Ethics in men – a moral appeal is not enough.

Awareness campaigns initiated to help the many starving children in poor countries, or campaigns on how to support the victims of famine or civil wars in the developing countries can indeed have a measurable effect on people.

 

Unfortunately, the awareness campaigns related to the enslavement of a prostitute has little effect on the decision of a man, who is already inclined to purchase a woman or a girl for sex.

 

Put another way, a donation to a famine crisis in the third world is an act of moral kindness that can be influenced by a moral appeal. The purchase of sex is an act of self-indulgence or moral carelessness that a moral appeal is unlikely to influence.

 

The male buyer of sex may well be your brother, your colleague, your father, your sports idol, your craftsman, your teacher, your local politician. In other words, studies show that the buyer of prostitutes is an ordinary man.

And yet - there is something that separates him from the men, who do not buy sex. He is able to look at prostitutes as objects, to whom all kinds of things can be done towards her, as she is “just” a prostitute. It appears okay for him to exploit her sexually for money.

 

He imagines, that it is a free choice for her to act as a prostitute and that the woman is either having sex with him for her own enjoyment, or that he does her a favour by giving her some money. He is able to believe in this illusion, which is the main ingredient in prostitution: that the prostitutes enjoy having sex with just him.

 

 Women sells - men buy.

In Europe prostitution is counted as being a social problem. The number of prostitutes in Europe is uncalculated, but in general of all these prostitutes about 20% are street prostitutes. The remaining prostitutes reside mostly in brothels or escort.

One of the primary reasons to engage in prostitution is a shortage of money.

 

While money is a crucial factor to keep prostitutes in prostitution, women often find themselves in a marginal situation in relation to the ordinary kinds of work outside prostitution.

The reasons why men go to prostitutes, is that it is optional, something to be tested and that the opportunity presents itself. Only 8% of the men buying sex are doing it, because they can not have sex otherwise.

 

 

The figures speak for themselves:

 

The size of the sex industry in different countries
Number of women in prostitution per 1. million citizens:
Countries in which it is illegal to purchase a prostitute for sex
Sweden	220
Countries in which it is legal to purchase a prostitute for sex
Norway (untill 2009-now it is illegal to buy sex from a prostitute)	585
Denmark	1.111
Countries in which prostitution is fully legalized
The Netherlands	1.687
Germany	4.854

 

The figures above are calculated by Eurostat in the period 2000 – 2007.

 

Below are some of the risks associated with prostitution.

The consequences of prostitution are different from person to person, for example, it has significance for how long you have been in prostitution.

 

Approx. 75% of those who have been in prostitution face consequences.

 

For many of the prostitutes the consequences are debilitating, especially for the trafficked woman, who is (actually) raped every time, she is with a customer, because she has been forced into prostitution.

 

The customer might cause many bad things to the prostitute;

 

Physical effects.

Genes in the abdomen - pain at intercourse, discharge, itching, irritation and raw skin and often the women in prostitution have abdominal inflammation and osteoarthritis in the back and elbows.

Psychological effects.

Post-traumatic stress syndrome (PTSD), anxiety disorders including anxiety for other people, lack of appetite for sex, poor self-esteem, difficulty in linking the close feelings for other people, especially men, self-contempt, guilt, depression.

The social consequences.
Social isolation and stigma, loneliness, many choose to withdraw from family and friends because they are afraid of being detected or feel of shame.

 

Violence & rape.
A Danish study indicates that 95% of the drug-using prostitutes have been victims of violence once or several times.

 

Nearly 60% of the other prostitutes indicate that they have been subjected to violence or threats of violence - often from male customers.

 

Besides this, rape is a major issue in regards to prostitution: 60% - 70% of all prostitutes were raped in prostitution.

 

The strategy of survival.
Many prostitutes are using the withdrawal technique in prostitution, a technique which means that they withdraw mentally during the sexual act and only stays physically present.

 

It is a survival strategy to protect them selves from becoming emotionally involved in the many negative effects from being in prostitution. It is a shield, but it can also cause harm. Fear of emotional closeness and intimacy can be directly linked to this survival strategy.

 

It is much too easy to locate a prostitute - in many cities they are visibly walking the streets or sitting in a window as a plain commercial item ready for sale.

 

But you can not make sure she is not a victim of sexual slavery – trafficking!

 

It is inevitable, that as long as it is so easy to purchase a prostitute, sexual slavery will still exist in Europe.

 

Before buying a prostitute – imagine just once the pain you are causing!

 

Please think again once before you consider buying a woman for sex!