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Demand, pornography & prostitution
STOPPING DEMAND:
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Prostitution Prostitution and sex trafficking– abuse of power. Sigma Huda, the UN Special Rapporteur on Trafficking, in her 2006 report, strongly links prostitution and trafficking saying: “For the most part, prostitution as actually practised in the world does satisfy the elements of trafficking.” Almost always the person exploited in this way experiences an abuse of power or an abuse of vulnerability. Hallmarks of prostitution: Prostitution is characterized by threats, use of force and other forms of coercion, deception, the giving and receiving of payments or benefits to achieve the consent of the person being exploited by the one having control over the other. Societal Myths Researchers in Peru identified some of the causes of child prostitution as the breakdown of the family, the prevalence of violence in the culture, and poverty, but they also stressed the important role played by demand: “The underlying problem is not the lack of jobs, but the increasing demand by clients who seek this ‘service.’
Pornography Because there is no one accepted definition of pornography and it is difficult to identify clearly, it is complicated to enact laws against it. In some countries, those profiting from the industry argue that censoring pornography infringes on the constitutional right to freedom of speech. Pornography is one way of trafficking women and children for sex. So the industry creates the demand for women and children since real women and children are needed for the filming of sexual abuse. The pornographers then traffic these same people again by selling the materials. Pornography also creates the demand for prostitution, another form of trafficking, through consumption. Consuming pornography is buying sex. In viewing it, the buyer has an experience of using a woman, girl or boy as a purchased object and is stimulated to act out on other real women, girls and boys the specific acts that are sexualised and consumed in the pornography. Researchers have shown that viewing child pornography actually increases the demand for exploiting children in prostitution. Men who exploit women and children sexually tell their victims about pornographic films they have seen: “I’ve seen it all in the movies. You know you love it.” ‘Culturally acceptable’ – gender inequalities Today pornography has become more culturally acceptable in many Western countries at the same time that it has become more violent and degrading toward women.1 International researchers have shown that pornography, facilitated in large measure by Internet technology, contributes to sex trafficking,2 and in the United States, researchers have found that men who try to buy sex acts are twice as likely to have viewed pornography.3Can we eliminate the demand for trafficking without addressing this trend? |