Prostitution is not a victimless crime.
Truth: 92% of women involved in prostitution said that they wanted to leave but couldn’t. Sometimes women feel trapped because they lack resources such as a place to stay, job training, or treatment for drug and alcohol addiction. Sometimes they are afraid to leave because of violence or threats from their pimps and handlers.
Truth: Prostitution is not a job anyone wants.
Truth: 75-95% of prostituted women were abused as children.
Truth: Commercial sex exploitation is a big industry, raking in billions of dollars worldwide. However, the victims of the sex industry don’t actually see the money they “earn.” Profit goes to the pimps who use force and threats to control victims, the drug dealers who keep victims high enough to comply with the demands of their pimp, and the business owners who provide infrastructure to the industry.
Truth: Pimps and traffickers seek out a specific victim profile. They look for young people coming out of unstable home environments, especially those that have already been molested or abused. They look for people who are poor, who may be members of a minority group, and who have few resources to get a safe job. Runaway or throwaway kids may be particularly at risk. Traffickers weed out anyone they think may be dangerous and focus on victims they think they can control. Traffickers use grooming, violence, and deceit to gain control over their victims, then keep control over them through violence, emotional manipulation, and encouraging drug and alcohol addiction.
Truth: Many of the victims are children. 1.2 million children are trafficked every year. The average age of a trafficking victim is between the ages of 12 and 14.
Truth: Legalizing prostitution only increases demand, increases human trafficking, and does nothing to protect prostituted women. The most successful legislative approach criminalizes purchasing sex while providing help for victims of prostitution and trafficking.
Truth: Prostitution is commercialized rape.
Truth: There are women and children being sold right for sex right now. It happens around the world. But it also happens in our own backyards.
- Pray for workers and resources to open recovery homes for victims of the sex trade.
- Pray for rescue for the victims. Pray for their spiritual, emotional, and physical healing. Pray that they find hope.
- Pray for the governments, organizations, and people who are fighting trafficking.
- Pray for the breakdown and demise of the sex industry. Pray for a ban on internet pornography, for the closure of strip clubs, closure of brothels, and for strong law enforcement worldwide.
- Pray for a counter-cultural movement that rejects the sexualization of our children and that opposes the normalization of pimping and prostitution.