Frequently Asked Questions
Prostitution is inherently violent[1]. The world of prostitution is prone to violence, depression, dehumanization, disease, and addiction. Prostituted women suffer from mental health problems, high rates of head injuries, suicidal attempts, disassociation, PTSD and higher rates of mortality than the average woman. 70-95% of women experience physical assault, 60-75% were raped, 95% experienced sexual harassment that in other industries would result in legal action.[2]
“There is no other job on the planet fraught with so much danger as prostitution and in no other so-called profession are so many women murdered each year.”[3]
“You lie to yourself to ease the pain, keeping a smile on your face while wishing he’d just hurry up and finish.”[4]
“15 years later I still get flashbacks, nightmares, panic attacks and have a deep mistrust of men.”[5]
[1] Preamble, https://laws-lois.justice.gc.ca/eng/AnnualStatutes/2014_25/page-1.htm
[2] Farley, Melissa
[3] Malarek, Victor. The Johns, Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy it. Key Porter Books, Toronto, 2019.p87
[4] Nordicmodelnow.org
[5] Nordicmodelnow.org
The prostitution industry is driven by male demand, based on the myth of male entitlement. It is an imbalance of power whereby a buyer hands over cash to a woman in order to gain access to the inside of her body for one-sided pleasure. This is not equality, rather power over a woman, making her do what he wants, whenever he wants. There is no consent when money is involved. Within the prostitution industry, there is no such thing as safe sex.
“Punters don’t think the violence they do is real – because they view the women as sub-human. So, it’s nothing happening to nothing.”[6]
“89% of 854 interviewed wanted to escape prostitution but were forced to remain in it because they had no other options for survival.”[7]
[6] Nordicmodelnow.org
[7] Farley, Melissa. Journal of Trauma Practice. 2003
Prostitution is a lucrative industry on backs of vulnerable persons. Sex buyers pour around $15B in revenue into this industry annually with the proceeds supporting organized criminal networks.[8] The lobby advocating for legalization is influenced and controlled by money hungry pimps and traffickers with the only focus of making money regardless the cost to the human person.
“The German model is producing hell on earth. The lives and rights of the women are sacrificed, but for what? These women are sacrificed so that some men can have sex whenever they want. Women have become a resource, to be used as efficiently as possible for profit.”[9]
[8] Hood, Melody. Trafficking at Illicit Massage Parlors Hidden in Plain Sight. January 31, 2018
[9] Kraus, Dr. Ingeborg. Prostitution Policy and Law: What are the Option? Nordic Model Now! July 4, 2017 pg.7
Prostitution is fueled by pornography, both involving the purchase of another’s body for sexual gratification. Child sexual abuse and pornography are the pathways to prostitution, contributing to normalizing violence towards women. For many victims of early childhood abuse, abuse becomes the norm to be expected. Prostitution or lack of options is another pathway into prostitution.
One buyer said, “I am a sadist I enjoy inflicting pain. I enjoy punishing my subs (submissive women)”[10]
[10] Malarek, pg. 216
Prostitution is racism. “Aboriginal people make up just 4% of the population but a study in 2014 found they account for about ½ of the victims of trafficking – Public Safety Canada calls them the country’s ‘most vulnerable to exploitation.’ ‘Human trafficking is costing aboriginal people their lives’, says Rose Henry, a first Nations Educator in Victoria.”[11]
“Courtney, an advocate for women abused in prostitution, based in Vancouver, Canada, says: ‘The sex trade is built on racism and colonization as well as misogyny. For Native women and African American women, and all women and girls of colour, it is yet another way in which the white man takes what he wants from our communities, our cultures and our souls.’”[12]
[11] The Trafficked: Sexual Exploitation is Costing Canadian Women Their Lives. May 19, 2017. Globe and Mail.
[12] Bindel, Julie. The Pimping of Prostitution. Palgrave Macmillan: United Kingdom, 2017 pg. 103.
Prostitution is not work, rather a response to men’s sexual appetite, on his terms. The age of entry is 14 years. 80% were in the trade well before they turned 18. [13] this could be called labour exploitation
“During the months that I spent in the strip club, I was pressured to sleep with managers, who threatened to make my life a living hell if I didn’t—though I couldn’t imaging it getting any worse than it already was. The same went for patrons, mostly older, drooling men who wanted to handle me in the most lecherous way. I wasn’t just dancing for them; I was expected to service them. You may be thinking that I was foolish to even consider trying the avenue of stripping. I wasn’t foolish; I was vulnerable, naïve and a perfect target.”[14]
“At the time I was working I probably would have said that I saw prostitution as my ‘informed choice’. I was not aware of the slow, insidious accumulative effects it was having on me.” Rebecca[15]
[13] Malerak, pg. 284
[14] Cassandra, Diamond. How I was Recruited into Sex Trafficking. Oct. 18, 2019
[15] Nordicmodelnow.org
Legalizing or fully decriminalizing of prostitution leads to increase in sex trafficking of women and children. Women are lured in from other poor countries because they are desperate for money. There are not enough local women to supply the demand. With legalization, the state becomes the pimp; thus, a gift to buyers and governments.
“I was a prostitute for 15 years and I have never met a sex worker. The name stems…from the people who support and benefit from the commodification of women. I know prostituted women – I have even been one.” Trisha Baptie, Canadian Journalist and Survivor.[16]
[16] Raymond, Janice. Not a Choice, Not a Job, Exposing the Myths about Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade. Potomac Books, Virginia,2013. Pg.7
Prostitution is organized sexual exploitation related to other crimes such as sex tourism, pornography, assault, robbery, trafficking, murder, money laundering, rape, gang activity etc.
“As Chelsea, a young woman I met in Auckland, who was prostituted in the decriminalized brothels of New Zealand, tells me: ‘If you work on the streets, your pimps are gangs. If you work in a brothel, your pimps are businessmen. What happens is that we’re treated like employees when it suits them so when he tells us when we can work and what we have to do when it suits them. We’re treated like as independent contractors when it comes to tax. So, we occupy this nowhere land and that means we have no rights, no protection and there’s nothing we can do about it.”[17]
[17] Bindel, pg 98