The Importance Of Prostitution

Introduction

Although prostitution is illegal in the United States, it is a commonly known criminal activity. Prostitution is not something that is talked about often due to the fact that it is not the norm which makes it a moral issue as well as a legal one. Selling sex for money was not outlawed in the United States until well into the 20th century (with the exception of Nevada). There are large economic markets for things such as pornography and prostitution. Prostitution is a multimillion dollar industry, and it occurs all over the world. Prostitution is mainly a female dominated market. Prostitution is a rough subject to study because it is so stigmatized and has had such a bad reputation for so long. People have varying attitudes on prostitution because many see it as sinful or even abnormal. For centuries, the United States has attempted to suppress sexual deviation. Prostitution, brothels, etc were seen as sinful things that tear a man away from his family. The moral blames (drinking, sex, etc) were placed on criminals in the beginning. Women who are involved in such an industry are stigmatized and especially they are exploited in a variety of different ways. Solov’ev (2014) surveyed attitudes about prostitution using social networks and found that thirty four percent of the respondents had a negative attitude toward prostitution, but indicated that they understood that life can sometimes push someone into the industry. Women in the sex industry are abused and drug association is commonplace among prostitutes. The sex industry breeds violent behavior and victimization of women and men (Dalla, Xia, & Kennedy, 2014).

Prostitution is defined as “one who exchanges sexual favors for money, drugs, or other desirable commo...

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...tution are numerous, and this article sheds light on a few studies. Future academic research on sex workers and the understanding of physical and psychological outcomes could benefit in policy reform. Policing of sex workers is a topic that needs to address. Prostitutes did report forced sex by an officer. Police making arrests of sex workers could have the potential to put them at risk of violence by a pimp. Since typically pimps make their “girls” bring in a certain amount of money either a day or a week, then if a woman gets arrested and is unable to obtain income then she could be at risk of physical assault from her pimp for lack of payment. One important take away fact is that although prostitution is illegal in most parts of the United States, prostitutes are murdered per capita more in the United States than any other country in the world (McClintock, 1993).