Prostitution exploits and harms women in many ways. Survivors of prostitution describe being physically and emotionally abused, with long-lasting trauma. Research finds that prostitution is intrinsically linked to gender inequality and that both sex workers and customers suffer psychological damage. The sexual exploitation of anyone degrades human dignity.

1. Is paying for SEX really worth it? NO Prostitution exploits many a women’s deep pain. Click to advance >

2. Prostitution: Factsheet on Human Rights Violations by Melissa Farley PhD

3. Factsheet on Human Rights Violations Prostitution is: a) sexual harassment b) rape c) battering d) verbal abuse e) domestic violence f) a racist practice g) a violation of human rights h) childhood sexual abuse i) a consequence of male domination of women j) a means of maintaining male domination of women k) all of the above

4. Brenda Myers-Powell a Founding Board Member of CAASE ( Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation ) had this to say …. a survivor of abuse, drugs and prostitution.

5. I am a survivor. In the process of selling my body, I was shot five times, stabbed more than 13 times, beaten unconscious several times, had my arm and nose broken, had two teeth knocked out, lost a child that I will never see again, was verbally abused and spent countless days in jail. Like other women who became prostitutes, I had no esteem and no self-worth.

6. Melissa Farley, best known for her studies on the effects of prostitution, trafficking and sexual violence had this to say on ...

7. Street Prostitution Street prostitutes are extremely vulnerable to violence, both by clients and pimps. They are also particularly vulnerable to physical and sexual assaults, as well as to muggings and are frequently targeted by serial killers because they routinely enter an unknown man's car Drug use is prevalent. Some street prostitutes become sex workers as a result of being too uneducated to get or keep traditional employment.

8. In her book on Prostitution, Trafficking and Traumatic Stress, Melissa Farley quotes experiences of victims of prostitution.

9. Traumatic Stress I was the thing he came and literally bought . He did judge me like he’d judge cattle at a fairground, and that’s revolting, it’s sickening, it’s terrible for women. (Claude Jaget a former victim of prostitution) As has been well documented in psychological investigations of other forms of torture, overwhelming human cruelty results in fragmentation of the mind into different parts of the self that observe, and react, as well as those that do not know about the harm.

10. Hoigard and Finstad authors of the book depicted above, managed in depth interviews with various clients of Norwegian prostitutes. On the subject they concluded…

11. BackStreet Prostitution They conclude that prostitution is embedded in the gender relations of an economically stratified society and that those who experience prostitution over an extended period of time suffer deep emotional damage. Exploring life after prostitution: they concluded that the emotional damage of seeing one's body as an object doesn't go away; self-esteem and sexual pleasure are ruined, replaced by self-hatred and depression. The sale of sexual services must somehow be made obsolete and the damage to prostitutes, customers and society ended.

12. When Kathleen Barry wrote her book THE PROSTITUTION OF SEXUALITY she had this to say on the subject…

13. The Prostitution of Sexuality Sexual exploitation objectifies women by reducing them to sex; sex that incites violence against women and reduce them to commodities for market exchange. Sexual exploitation is the foundation of women’s oppression normally normalized. How did pornography come to be taken up as a feminist action dissociated from other issues – especially prostitution, especially rape, especially sexual harassment?

14. In her writings on Prostitution and Pornography, Jessica Spector raises the point on bringing together an assortment of writings about the sex industry. She says…

15. Prostitution and Pornography From mainstream corporate pornography to illegal street prostitution, there are billions of dollars being made each year from the sale of sex and sex-related products and activities. Various harms are caused or perpetuated by the sex industry from stripping to pornography to prostitution. The sex industry systematically abuses women.

16. Linda Fairstein one of America's foremost legal experts on crimes of violence against women and children wrote in her book…

17. Sexual Violence Men call up the image of the whore when they are abusing their partners. The accusations in between the kicks and slaps: "You slut....whore...." Historically, the words mean "subhuman," "having no rights," "invisible," and "wicked." Rape, is an accusation easily to be made and hard to be proved, and harder to be defended by the party accused, thou never so innocent.

18. Andrea Rita Dworkin an American radical feminist and writer best known for her criticism of pornography wrote on the subject of Prostitution and Male Supremacy...

19. Prostitution and Male Supremacy I ask you to think about your own bodies--if you can do so outside the world that the pornographers have created in your minds, the flat, dead, floating mouths and vaginas and anuses of women. I ask you to think concretely about your own bodies used that way. How sexy is it? Is it fun? The people who defend prostitution and pornography want you to feel a kinky little thrill every time you think of something being stuck in a woman. I want you to feel the delicate tissues in her body that are being misused. I want you to feel what it feels like when it happens over and over and over and over and over and over and over again: because that is what prostitution is. Prostitution in and of itself is an abuse of a woman's body.

20. Little statistical and research information exists about the prostitution of juveniles in its various forms. However this bulletin sheds some light on the subject …

21. Prostitution of Juveniles The prostitution of juveniles occurs in a variety of contexts. Both international rings and interstate crime operations traffic young girls to distant places with promises of employment and money. Juvenile prostitutes may be preadolescent children or older teenagers nearly indistinguishable from their adult counterparts. They may work individually or in groups, independently or under the control of pimps, parents, or other operators. The human degradation inherent in prostitution is always unacceptable but the victimization of children that takes place in juvenile prostitution is particularly disturbing.

22. Public Awareness It is not an isolated problem nor is there an isolated solution. It is an outcome of a complex role of several factors, the solution of which cannot be left entirely to bureaucracy, police or a few voluntary organizations. Society's role is important in prevention & rehabilitation. If it ignores it certainly perpetuates prostitution.  Text and Pictures used in this presentation were all picked up from the Net