NCJ Number
93287
Date Published
1983
Length
31 pages
Annotation
Although recent sociological analyses focus on female prostitutes as victims, 11 relatively independent contexts exist in which prostitutes might be construed as potential victimizers.
Abstract
Prostitutes sometimes steal from or swindle their customers. Prostitutes probably also transmit a disproportionately large number of cases of venereal disease, even though the literature argues that they take special care to have medical examinations and treatment regularly. A minority of prostitutes also perform punitive sexual services, chargin more for their services than other prostitutes. Prostitutes may also be viewed as exploiters of the emotionally disturbed men who are frequently their customers. Prostitutes may also be regarded as victimizers of their customers' wives and families, as victimizers of their own families, as victimizers of other prostitutes, as victimizers of women who are not prostitutes, and as victimizers of communities. They also undermine the work ethic as well as feminism and the struggle for the social equality of women. Taken by itself, decriminalization would probably have little or no effect in any direction on 6 of these 11 areas. In four other areas, it might increase victimization and in one context mixed results might be produced. None of three possible policy approaches -- continued criminalization, decriminalization, or regulation -- is clearly superior to the others in all respects when the goal of reducing victimization by prostitutes is considered. Notes and a list of 36 references are provided.