It’s the question we’ve all asked ourselves at some point: what WOULD Jesus do about prostitution? Over on Salon, Tracy Clark-Flory profiles former prostitute and Hookers For Jesus rep Annie Lobert who claims to have the answer.
[SPOILER ALERT: “God loooves sex!”]
One response
Legalization just empowers the pimps. It also sends the message to trafficked women that our society approves of coerced prostitution.
What would work:
The Swedish model has been stunningfuly succesful:
The Swedish model, adopted in 1999, is to prosecute the men who purchase sex, while treating the women who sell it as victims who merit social services.
Prosecution of johns has reduced demand for prostitution in Sweden, which in turn reduces market prices. That reduces the incentives for trafficking into Sweden, and the number of prostitutes seems to have declined there. A growing number of countries are concluding that the Swedish model works better than any other, and it would be wise for American states to experiment with it as well. It’s not a panacea, but cracking down on demand seems a useful way to chip away at 21st-century slavery.
The above from this link:
http://www.nytimes.com/2010/07/15/opinion/15kristof.html?_r=1&ref=nicholasdkristof
I’m a former prostitute, and experienced much violence and coercion like the woman profiled in this Salon article. So grateful to Salvatore for linking to the article.
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