It is called the oldest profession in the world, and employs approximately one to two million people in the United States alone. Prostitution is defined as the practice or occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. This payment could be money, drugs, and in some cases mercy. The lifestyle of a prostitute can be extremely dangerous and damaging, consisting of being raped, robbed, beaten, threatened, materialized, pimped, and the list goes on. Add to the situation a sexually transmitted disease, drug addiction, and unplanned pregnancy for a mixture of devastation and total depravity. Countless men, women, and children are forced into prostitution through sex slavery, but others choose this life on their own. What would cause someone to pursue this kind of lifestyle? Women deliberately enter the streets of prostitution due to childhood sexual abuse, out of economic necessity, and in order to sustain a previous drug addiction.
Negative childhood experiences can leave a damaging, lasting impact on a person with long term repercussions. According to the psychoanalytic perspective on abnormality from Feldman (2013), childhood conflicts that are unresolved in the unconsciousness result in abnormal behavior in adulthood. Experiencing sexual abuse as a child certainly does not always cause an adult to participate in the prostitution lifestyle, but has been identified as a mutual link amongst street workers. According to Murphy (2010), childhood sexual abuse was a common factor found in the women engaged in prostitution who participated in his study. It seems as though women who experienced this kind of sexual abuse as an adolescent may associate sexual relations with a part of their identity. One theory from Wilso...
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References
Feldman, R. S. (2013). Psychology and your life (2nd ed.). New York, NY: McGraw/Hill.
Murphy, L. (2010). Understanding the social and economic contexts surrounding women engaged in street-level prostitution. Issues In Mental Health Nursing, 31(12), 775-784. doi:10.3109/01612840.2010.524345
Wilson, H., & Widom, C. (2009). A prospective examination of the path from child abuse and neglect to illicit drug use in middle adulthood: The potential mediating role of four risk factors. Journal Of Youth & Adolescence, 38(3), 340-354. doi:10.1007/s10964-008-9331-6
Wilson, H. W., & Widom, C. (2010). The role of youth problem behaviors in the path from child abuse and neglect to prostitution: A prospective examination. Journal Of Research On Adolescence (Wiley-Blackwell), 20(1), 210-236. doi:10.1111/j.1532-7795.2009.00624.x
Weitzer, Ronald. "Prostitution: Facts and Fiction." Gwu.edu. George Washington University, 2007. Web. 08 Apr. 2014.
Murphy, L. S. (2010). Understanding the Social and Economic Contexts Surrounding Women Engaged In Street-Level Prostitution. Issues in Mental Health Nursing, 31(12), 775-784.
Prostitution has been as issue in many societies around the world for almost all of recorded history. There has been evidence of brothels and prostitution dating far back into human history. Many different societies have different views, ideals, and reservation about the matter. Some cultures around the world view it as a necessary evil for people who need to support themselves and their families. Others view it as morally evil and socially destructive; helping to rot our society from the inside out. Even still there are cultures who don’t view it as evil at all and even a normal part of life. A person’s view on the act is formed largely based on the culture they are living in. Even sub cultures inside of larger one can have different view on the matter, such as religious groups that denounce it, to some groups in the same culture that say it is okay. Even the gauge of how industrialized a country can determine how that culture views prostitution, with many third world countries being more lenient on the matter, and many first world countries being much more strict on the matter, such as the some of the countries in Europe and also the United States.
...p. In today’s society, the debatable conflict of prostitution definitely affects individuals in a negative way; however, there are positive aspects to such an issue as well.
Current risks of being a prostitute include, but are not limited to, poor working environments, human trafficking, unknown or unwilling exposure to sexually transmitted diseases, rape, and being murdered. According to a study conducted in 1990, “about 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a rape and that prostituted women are raped, on the average, eight to ten times per year” (Hunter and Reed, 1990). In a research article titled “Posttraumatic Stress Disorder Among Female Street-Based Sex Workers in the Greater Syndey Area, Australia,” the authers noted how “one study reported that 68% of female sex workers interviewed met criteria for lifetime diagnosis of PTSD,” along with “physical assault (30%)” also being prevalent among this group of women (Roxburgh, Degenhardt, & Copeland,
Barry, Kathleen. "Prostitution". Boston: Houghton Mifflin, (1998). General OneFile. Miami Dade College. Web. 2 Apr. 2014.
Prostitution, as stated by Flemming, is known as a form of sexual activity, a kind of sexual style or category, and a form of economic activity, a way of making a living through the provisions of certain services, by behaving in accordance with, or falling into such a category (39). This definition, though, is controversial. While conducting research for this project, we found that most topics regarding prostitution and its affiliates were controversial. Each author gave a differing interpretation for the same data. Due to this, our project centered on the female prostitutes, even though there is evidence of male prostitutes.
Sanders, Teela, Maggie O’Neil, and Jane Pitcher. Prostitution: Sex Work, Policy, and Politics. London: SAGE, 2009. eBook Collection. Web. 17 Oct. 2015.
According to the Sex Workers Project, “Sex work is a term used to refer to all aspects of the lawful and unlawful sex industry” (Sex Workers Project at the Urban Justice Center, 2005). This includes the lived experiences of anyone engaging in sexual transactions. However, before engaging in discussion about this topic, it is important to understand the very distinct differences between sex work and human trafficking within the context of sex industry. This industry is extremely diverse and might include porn actors, street sex workers, dancers, escorts, indoor sex workers, or people who have been trafficked or enslaved. Human trafficking refers to anyone who is being traded, sold, coerced, or forced to engage in sex for money, drugs, or something else. Usually, the victim is not being compensated, but someone else is benefiting from these transactions. Conversely, sex workers are people who are choosing to engage in the sex industry for various reasons. Some of these might include economics, addiction, or even personal empowerment. For the purposes of our discussion, we will mainly be discussing street and indoor sex work.
When you compare prostitution to drug use many would argue drug use causes more damage to society then prostitution. No doubt drugs are damaging to our society yet prostitution is often associated with organized crime. These criminal organizations control the women involved providing them with drugs to use and or sell. Prostitutes will often choose to use drug to make the pain of guilt, shame or abuse existing in their life. An article written by L. Murphy (2010), revealed through research and taking the time to interviewing twelve women involved in prostitution that, “Ten of the twelve women currently used drugs, with heroin being the drug of choice. Length of drug use largely correlated with incidence of prostitution”. It becomes a vicious circle which often has a tragic ending. It goes without saying, there are health concerns associated with drug use. A prostitute who uses drugs has a higher probably to wide spread disease as she has intercourse with “John’s” causing a bigger threat or damage to society.
In conclusion, Prostitution is said to be the world’s oldest professions. Prostitution has evolved throughout the years and it has caused much controversy cross-culturally and historically and which has many individuals reexamining the logistics of it. It has affected our society in many ways for it could be looked at as a harmful threat of just as a way to get by and pay the bills.
In certain areas and among certain people, prostitution may be illegal and unacceptable because it violates morals and standards of a conservative and traditional society. Furthermore, prostitution affects the criminal justice system by the expenditure of allocating resources to fight prostitution on the streets. Research is mostly done on street walkers which are at the bottom of the hierarchical level of prostitution.
Prostitution is one of the oldest trades in the world. This is about studies showing that exchange of sex for money and favor begun as early as the ancient period. There are approximately 2,000,000 prostitutes operating in the red-lights of US (Loue, S., & Sajatovic, 2012). These are made up of elderly and young girls who trail into the sex clubs and brothels in red light districts. It is also reported that the number of women working as commercial sex workers who have not identified themselves as such or registered with sex workers unions is more than those who have registered. This then brings the primary question of who a prostitute is. Janssen (2010), a Netherlands’ scholar argues that a prostitute is anyone (woman) who offer sex for pay
Prostitution is considered to be the world’s oldest profession, yet has always been taboo. Prostitution according to Webster Merriam means the practice of an occupation of engaging in sexual activity with someone for payment. Prostitution has always been an edgy subject in the USA and also around the globe. People have different opinions and stands on legalizing prostitution. It is morally wrong for some people and some fear the judgment of society and avoid any kind of sexual activities. People get slut-shamed and are looked down upon if they practice prostitution. However, some might argue against legalization of prostitution because of personal hygiene and concerns about the health of the person. If one chooses to go to a brothel, they should
Kramer, Lisa. “The Causes of Prostitution: An Overview”. Sociological Enquiry. Vol.73. (2003) pp. 511-28. Web. 27 November 2011.