Prostitution = Slavery
Did anyone else see Diane Sawyer’s 2 hour expose on Prostitution?
I have to say prior to seeing her piece,, I would have given a pat, academic response about how women should have a right to sell sex if it’s their choice.
Then I saw in full color what the reality for these women really is. Diane Sawyer, other reporters like Elizabeth Joseph, spent two years researching and taking a very in-depth look at the reality of prostitution in America.
My mind keeps going back to it over and over, examining my old academic argument and finding flaws in my perception.
This ABCNEWS link, does feature a few videos from the special.
After watching the special it is clear these women have no more freedom than a black slave of generations past.
In fact if a woman goes into a room and has sex with a man because her pimp will beat her if she doesn’t and the pimp gets all the money and she’s not allowed to leave - how is this not slavery? Pimps are very rarely prosecuted.
From the ABCNEWS report, “Kristof explains that for law enforcement, the difficulty in prosecuting pimps begins with the victim’s reluctance to help. “You would have to show force, fraud and coercion, and the argument is that if the pimp is essentially a financial manager to a young woman, then that is not so serious a crime, while if he’s forcing the girl to sell herself, that is. The problem is that to prove force, fraud and coercion, you pretty much have to get this young woman to testify against her pimp. That means her life will be in jeopardy, [the lives] of her family will be in jeopardy, and also there really is often an emotional bond in a very weird way between her and that pimp.”
Who are these prostitutes? Homeless women, who had no where to go and no food to eat and find their only commodity is sex. Divorced women who were left with little way to support themselves and their kids. Ex-military servicewomen who had a hard time finding a job after being discharged for a disability. Foster kids who aged out of the system and find themselves alone and homeless. Drug addicts the pimp keeps high because he knows she’ll do anything to get her fix. Many, many prostitutes are still children.
Over and over the prostitutes all said they didn’t want to do it but felt they had no way out.
Over and over and over they spoke about how “I got robbed at gunpoint, beat in the head with a gun [and] I’ve been stabbed — [I needed] 127 stitches,” also from the ABCNEWS online article.
It seems the prostitutes are regularly murdered, beaten, kidnapped and tortured - so regularly it alarmed me there was such a high number of men who get off on such behavior walking around the planet - and they can’t go to the police for protection.
These are disposable women.
The current system it seems is set up so that johns, men who pay for sex, pay a fine, some take Johns School and the charges are dropped.
The prostitute spends 180 days in jail and charges stay on her record forever.
Pimps are rarely prosecuted at all. Law enforcement says it’s too difficult to prove the coercion and force and it’s a Catch 22 because testifying against them will get a working girl murdered.
Johns they interviewed said it wasn’t really about being horny. I have to wonder just how much of it is the violence? Which part is really turning these guys on? The beating, knifing, degrading, hurting of women? That’s my suspicion. The more sexualized violence I see on TV, not to mention the recent turn toward violence in the porn industry, the more afraid I’ve become about our society’s appetite - not for the sex, but for the violence.
Violence shouldn’t give anyone a hard on, and it’s profoundly disturbing to realize it’s increasingly becoming an aphrodisiac. Now we’ve created this sub-class of disposable women, where deviants can act out their violent fantasies without consequences.
At the end of the program, experts said countries that have completely legalized prostitution have a very serious sex slavery problem. Parents even have been known to literally, not figuratively, sell their daughters into the sex slave industry. Obviously, I am against any and all forms of human slavery.
However, some of the experts did say there is a potential solution in legalizing the sale of sex and criminalizing the purchasing of it.
This, they say, allows our currently disposable woman to seek protection should she be raped, beaten or attacked.
In this scenario, I wonder, what are the consequences for the slave owner pimp?
Here are a list of resources for helping women escape prostitution.
Tags: abc-news, diane sawyer, empowering women, legalization of prostitution, persecution of women, prostitution, sex and violence connection, sex positive feminism, slavery, violence in pornographyRelated Stories
POSTED IN: Fabulous Coffee Break
21 opinions for Prostitution = Slavery
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 6:29 am
Tracee - I’m so glad you posted on this. We watched that entire special and it has literally haunted me. I’ve prayed for these poor women by name. Their lives are horrible nightmares and like you said - they all have a story. They were all someone’s baby, toddler, little girl at one point in life.. What if this were my child, sister, friend?
It’s is really sick to me that most of the time nothing happens to Johns..or pimps. And it’s very telling as to where our law enforcement’s priorities lie. I have to wonder just how much effort is being put into stopping this problem? And is most of that effort aimed at ‘cleaning up the streets’ in hopes of just getting the eyesore to go away rather than actually addressing and solving the problem. These women are disposable. Sadly even in the eyes of law enforcement. I had no idea that personal safety will only be protected by law enforcement for the morally righteous of society.. Why should anyone be stabbed without the stabber being hunted down and put in jail? Don’t they realize that’s the same guy that’s riding the subways? Taking cabs? Working in an office somewhere? Dating their sister, cousin, mother?..
I also noticed that nearly all of these women were either a slave to their pimps or a slave to their drug dealers..
Tracee
Apr 3, 2008 at 7:29 am
It has haunted me as well. 100,000 disposable women we’ve decided are not worth protecting -because they have sex.
I too wondered - at what point do we stop caring about our daughters, mothers, sisters and neighbors and just pretend they get what they deserve?
I realized claiming “it’s their choice” is really an easy way to make what amounts to human slavery “not my problem.”
And I also realized this bit about “it’s their choice” is really conveniently exactly what pimps and pornographers, in other words slave owners, would like me to believe about it.
To expand on the slavery issue - Lots of black slaves stayed when freed and lots of them loved their masters. But, it’s still wrong.
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 7:41 am
That’s a good point.
And if the girls are ‘getting what they deserve’, what do the Johns deserve? If it’s about action and consequence should the Johns get to go home to their wife, family, respected job and live a nice, safe, seemingly moral life? Does secrecy equal morality? Apparently for men.
I am also very bothered by the materialism factor. By teaching our teenage (or younger) girls that self worth and respect depends on nice clothing, jewelry, cars, etc..aren’t we in a sense grooming them to be suseptible to a pimp’s seduction? Many of the girls said that they were perfectly content to let him handle everything because he made sure they had fancy clothes, jewelry, cars etc..
crystal
Apr 3, 2008 at 7:52 am
I watched it too and was so sad that this is going on in our country. They should definitely prosecute the men who exploit. It seems to have worked in other countries.
Violet
Apr 3, 2008 at 7:56 am
I’ll never forget when I was 19, a friend and I took a trip to California where being stupid and young, we lost all our money. She had a Sears card, so we went there to see if we could somehow get cash from the card to pay for gas to make it home. They said no, but a man overheard us and offered to help us make some quick cash.
I said, “What do we have to do?” He said, “Nothing hard, just go on a few dates with friends of mine.” Obviously, he was talking about prostitution. We said no thanks, but he followed us out of the store trying to talk us into it, telling us how easy it would be, then turning into a total asshole when we didn’t go along with him.
We borrowed money from family to get home, but you know that is just how it started for many young women who don’t have any options. This pimp was not at the bar or the street corner - he was in a damn Sears store. He looked normal. He told us it was just “dates.” He told us we would make a lot of money. He told us we wouldn’t have to do anything we didn’t want to. I can see how young, desperate women fall for this.
We need to stop prosecuting women for this and instead start helping them.
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 7:59 am
Technically, if a man goes to a prostitute and then sleeps with his wife - isn’t that the kind of irresponsibility that can be prosecuted? Isn’t he endangering her health? I think there should be some kind of laws established that allow the wife of a John to prosecute his ass if he sleeps with a prostitute and then comes back and shares her bed without disclosing it. I also think any John caught should have to wear one of those body signs - you know like the ones they make you wear if you steal from Wal-Mart? Or maybe they reserve a whole page of the local paper for johns’ mug shots. There ARE ways to put the squeeze on this industry besides lock up the girls for a couple of months. And I mean, would it be so hard to send these girls to rehabs? Somewhere to get emotional and mental help? Job training? Wouldn’t that be more cost efficient than locking them up or financing stings that only punish the women?
Tracee
Apr 3, 2008 at 8:05 am
When I was younger and say waiting for a bus for work I would get approached by men all the time asking if I needed a ride. Or I’d be walking down the street minding my own business and some guy would pull over and ask if I needed a ride. You know, in college and high school.
Uh No.
Now I wonder how many of them were pimps who wanted to put me to work and how many were johns who thought I was a hooker?
It’s infuriating to think about now.
And sometimes I took the ride because I needed a ride and thought they were being nice. Nice?
My mentee was telling me the other day about a 30-something man had offered she and her friend a ride when they were walking and taken her to a gas station and bought them everything they wanted. Was that guy a pimp trying to get her to be a 13 year old prostitute?
Is this the new normal?
Tracee
Apr 3, 2008 at 8:08 am
I can’t believe this is the first time it’s occurred to me that I’ve likely been approached by a pimp. It’s mind boggling. I thought I was so sophisticated as a young woman, now I think I was so naive and foolish.
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 8:12 am
Somehow we have to teach our girls how to know if they’re being ‘groomed’…I don’t know how to do that - where would you start? The very nature of grooming is trickery. But I think ya’ll are right - I don’t believe ANY of these prostitutes grow up thinking “I’m gonna be a hooker”.. I think it’s something that evolves.. And I have to wonder where are friends and family members when it’s evolving..?
Tracee
Apr 3, 2008 at 11:42 am
Good point Ashley, which brings me back to the Disney Princesses.
Ariel, for instance, gives up her voice and leaves her family for a man she doesn’t know.
Belle, falls in love with her captor and feels she can change him with love.
Maybe WE’VE already pre-groomed them for the pimp.
Gee I wonder where prostitutes start out with a romantic notion about what they were doing for the pimp who started out as her “boyfriend.” Give up everything for a man = love. In a lot of ways we’re teaching them that.
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 11:57 am
I agree with you on the emotional side of it - but what about the materialistic attitude they’re soaking up all around us. We adults know the difference between the entreprenuers, vocal artists, and actors we see in the media and the women who got to be rich and famous by lowering and exploiting themselves.. But do our kids? Do you think little girls know the difference between The Girls Next Door and Hannah Montana? I don’t really think they do - I’m afraid the main message going over the load speaker is: do whatever you can, whatever you have to do to have fancy things and be beautiful..
As long as you have these THINGS or your LOOKS, anything you’ve done is worth it. That’s why these creeps think they can buy little girls’ innocense
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 11:58 am
wow - ….little girls’ innocence.
Tracee
Apr 3, 2008 at 12:06 pm
No way do I think they know the difference. We’re supposed to be doing a better job.
And I can’t understand why Girls Next Door is allowed to be “unrated” in the TV rating system. I have codes on my TV to protect my kid’s innocence and find I don’t need to use them on the E Channel and I can’t figure out why.
I saw the girls next door at an event and a MOTHER had her 3 little girls with her and they were saying, “My favorite is Holly, her favorite is Kendra and the other sister’s favorite is. . .” I thought - why would anyone let a 10 year old watch this? What about that 10 year old’s innocence?
Ashley
Apr 3, 2008 at 12:32 pm
That’s why I think it’s really pro-active that you’re so closely monitoring what your daughter watches/reads - I mean, to some, the anti-disney princess approach might be a little extreme - but if more parents would pay more attention period, our children would be much better off.
Tracee
Apr 3, 2008 at 12:52 pm
I can see why so many parents think stuff on TV is innocuous.
We used to be able to rely on producers and the government to monitor things and not allow inappropriate trash on shows our kids will see.
This has changed.
Disney does seem extreme - I used to allow it - until all she wanted to play was “prince save me” and I thought, “NO. Wrong Message. Stop.”
Once, twice watching a movie will likely do no harm.
It’s the over and over and over that I think have brain washed our girls into believing giving up everything for love is romantic.
The real message should be that you don’t have to give up self/voice/body/sex/family/career/interests/friends for love and if he asks you to you should run - because that’s control not love.
Loralee
Apr 3, 2008 at 8:46 pm
I was intrigued by that special and was curious about Sweden’s law about the fact that selling sex was legal and buying it was not and that “Exit Counseling” was provided to sex workers.
It made a LOT more sense than the system we have in place. It’s not perfect by any sense of the word. I wonder how effective it is…
jen
Apr 3, 2008 at 9:12 pm
That special was so haunting, and sad. I watched it twice :(
I was shocked at how long the sentence was for pandering if the woman was homeless vs. not. And also how there is very little punishment for the male involved.
How heartbreaking was it to see such despairation and worthlessness? It was not surprising to know how most of these women were abused before they ever turned to prostitution. When you take away all of someones hope and self worth there isn’t much left right? It made me wince when the councilor said that incest was “boot camp for prostitution.” They need rehabilitation, but like you said…to most of America they are just disposable.
Tracee
Apr 4, 2008 at 6:08 am
Loralee - I agree that does seem the best solution.
As regards to “fairness:” turn about is fair play.
As it stands, our current laws allow those men to act out their violent impulses without consequences.
Which scares the shit out of me! As Ashley said, that’s the guy on the subway, who lives down the street, who I invited to dinner with his wife from my Sunday school class. He gets a taste of violence and that puts all women and children in jeopardy.
It does seem, in that scenario that pimps - slave owners - will get away scot free because they aren’t buying it they’re selling it.
Ashley
Apr 4, 2008 at 6:25 am
Okay - as for the pimps. (sentence I don’t use often)
It seems like prosecuting them brings about the difficulties that prosecuting a mob boss does. But hasn’t our justice system found many innovative ways to bring them down? Is there really no way to bring down these violent, sicko, slave traders?
I believe there is a way to bring them down, our justice system just isn’t making it a priority. The only real victims in their type of crime are the WOMEN prostitutes and the WOMEN who are married to or who are dating the johns.. therefore - traffic violations and busting teenagers smoking pot are higher on the priority list..
Ashley
Apr 4, 2008 at 6:28 am
In the scenario mentioned above I agree that the pimps would still face little prosecution, but at least their business would fall drastically - maybe even to the point that the majority of them would actually have to get a job..or resort to stealing purses from old ladies - that’s a prosecutable offense right?
Tracee
Apr 4, 2008 at 7:49 am
I totally agree with your assessment of the priorities of law enforcement and the judiciary Ashley.
As a culture I think we hate when women have sex. Period. Even if she’s forced.
A rapist gets less time than someone who vandalizes a car.
Child molesters are told to take a class about why it’s wrong and then allowed to live next door to our kids.
This is another case in point about why it’s crucial for women to participate in law enforcement and the judiciary.
I think many of the male judges and prosecutors think, “Who doesn’t want to have sex with a young girl? She is hot, why wouldn’t he want to? Who can blame him? She probably meant yes. What color were her panties? She probably wanted it. She shouldn’t have been standing on the street in a mini-skirt. She got what he deserved.”
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