Prostitution,

Pornography,
& the Sex Trafficking
Prepared by
FATIMA ZEHRA NAQVI
Prostitution
 sexual activity in exchange for money or goods , in which the
primary motivation for the prostitute is neither sexual nor
affectional.
 The sale of sexual services (of oneself or another) for money or
goods without emotional attachment
 Categories of prostitutes range from streetwalkers to call girls to
male prostitutes.
 Precise numbers on the incidence of prostitution are impossible to
obtain.
 sex trafficking is applied to situations in which a person is
coerced, forced, or deceived into prostitution, or is maintained in
prostitution through coercion.
 Deviance, the Sex Industry, and Social Problems
 A deviant is any person who does not conform to established social
norms—specifically, folkways, mores, and laws. Folkways are informal
norms or everyday customs that may be violated without serious
consequences.
 Laws are formal, standardized norms that are enacted by legislatures
and enforced by formal sanctions such as fines and imprisonment. Laws
may be either civil or criminal. Civil law deals with disputes between
people or groups, such as an argument between a landlord and a tenant
over the provisions of an apartment lease. Criminal law deals with
public safety and well-being and defines the behaviors that constitute a
crime—a behavior that violates criminal law and is punishable by a fine,
a jail term, or other negative sanctions. Crimes range from relatively
minor offenses, such as traffic violations, to major offenses, such as
murder.
 Ifdeviance is considered to be objectively given, then
prostitution and pornography are viewed as violations of
deeply held convictions (folkways or mores) about good taste or
morality or as significant departures from existing criminal
laws.
 To limit the amount of deviance and criminal behavior in
society, in this view, societies employ social control
mechanisms. Social control refers to the systematic practices
developed by social groups to encourage conformity and
discourage deviance.
 Social control can be either internal or external.
 Internal social control occurs through socialization.
 External mechanisms such as the criminal justice system.
What is sexual deviance?
 Although all societies have social norms regulating sexual conduct, not all
societies regulate it in the same way. In the United States alone, definitions
of what is sexually deviant have varied from time to time, from place to
place, and from group to group. Traditionally, at least four types of sexual
conduct between heterosexual partners have been regarded as deviant:
 (1) premarital sex, or fornication—sexual relations between two people who
are not married to each other;
 (2) extramarital sex or adultery—sexual relations between a married person
and a partner other than her or his spouse;
 (3) promiscuous sex—casual sexual relations with many partners; and
 (4) underage sex or statutory rape—sexual relations with children below the
age of consent as defined by state law, usually about age fourteen, fifteen,
or sixteen.
 Prostitutioncrosses several lines of proscribed
(prohibited) sexual conduct and is viewed as deviance
because it involves promiscuous behavior between two
(or more) people, who might be married to other people,
and sometimes involves underage sex.
 Global Perspective
 Prostitution has become a global sex industry
 Many businesses, such as hotels, bars, and airlines have an
economic benefit from the global sex industry
 Inpoorest countries women and children are often sold into
the sex trade.
 Prostitution has been referred to as the “world’s oldest
profession” because references to it can be found
throughout recorded history. Still, over the past 4,000
years, prostitution has been neither totally accepted nor
completely condemned.
Health Aspects of Prostitution for Women
Many women see prostitution as a job or way to make money,
but it is very hazardous to their health.

Problems associated with prostitution:

Physical Violence Health Risks Emotional Health

• Bruises • HIV/AIDs or other • Combat disorder
• Broken bones STDS • Depression
• Black Eyes • Pelvic • Drug or Alcohol
Inflammatory Abuse
Disease
• Pregnancy
related issues
Levels of Prostitution
Most Prestigious
Escorts or
Call Girls/Boys

Estimates of 100,00 Hustlers, Strippers and Table Dancers

to 500,000 working
prostitutes in U.S.- House Girls

but hard to
estimate well. Street Walkers

229,441 in Drug Addicts

Pakistan.
Least Prestigious
1. Escorts, or call girls and call boys, earn higher fees and have
more selectivity in working conditions and customers

2. Hustlers, strippers, and table dancers work out of clubs,

bars, and strip joints; they negotiate sexual favors with
potential customers

3. House girls work in brothels, massage parlors, or other

businesses

4. Streetwalkers publicly solicit customers and charge by the

“trick”

5. Women addicted to crack cocaine trade sex for crack

 Who Becomes a Prostitute?
An important step in becoming a prostitute is
knowing others who are involved in the trade.
The majority of female prostitutes are between
17 and 24 years of age who often have had early
and frequent promiscuous sexual experiences.
Male prostitutes tend to come from either a
peer-delinquent subculture or the gay
subculture.
Leaving prostitution can be difficult.
Age, Class, and Race
Age:
Most prostitutes are between 17 and 24
Social Class:
Lower income and poverty-level women and men are more likely
to enter into prostitution
Race:
Wide spread image of black women as promiscuous.
More whites arrested for prostitution than other races.
• In Washington, 80% sex buyers are white men.

Typical Customer is middle aged, male, white and married.

 Perspectives on Prostitution
Functionalist:
Prostitution offers several functions in society:
Offers sexual gratification without a relationship.

Serves as an outlet for those not in an ongoing sexual relationship.

Providesan opportunity to engage in sexual practices a regular sex

partner might be unwilling to engage in.

Provides protection for the family as a social institution by

distinguishing between “good/bad boys”

Provides jobs for low-skilled people

 Symbolic Interactionist

Prostitutionas a career is similar to choosing

other occupations

Public labeling of people in such a career as

deviant—and the person’s acceptance or rejection
of that label—determines whether he or she stays
in that career
Conflict theorists:
People in power define prostitution as
illegal because they see it as immoral.

Liberal feminists:
Prostitutionis a victimless crime that
should be decriminalized
Pornography:
Graphic depiction of sexual behavior through
pictures or words in a manner intended to be
sexually arousing
 Pornography describes “sexually ‘explicit’ writings, still
or motion pictures and similar products designed to be
sexually arousing.”
 Tremendous controversy surrounds what is and what is not
pornographic and what, if anything, should be censored.
 Debatesalso exist as to whether there is a link between
pornographic materials and violence.
 Nature and Extent of Pornography

Pornography is profitable to many, including investors, film

makers, and owners of stores that distribute such materials.
Porn film industry a $10 billion per year enterprise.

Many formats for porn but computer technology is most

prevalent.
 Technological innovations such as digital media have increased
the variety of pornographic materials as well as the methods of
distribution.
Examples: Movies on “X-rated” cable television channels, dial-a-
porn, digitized scans, and private computer bulletin boards.
 Research on Pornography
 Studied by two presidential commissions with contradictory
conclusions

 1970U.S. Commission on Pornography and Obscenity found no conclusive links

between pornography and sex crimes or antisocial behavior

 1986 Attorney General’s Commission on Pornography concluded that pornography

is dangerous, causes sex crimes, increases aggression in males, inspires sexism,
and encourages pedophilia (adults engaging in sexual intercourse with children)

 Sociological
studies have not established that watching such films
and videos contributes to aggressive or violent behavior

 Most adults do not support censoring pornographic materials

Race, Class, and Age
Men watch more sexually explicit material and are more
favorable toward porn than women.

Women are more vocal in opposing porn than men

Class-based elitism: thought that rejecting pornography is

rejecting all that is vulgar, trashy, and lower class.

White women much more likely to be portrayed in pornography

Minorities
more likely to be portrayed in rape, bondage, and
sadomasochism.
The Functionalist Perspective
Deviant behaviors, such as prostitution and
pornography, continue to exist because they
perform important functions for society, such
as
establishing the acceptable morality for society
providing for a wider array of sexual outlets and
services in a society that places restrictions on
what is acceptable sexual conduct
The Conflict Perspective
The sex trade is closely related to issues of
social inequality and the exercise of power.
At one level the sex trade represents gender
inequality in a patriarchal society.
At another level the sex trade relates to
poverty and economic inequality.
The Interactionist Perspective
Sexual deviance has to do with varying
definitions of reality and with the impact of
labeling and stigmatization on self-concept
and self-worth.
The result is a competition of “moral
entrepreneurs” with each trying to impose its
definition of what is moral on society as a
whole.
Solutions to Prostitution and Pornography
Functionalist/Conservative:
Prostitution and pornography need regulation and control.
Religious conservatives: these are threats to moral values
Conflict/Liberal:
Decriminalize these “victimless crimes” let adults make their
own choices.
Symbolic Interactionist:
Need to find out how people in the industry perceive their
actions and what social meanings they attach to their
experiences.