CraigsList
Comment by tet on 17 March 2008 at 9:41 am:
Considering the suicide rate and incredibly high taxes of Sweden, I shudder when someone suggests using it as a model for anything.
Tom