Indoor Sex Workers Are Isolated and Fear Violence

New York City, March 30, 2005) - The Sex Workers Project (SWP) of the Urban Justice Center (UJC) has released the first-ever in-depth report in the U.S. examining indoor sex work. Behind Closed Doors: An Analysis of Indoor Sex Work in New York City, released today, includes interviews with sex workers who work independently or for brothels, escort agencies, dungeons, and private clubs. The report highlights the extreme violence that sex workers experience from customers, and the dangerous effects of isolation and stigma.

According to the report, 46% of sex workers experienced violence in the course of their work, and 42% had been threatened or beaten for being a sex worker. Additionally, 14% reported violence at the hands of the police, and 16% encountered sexual situations with the police. Sara, a respondent in the report, describes a client "who came in and had a knife ... I was cornered and I was about to be attacked and raped ... I didn't go to the police because it would be coming out about what I've been doing." "Many people are unsympathetic to prostitutes," says Juhu Thukral, Director of the SWP, "however, this level of violence is unacceptable, even if they are engaging in unlawful activity."

Leticia, another respondent, adds, "Just find a way to help us with the police ... we need somebody to protect us when we get beat up. Around here, they don't arrest you, they just mess with you like they own you."

Eight percent of the report's respondents were trafficked into the country for prostitution. The trafficked women told of being threatened, beaten, raped, and having their money withheld by the traffickers. The respondents were ethnically diverse and included women, transgender women, and men. Sex workers interviewed ranged in age from 19 to 54. Forty percent were born outside the U.S. and its territories.

Shockingly, 67% of respondents got involved with sex work because they were unable to find other work which provided a living wage. Previous jobs included waitressing, retail, and domestic work. Immigrants without work permits saw sex work as their best economically viable option. The unlawful nature of most sex work often results in extreme isolation, which serves as a barrier to accessing legal, financial, educational, and other necessary services. Prostitutes explained that they feared arrest and its consequences, and expressed a need for peer support and substantive services.

New York City's quality of life initiatives have always caught prostitutes in their net. However, Thukral stresses that "these police operations result in arrests that destabilize the lives of many sex workers who are members of the working poor, and jeopardize other legal employment." "This activity comes at an extremely high cost to the public, and is a waste of valuable public resources," added Melissa Ditmore, a co-author of the report. "Stringent policing creates an environment of fear and isolation that prevents sex workers from coming forward when they are victims of violence and other crimes."

Thukral aims to have the City do two things: ensure that all violence against sex workers is taken seriously by law enforcement authorities; and offer in-depth and appropriate services that lead to long-term solutions. "There is clearly a need for a fact-based public discussion around the problems of police and violence that include the voices of sex workers themselves in order to effectively and productively address the needs of sex workers and the community's concerns."

The full report can be found at http://www.sexworkersproject.org/ or http://www.urbanjustice.org/.XBIZ.netView My Industry Profile »

Should Prostitution Be Legalized? Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5220073

Should prostitution be legalized? In the USA, prostitution is illegal everywhere except for ten counties in Nevada yet sex is on sale from coast to coast. Street prostitutes have a mortality rate forty times higher than the national average. Many individuals who engage in sex work do not survive the streets.

The mortality rate among street walkers has led some to call for legalization or decriminalization of prostitution in the USA. One of the main reasons is for the safety of the sex worker. If the industry goes down that path as it has in other countries, can the street prostitutes really take better care of themselves and would they have the help they need if something went wrong? In other words, would the regulation of the industry offer the necessary protection to the prostitutes or is it to simply legalize violence against the street-walker?

In Australia the states legalized prostitution in an attempt to curb the violence. In the European countries of Norway, Finland and Sweden it appears that the selling of sex is not illegal but it is the purchase of sex that is criminalized. The logic behind these laws is that these European governments want to stamp out sex tourism, street prostitution and human trafficking in an attempt to protect the most vulnerable.

Sex workers in the third world are often sold into prostitution as children. In countries like the USA, many are driven to it by sexual abuse. Authorities have estimated that up to seventy-five percent of street prostitutes are molested or victims of incest. Once on the street it is very difficult or impossible to escape. A street pimp solicits customers for a 'hoochie' in return for a share of their earnings but it is often the street pimps who inflict the most violence. Those selling sex are younger, more than likely victimized or coerced into the trade to have street pimps, be drug addicted and to have miserable lives.

Drugs are sometimes the only way that street prostitutes came cope with work on the streets. Authorities have also estimated that a whopping eighty percent of street walkers are addicted to crack cocaine, heroin, prescription drugs or alcohol. It is probably the only way that they can cope the fear and anxiety that comes with this line of work. What goes through their mind? Will the next trick turn violent if things do not do go right? What are the chances of being raped, beaten up, having bones broken, cut up, maimed or even murdered? While the high-end sex workers or 'escorts' work in relative safety, low-end prostitutes mainly pick up clients off the streets, sex takes place in a car or a back alley and an attack can come at any time and who knows what disease they may contract.

In the United States supporters of legalization are in the minority. They are up against the puritanical religious groups and it is these people who wield the big stick. Rather, the trend has been for greater criminalization with greater penalties against clients and workers. This means that prostitutes are under attack from the street pimps, clients and the law. No doubt there are those on the street who believe that their fate is sealed and written in stone. They probably have few friends or allies, they face discrimination because of the stigma attached to prostitution and the lure of the street is always there... despite the danger. However there is one organization that offers hope or even a way out.

Cyndee Clay is the Executive Director of 'HIPS' - 'Helping Individual Prostitutes Survive'. HIPS mission is to assist female, male, and trans-gender individuals engaging in sex work in Washington DC to lead healthy lives. The program is based on a harm reduction model, Harm Prevention and Support. Those involved with the program strive to address the impact that HIV/AIDS, sexually transmitted infections, discrimination, poverty, violence and drug use have on the lives of individuals engaging in sex work. By helping sex industry workers recognize the options that they have and the skills that they need, the organization's goal is to support and assist these people in overcoming the barriers to finding adequate employment and leaving the streets altogether.

This is an almighty challenge. Street prostitutes around the world face similar problems. Many are driven to sell sex against their will and they are rejected by society as a result. Organizations such as this one must be supported and those who participate, applauded.

Stephen lives in the south east corner of Queensland Australia. He enjoys fishing, playing music and learning new languages. He has been writing articles for nearly 3 years. You are welcome to visit one of his websites at Portable Buildings For Sale and School Buildings For Sale.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/5220073