Sex Crimes: Prostitution

Introduction

• Laws regarding sex and sex crimes change over time reflecting a society's values.
• Increased emphasis has been placed on encouraging the reporting of rape, achieved by diminishing associated stigmas.
• Women have been disproportionately held accountable for behavior deemed aberrant, especially if it has sexual connotations.
• Feminist perspectives argue that legal and governmental policies often discriminate against poorer women.

Prostitution

• Prostitution reflects cultural values and social tolerance levels, is often dubbed the "oldest profession".
• The 3 Classifications of Prostitution are:
  • Call girls who are considered most successful..
  • House prostitutes who are less prosperous
  • Street workers who are least successful.
• Prostitution services are readily available in the U.S.
• Over 5,000 prostitutes were active during the Civil War.
• Religious/moral crusader campaigns documented prostitution during World War I.
• Prostitution was associated with illegal drinking and gambling during Prohibition.
• Currently, Nevada has restricted areas where prostitution is licensed.

Prostitution Today

• There are marked differences exist between street-level and indoor prostitution.
• Citizens often demand police action against street prostitution.
• Existing laws seem ineffective in reducing prostitution.
• Approximately 2% of women in the U.S. admit to engaging in acts of prostitution as of 2006.
• Prostitution arrest rates have generally declined.
• FBI data indicates fewer arrests related to prostitution.
• Fear of sexually transmitted diseases may contribute to reduced demand for prostitution services.
• Shifts in law enforcement priorities may also account for the decline.
• Prostitutes are disproportionately victimized; 32% of women victims of serial murders were prostitutes as of 2009.

Exiting Prostitution Lifestyle

• Quitting prostitution is a process involving having doubts, exploring alternative roles, reaching a turning point, and developing a new identity as of 2010.
• Difficulties exiting prostitution occur due to:
  • Drug addiction
  • Mental Illness
  • Criminal Records
  • Lack of survival skills
  • Physical Injury
  • Prior sexual abuse

Rape Law Reform

• More sophisticated data on sex offenses would improve analysis
• Available data impacts accurately reflects true nature of rape
• Factors that make victims likely to report rape include:
  • Threats
  • Weapons
  • Not being intimates with the perpetrator
• Factors that make victims not likely to report rape include:
  • Being intoxicated
  • Intimate relationship with the perpetrator

Challenges of Measuring Risk of Rape

• There are few studies funded with appropriate measures for collection and analysis of sexual assault against women.
• Not everyone has the same degree of risk.
• There are time lags and varying legal definitions of sexual assault

The Prevalence of Rape

• Prevalence measures the risk of any victimization of rape
• Calculating rape risk may not be 100% accurate
• Individual's choices may affect their likelihood of victimization.
• Some geographical areas are more disposed to crime.
• Dark figure of Crime indicates it is difficult to gather accurate data

Acquaintance Rape

• 16-24 year olds are raped four times more often than other women as of 2003.
• Ninety percent of college women who were sexually assaulted knew their assailant.
• Less than 5% of college female victims report to police, but about 2/3 tell someone.
• Date rape drugs are covered by the Drug Induced Rape Prevention Act.

Theories about Rape

• Rape usually occurs with the intersection of time and place.
• Potential motivations for rapists:
  • Anger
  • Power
  • Control
  • Typology of victims in terms of age, physical characteristics (eg eye and hair color).
• Myths surrounding rape:
  • Women provoke men to rape by their dress.
  • Women may say no, but they mean yes.
  • Women lie about rape when they regret decisions to have sex as of 2002.

Overcoming the Effects of Rape

• Rape survivors face obstacles to their physical and mental health.
• This includes having lower levels of self-efficacy.
• Rape survivors are often less able to deal with risk situations as of 2001.
• Secondary victimization can occur as of 2005
• Dropping out of school may be a result as of 2003.

Pornography & Sexually Explicit Media

• Pornography is regulated by law.
• Social control and basic rights regarding sexually explicit media are heavily debated.
• Harmful effects on exposure to sexually explicit and pornographic materials remain questionable.
• Research suggests that exposure to sexual violence can lead to more aggressive behavior.
• Images of women in media conveys values that transcend daily social interactions.

Control of Pornography & Sexually Explicit Media

• Magazines were intended for men as of 1985.
• Women were typically portrayed alone being solitary sexual as of 1986.
• Women were displayed subserviently to men.
• Movies contained physical (sexual) aggression and included rape scenes (1988).

Law and Regulation of Pornography

• Definitions of trafficking in child pornography is defined here.
• Jurists often find it difficult to regulate parameters of concepts in cyberspace
• The Child Pornography Prevention Act of 1996:
  • Revised old pornography definitions
  • Included computer generated imagery in the definition of pornography

Human Sex Trafficking

• Sex-slave workers is a classification of sex trafficking victims.
• Texas accounts for more calls to the NHTH (hotline) than any other state.
• Texas was one of the first states to make human trafficking a felony as of 2003.
• Only 1/200 victims of sex slavery is ever identified.
• The Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000:
  • Victims can have difficulty getting T-visas as of 2008

Human Sex Trafficking (Cont.)

• "Baby Prostitutes" is associated with to Trafficked Victims.
• Dorothy Bracey
  • Argues the Myth of victimless crimes
    • Issues of runaways and juvenile prostitutes
    • Young prostitutes are in a dual role of offender and victim
• The term “juvenile prostitution” is now changed to “sexual trafficking in minors".
• About 60% of youth involved in prostitution were viewed as victims by police as of 2010.

Human Sex Trafficking Supply & Demand

• Sex trafficking is a form of sexual exploitation.
• The economic principle of "supply and demand” is what makes prostitution persist as of 2019.
• Social, economic, and cultural problems in society are collectively responsible for sex trafficking.