as i see it: "Prostitution is not a career choice"
Posted: Mon Apr 07, 2008 1:36 pm"as i see it
http://www.gazettetimes .com/articles/2008/04/07/news/opinion/7edi02_0407op-ed.txt
Women are victims of prostitution
By Mary Zelinka
The recent scandal surrounding New York Gov. Spitzer has nearly shoved the war in Iraq clean out of the newspapers. The whole country was talking about morals and corruption and wondering why such a successful and dynamic man would risk his family and political future on a call girl.
But the much larger conversation — that of buying and selling human beings — seemed to be confined to women’s advocacy groups.
Prostitution in its many guises — including stripping, lap dancing and pornography — is on the increase.
Portland even boasts a new vegan strip club, whose owner and self-proclaimed ethical vegan touts, “Where the meat is on the pole, not the plate.”
At the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, serving Linn and Benton counties, most women we work with say their abusers are heavily into pornography. Some of these same women report being prostituted for methamphetamines or other drugs by their abusers.
Yet generally, the public views prostitution as being a “victimless” crime, a profession that is freely chosen.
These beliefs are reinforced by the media, which presents us with bright, lovely young women who boast of $4,000-a-night earnings and assert that their career is one of independence.
In actuality, Melissa Farley, founding director of Prostitution Research and Education, notes that 72 percent of prostituted women are currently or formerly homeless. Another study found that 90 percent were homeless. Research also indicates that 98 percent of prostituted women are “owned” by pimps.
Melissa Farley also notes that one research study found 78 percent of prostituted women were raped an average of 33 times a year by their so-called customers; 73 percent reported being physically assaulted; 83 percent were victims of assault with a weapon; 75 percent in escort prostitution had attempted suicide.
Research studies further indicate that nearly 100 percent of prostituted women were sexually abused as children.
Girls and women are prostituted because they either don’t have or don’t know that they have options. Research studies show that the typical age of a woman entering prostitution in the United States is between 12 and 14 years old.
Prostitution is not a career choice.
If girls grew up in a world where they were not only encouraged, but it was assumed by the general population that girls could grow up to be anything they wanted — a brain surgeon, a stay-at-home mom, an attorney, a teacher or an airline pilot; if women routinely earned dollar for dollar on a par with men; if girls did not see themselves sexualized everywhere they looked, including on billboards, magazine ads, television, movies; if girls were not molested and raped and battered at astonishing rates from the time they were born; and if one of these girls, upon graduation with her PhD, said, “Instead of being a nuclear physicist, I think I would rather be a prostitute,” then and only then would I believe prostitution was a profession freely chosen by that individual.
Until that day, prostitution needs to be seen for what it is: violence against women.
Mary Zelinka is assistant executive director of the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence in Corvallis."
http://www.gazettetimes .com/articles/2008/04/07/news/opinion/7edi02_0407op-ed.txt
Women are victims of prostitution
By Mary Zelinka
The recent scandal surrounding New York Gov. Spitzer has nearly shoved the war in Iraq clean out of the newspapers. The whole country was talking about morals and corruption and wondering why such a successful and dynamic man would risk his family and political future on a call girl.
But the much larger conversation — that of buying and selling human beings — seemed to be confined to women’s advocacy groups.
Prostitution in its many guises — including stripping, lap dancing and pornography — is on the increase.
Portland even boasts a new vegan strip club, whose owner and self-proclaimed ethical vegan touts, “Where the meat is on the pole, not the plate.”
At the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence, serving Linn and Benton counties, most women we work with say their abusers are heavily into pornography. Some of these same women report being prostituted for methamphetamines or other drugs by their abusers.
Yet generally, the public views prostitution as being a “victimless” crime, a profession that is freely chosen.
These beliefs are reinforced by the media, which presents us with bright, lovely young women who boast of $4,000-a-night earnings and assert that their career is one of independence.
In actuality, Melissa Farley, founding director of Prostitution Research and Education, notes that 72 percent of prostituted women are currently or formerly homeless. Another study found that 90 percent were homeless. Research also indicates that 98 percent of prostituted women are “owned” by pimps.
Melissa Farley also notes that one research study found 78 percent of prostituted women were raped an average of 33 times a year by their so-called customers; 73 percent reported being physically assaulted; 83 percent were victims of assault with a weapon; 75 percent in escort prostitution had attempted suicide.
Research studies further indicate that nearly 100 percent of prostituted women were sexually abused as children.
Girls and women are prostituted because they either don’t have or don’t know that they have options. Research studies show that the typical age of a woman entering prostitution in the United States is between 12 and 14 years old.
Prostitution is not a career choice.
If girls grew up in a world where they were not only encouraged, but it was assumed by the general population that girls could grow up to be anything they wanted — a brain surgeon, a stay-at-home mom, an attorney, a teacher or an airline pilot; if women routinely earned dollar for dollar on a par with men; if girls did not see themselves sexualized everywhere they looked, including on billboards, magazine ads, television, movies; if girls were not molested and raped and battered at astonishing rates from the time they were born; and if one of these girls, upon graduation with her PhD, said, “Instead of being a nuclear physicist, I think I would rather be a prostitute,” then and only then would I believe prostitution was a profession freely chosen by that individual.
Until that day, prostitution needs to be seen for what it is: violence against women.
Mary Zelinka is assistant executive director of the Center Against Rape and Domestic Violence in Corvallis."