The 'prostitution problem' is a demand problem. The sociopath behavior of the johns, not the behavior of the prostituted person, vulnerable and victimized, is the true problem. The affluent, middle aged men, on their way home to the suburbs, driving their luxury automobiles, have all the choices (and control) in the world compared to the hapless young man or woman they "rent" and empty themselves into like some kind of human toilet.
Solve the 'john problem' through proper and just law enforcement, and you save lives and rescue young people from this modern incarnation of slavery. Not so surprisingly, providing real help to these young women (and men) results in the criminal activity actually being diminished. Can any sensible person really believe that a young woman or man wants to be in a hotel room on their knees, 'servicing' an aged dirty, fetid, obese, and disgusting, let alone 10-20 a day or whatever "quota" is set be the pimp or madame. Despite the Hollywood "Pretty Woman" fiction, given a choice, nearly 100% would choose to get out. Our society should actually help the hapless prostitute from being further trafficked and exploited; perhaps save some lives too. Unfortunately, misogynist attitudes such as in Troy, Michigan still pervade many police departments, City Halls and other arenas of so called "public trust."
An interesting article follows which flies in the face of those that argue that we should be more "like Europe" when it comes to prostitution. However, one might wonder if Michigan law enforcement officers in Troy Police Department don't enforce long established Michigan Statutes on the books, why would they be expected to enforce new or revised laws? Instead johns, in a sort of jocular "street justice," police on the scene decide; johns are released scot free, and the prostituted person is arrested and charged. Even more worrisome (and disgusting) is that the City of Troy Administration, Police Chief, and City Attorneys countenance such activities. Simply put, no one in Troy would stand up and admit to a mistake in policy. Meanwhile, no arrest warrant was/is sought against an identified "pimp" renting hotel rooms (actually using "reward" membership cards in renting the rooms) in the Troy City limits. What would make a person think that changing State Laws to punish solicitors could make any difference towards the discharge of their clear and codified duties as peace officers?
Fight prostitution by punishing the solicitors
By HELEEN MEES
Prostitution is virtually the only part of the personal services industry in the Netherlands that works. One can’t get a manicure in Amsterdam without booking an appointment two weeks in advance, but men can buy sex anytime — and at an attractive price. The legalization of prostitution in October 2000 merely codified a long-standing Dutch tradition of tolerance toward buying and selling sex. But is legalization the right approach?
Even in the Netherlands, women and girls who sell their bodies are routinely threatened, beaten, raped, and terrorized by pimps and customers. In a recent criminal trial, two German-Turkish brothers stood accused of forcing more than 100 women to work in Amsterdam’s red-light district (De Wallen). According to the attorney who represented one of the victims, most of these women come from families marred by incest, alcohol abuse and parental suicide. Or they come from countries in Eastern Europe or Southeast Asia and have fallen victim to human trafficking, lured by decent job offers or simply sold by their parents.
These women are Amsterdam’s leading tourist attraction (followed by the coffee shops that sell marijuana). But an estimated 50-90 percent of them are actually sex slaves, raped on a daily basis with police idly standing by. It is incomprehensible that their clients are not prosecuted for rape, but Dutch politicians argue that it cannot be established whether or not a prostitute works voluntarily.
Appalled by their daily routine, police officers from the Amsterdam vice squad have asked to be transferred to other departments. Only this year, the city administration has started to close down some brothels because of their ties to criminal organizations.
According to a study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology, the average age of death of prostitutes is 34. In the United States, the rate at which prostitutes are killed in the workplace is 51 times that of the next most dangerous occupation for women, working in a liquor store. Other studies show that nine out of 10 prostitutes urgently want to escape the job. Almost half have attempted suicide at least once.
In 1999, the Swedish government decriminalized the sale of sex, but made it an offense to pimp or to buy sex. Under Sweden’s so-called Sex Purchase Law, paying for sex is punishable by fines or up to six months in prison, plus the humiliation of public exposure. According to the Swedish authorities, the number of prostitutes in Sweden has dropped 40 percent as a result. Human trafficking rings tend to avoid Sweden, because business has gone sour.
Norway, a country that has a reputation to lose when it comes to women’s rights, carefully compared the Swedish and Dutch models and concluded that Sweden’s was the one to follow. It has now changed its legislation accordingly.
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