Prostitution: Causes, Impacts, and Solutions

This article explores the causes, impacts, and possible solutions to the problem of prostitution. It discusses the connection between prostitution, violence, drug use, and mental health issues. It also highlights the importance of education and empowerment programs in addressing this widespread problem.

Running Head: PROSTITUTION
Prostitution
Name
Institution

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Prostitution
Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................3
Current Problem...............................................................................................................................3
Literature Review............................................................................................................................5
Solutions..........................................................................................................................................9
Education.....................................................................................................................................9
Participation and Empowerment..................................................................................................9
Enabling Environment...............................................................................................................10
Gap in Literature............................................................................................................................10
Implications...................................................................................................................................11
Conclusions....................................................................................................................................11
References......................................................................................................................................12

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Introduction
Prostitution is a widespread problem both in the United States (US) and the world that
has greatly affected women and girls. Street-based sex workers are entrenched in a multifaceted
mesh of social problems. This makes sex workers to be soft target for health and social services.
Many sex workers are homeless and abuse drugs that expose them to many risks. A considerable
number of sex workers have histories of sexual and physical abuse, growing their vulnerability to
emotional, as well as mental problems. Studies documenting the connection between HIV/AIDS
and sexually transmitted infections, drug abuse, and prostitution are many (Argento et al., 2014).
Sex workers usually face discrimination and stigma in their everyday life because of their nature
of lifestyle and “job”. The deprived wellbeing of sex workers, as well as dangers they face carry
on to be a basis of global concern. Prostitution is often associated with problematic drug use and
violence that has continued to affect their lives (Deering, Kerr & Tyndall, 2011). The paper will
examine the literature on position and its impacts on sex workers and possible solutions to the
problem.
Key words: Prostitution, sex workers, violence, victimization and drug use.
Current Problem
Prostitution act is a type of sexual activity with the exchange mostly money but
sometimes other rewards. Prostitutes can be a female or male or transgender or someone who
identify themselves as heterosexual or homosexual. Culturally, prostitution has its perceptions
among different societies (Gorry, Roen & Reilly, 2010). In some cases, societies can be viewed

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as a profession, other families shunned, punished with stoning, incarceration and lead to demise.
The other few communities have cruelty towards clients leading to the legal repercussions.
Hence, in certain cultures, prostitution is deemed acceptable and young girls going through
puberty or as a way of getting a dowry, plus some religions have obligated prostitution of a
definite class of priestesses. Thus, drug delinquency is more widespread among prostitutes in
society. Drug dependency includes behavioral effects; withdrawal symptoms can increase the
risk-taking while working (Jeal, Macleod, Salisbury & Turner, 2017). The most recurrent drugs
of abuse for prostitutes are heroin in addition to crack cocaine which is linked to the poorest
consequences from treatment. Women who get involved in sex work at younger ages tend to
infuse drugs for many years than on-sex-working female service users.
Prostitution is a worldwide, controversial matter that has been around for many years.
Prostitution has long been called the world’s most ancient profession. The pathway to
prostitution is often hard to understand and yet also disturbing. Research shows much of it is
voluntary and much of it is involuntary. But what is clear whatever the pathway, it is a painful
revelation. Prostitution is never good but bad and it brings its share of problems. Prostitution is
seen by many people to have a negative impact on modern society. Prostitution should not be
legalized because it has many risk factors and creates many problems, for example, HIV, forcing
women into illegal prostitution, abuse, and crime. Drug-dependent sex workers classically work
on the street facing the highest risks to wellbeing. The drug dependency underpins much of the
morbidity this group encounters. The behavioral impacts of drug abuse or withdrawal signs can
lower their capacity to bargain condom use or secure working setting and augment risk-taking
whilst on their duties.

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Literature Review
The hypothesis of the paper is that prostitution is associated with many health problems,
violence and drugs and should not be legalized because of these negative effects. Prostitution is
described as a practice or act of engaging in sexual activities for money or its equivalent.
According to Conner (2015), prostitution is seen as a deed of business or practice of engaging in
sexual relationships in exchange for money or financial reward. The criminalization of sex
workers, mainly women and girls in the streets in the US strengthens an age-old custom of
blaming sex workers of prostitution for their misuse. In this background, criminalization may
continue an idea of prostitution as a victimless offense, committed by immoral and sexual
deviants. Thus, this premise is driven by many cultural traditions that glorify pimping whilst
denigrating plus inspiring aggression against women and girls with “whore” language in the
midstream music, TV, books plus idiomatic communications. In a criminalization regime, a
tradition of censure is so powerful that even kids are liable for their misuse in prostitution. For
instance, in Los Angeles County, of the 35,402 women detained for solicitation amid 2003 and
2012, around 1,400 were kids as young as 9 years. This shows how the problem of prostitution is
widespread and not only affects adult women, but also young girls. Law enforcement officers
have been blamed for perpetrating violence against sex workers in the US (Corner, 2015).
According to Litchfield, Maronge & Rigg (2010), drug dependency has been linked to
the increased problem among the sex workers. Drug dependency reinforces the participation of
sex workers in prostitution. The behavioral effects of drug use can lower the capacity of the sex
worker to negotiate the use of condom during sex or safe working site and increase risk-taking
whilst working. Thus, the probability of ceasing sex work is inversely connected to injecting

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drug use in addition to utilization of drug services and participation in sex work often operate a
relapsing plus remitting course (Cummings, Gallop & Greenfield, 2010). The widespread drugs
used by prostitutes are heroin along with crack cocaine that is linked to poorest outcomes from
management. Contrasted to other problematic drug uses street sex workers’ drug use is more
productive, they are less victorious in attaining self-restraint plus have a greater drug-related
death rate. Females involved in prostitution tend to have initiated the challenge of drug use at
tender ages, as well as inject drugs for many years as compared with non-sex workers
(Litchfield, Maronge & Rigg, 2010).
In a 2004 study, 222 females in prostitution disclosed that the officers contribute to
abuse because they are frequently the perpetrators of aggression against sex workers in the
streets. Kroman (2015) established in their research that 24% of females in prostitution in
Chicago who had been raped recognized a law enforcement official as the executor. In similar
research, 30% of the exotic dancers who recorded being raped too recognized the executor as a
law enforcement officer. Sarah (2014) exposed police officer in Hawaii for the mistreatment of
prostitutes by reporting that a stipulation in Hawaii’s criminal code permitted police officers to
have contact with a prostituted female, both as deeds for which the pimp is paid by other males
and to keep the females in the right place. Hence, in criminalization regimes, violence against
women in all groups of sex workers goes past the police delinquency. It is a widespread practice
for sex workers to be deprived of money, sleep, as well as food, beaten, tormented, raped plus
threatened with their lives (Sarah, 2014).
Love (2015) claims that violence towards sex workers working in a criminalization
policy (for example in America) is a continuing and substantially huge challenge, which is linked

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to prostitution. The sex workers are taught through incident that aggression (is an everyday
experience as part of their “job” or lifestyle. Many studies have demonstrated that aggression
against sex workers women is the greatest under a criminalization policy, where the street sex
workers are a greater risk of victimization as compared to indoor sex workers. Sex workers
report being physically battered, sexually beaten (with a weapon), beaten, raped, verbally
assaulted, and threatened. Adding to the challenge of violence, these sex workers are not taken
critically, as the mentally of the general public plus the criminal justice employees is that it is
hard to rape a sex workers. This kind of reasoning consistently promotes the sequence of these
sex workers being mistreated, because they are not able to report themselves as being victims or
get assistance in getting righteous justice (Love, 2015).
In addition, women who are prostituted experience a huge array of mental health
problems that include Post-traumatic Stress Disorder (PSTD), anxiety, as well as depression,
dissociation along with the suicide attempts. Dissociation, a widespread reaction to traumatic
encounters, is too found amongst sex workers and is often in line with depression and anxiety.
Self-harming behaviors and suicidality have too been reported amongst the sex workers that
expose them to mental problems. Also, Stockholm syndrome, touching bonding to an abuser, has
been established amongst females practicing prostitution while certain authors have drawn
parallels among females in domestic violence circumstances and women in prostitution.
Presently, medical check-ups along with health standing examination are not compulsory for sex
workers (Strathdee, Abramovitz & Lozada, 2013). Thus, health matters of prostitution are central
themes in the profession, plus decriminalization plus legalization of the practice in the US.
Proponents of decriminalization claim that prostitutes could face better healthcare access than

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they would usually get. Considering that the stigma of sex workers decline, then it means that
sex workers would be in a position to file a complaint of assault, rape, and abuse because of their
work, as well as be taken sincerely and with self-respect than it is now the case. Sexual health
risks among sexual workers comprise cervical cancer that causes considerable harm. Sex
workers are acknowledged as a high-risk group for all sexually transmitted diseases (STDs),
which comprise HPV, plus HIV. Women and girls involved in sex work can be at a greater risk
of HIV contagion because of their injection drug use plus risky sexual conducts (Morris, Lemus
& Wagner, 2013).
Women in the US experience stigmatization that has become widespread because sex
workers are seen as immoral and do not fit into the norms of society. Prostitution exists in the US
in the background of gender disparity, in which females are second-class persons when
compared to males. This gender inequity leads to a primary challenge linked to prostitution
under criminalization policy in the US. Under the patriarchal social organization (US), there is
an implied agreement amongst males granting them sexual admission to females. Shrage (2009)
considers that men get rights to specific women via formal matrimonial plus casual prostitution
agreements. This means that men have a rank privilege-a right to sexual respite from females-
that they can exercise by declaring their rights as husbands or “johns”. Social disparity by
asserting that sex work varies from other types of work since women are perceived as lesser in
both politics plus social statutes. Many authors believe that women who practice prostitution are
selling their womanhood, leading to selling of themselves. In addition, sex work for females as
being dissimilar from other low-status careers since labor is powerless to be reciprocated
(Schmalleger, 2011).

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Solutions
Education
There is a need to provide education to sex workers to address the current problem of
prostitution in the US. The government and charitable organizations should initiate education
programs that target sex workers, especially in the streets. The educational programs should seek
to change the behavior of the sex workers by educating them on the dangers of prostitution,
including drug dependency, mental health problems, and physical health. The education needs to
educate sex workers on safe ways of having sex, including using a condom and other preventive
measures (Wiechelt & Shdaimah, 2011). This will ensure that the sex workers get the relevant
information that will ensure that they will make informed decisions before rendering their
services to the clients. This will create awareness to the sex workers regarding the dangers of
engaging in risky behaviors that can expose them to diseases and mental health problems. The
program should be designed to promote the holistic nature of their behavior. Furthermore, the
program should offer accurate, easily understood information regarding how HIV and STIs are
transmitted and how the transmission may be prevented (Jeal et al., 2017).
Participation and Empowerment
There is a need to allocate resources that will help to plan and perform specific activities
for sex workers. Resources and coordination are needed for mobilizing the community in
supporting sex workers live a better life. The priority must be for sex workers to identify those
factors that contribute to their vulnerability, as well as marginalization. This will include
capacity building in local NGOs to allow them to offer technical support that helps communities
to identify issues and mobilize change them effectively. Increased access to resources, increased

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collective self-worth plus solidarity is amongst the desired outcomes, which assist to lower risk-
taking behaviors. There is the need to create spaces in which sex workers may meet and discuss
issues and fundamentally communicate with others and collect information (Evans, Li & Pierce,
2013).
Enabling Environment
An enabling setting is where sex workers may live, as well as work in ways, which are
most favorable to protective behaviors that comprise safe sex, as well as accessing STI treatment.
This means that sex workers should be provided to access to condoms, supportive management,
appropriate lighting, sanitation, along with security. More importantly, it too implies that clients
who know they would be anticipated to utilize condoms for penetrative sex and fellow sew
workers who too offer only low-risk services. They should be allowed to access primary health
care and adequate housing. The environment should be created in a manner that will reduce the
impact of violence, like self-defense (Jeal, Macleod & Turner, 2015).
Gap in Literature
The gap in the literature is the lack of agreed definition of sex workers as there is mixed
definitions. Some studies defined sex workers as individuals with as few as three sexual contacts
annually, even where those involved do not identify those sexual transactions as commercial or
even income generating. Another gap is that there is an assumption that each client has
penetrative sex: condom use rates are often interpreted without considering non-penetrative sex
along with other services that sex workers offer (Salfati, James & Ferguson, 2009).

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Implications
The study will be important in informing more research on the need to develop accurate
definitions of sex workers and the challenges they currently. The study will further inform the
future research regarding prostitution and develop current solutions for addressing the current
problems faced by sex workers, including violence. The study will impact policymaking, where
the government and other agencies will develop policies that will promote the interest of sex
workers through policy reform (Mathieson, Branam & Noble, 2016).
Conclusions
Prostitution should not be legalized because of the harmful effects of both sex workers
and their clientele. The challenges that the sex workers experience are devastating and there is
the need to develop effective laws that will outlaw street sex workers because of its negative
impacts. Despite bringing benefits to sex workers in labor perspective; it is clear that the practice
of sex work has more harm than good. In addition, sustained reduction in the use of illicit drug
use is primary to the efficient treatment of the surplus physical, as well as psychological
morbidity and increased mortality encountered by sex workers (Das & Horton, 2015).

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References
Argento, E., Muldoon, K. A., Duff, P., Simo, A., Deering, K. N., & Shannon, K. (2014). High
prevalence and partner correlates of physical and sexual violence by intimate partners
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Conner, H. (2015). If You’re Against Sex Work, You’re a Bigot. The Stranger. Retrieved April
29, 2019 from http://www.thestranger.com/features/feature/2015/06/24/22436683/if-
youreagainst-sex-work-youre-a-bigot.
Cummings, A.M., Gallop, R.J. & Greenfield, S.F. (2010). Self-efficacy and substance use
outcomes for women in single gender versus mixed-gender group treatment. J
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Deering, K.N., Kerr, T & Tyndall, M.(2011). A peer-led mobile outreach program and increased
utilization of detoxification and residential drug treatment among female sex workers
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Evans, E., Li, L. & Pierce, J. (2013). Explaining long-term outcomes among drug dependent
mothers treated in women-only versus mixed-gender programs. J Subst Abuse Treat.
45(2): 293–301.

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Gorry, J., Roen, K. & Reilly, J. (2010). Selling yourself? The psychological impact of street sex
work and factors affecting support seeking. Health Soc Care Community. 18(2):492–9.
Jeal, N., Macleod, J. & Turner, K. (2015). Systematic review of interventions to reduce illicit
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Morris, M.D., Lemus, H. & Wagner K.D. (2013). Factors associated with pathways toward
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in northern Mexico. Addiction. 108(3):161–70.

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Salfati, C. G., James, A. R., & Ferguson, L. (2009). Prostitute homicides: A descriptive study.
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