Women Represent 70-Percent of Prostitution-Related Arrests in MA

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Tuesday, October 07, 2014

Nicholas Handy, GoLocalWorcester Contributor

Nearly 70-percent of all people arrested for prostitution-related crimes in Massachusetts in 2013 were women, according to information gathered by the Massachusetts State Police.

While 920 arrests were made last year, the large female percentage signals that these arrests may not be dealing with the root of the problem, the demand for prostitutes created by johns and pimps and the over-sexualization of the female in American culture.

“Mass NOW believes that the commodity model of sexuality in our culture contributes to the inability of law enforcement officials to see the percentage of sex workers who are coerced into the sex industry as victims rather than perpetrators,” said Katie Prisco-Buxbaum, Vice President of Communications at Mass NOW. “We believe that the Human Trafficking law, passed in 2011, was a comprehensive and necessary step to provide advocacy and services for survivors of sex trafficking, while also working to erode some of the cultural perceptions around prostitution. Mass NOW will continue to fight against all forms of exploitation and violence against women to work towards our mission of advancing the status of women and girls in Massachusetts.

While cities like Lynn, Massachusetts – who arrested 92 males and 55 females - are prioritizing the arrest of male (typically the buyer in the prostitution ring), cities like Worcester – who arrested 14 males and 157 females (typically the seller in the prostitution ring) – are taking a much different root in getting to the bottom of the prostitution problem.

Culture and Policing Challenges

There are a few culture and policing issues present in modern society that make arresting the buyers much more challenging than the prostitutes themselves, which is partially why so many more women are being arrested.

Culturally, when residents of a given neighborhood think of prostitution of being a problem, they are calling the police and complaining about the prostitutes, not the johns and the pimps, because they are the ones that are walking around the streets looking for customers. Rather than calling the cops on someone seeking out a prostitute, residents will call the cops on a prostitute because they are the ones seen.

When the police are attempting to make an arrest, it is oftentimes much easier to arrest the prostitute than the person trying to buy sex. The buyer – or john – is usually in a car, meaning that they can drive away at a moments notice. Additionally, sting operations are much cheaper to bust a prostitute than a john because of the amount of time, manpower, and money that it takes to lure a potential buyer into a sting operation.

“It is certainly cheaper for police to arrest the sellers, but there isn’t much evidence saying that it is efficient to do so,” said Michael Shively, founder of Demandforum.net, a Cambridge-based website that tracks actions against sex buyers across the US. “It may be more expensive and time consuming, but evidence shows that going after the buyers rather than the sellers helps to decrease the prostitution market in a given area. The buyers typically are deterred from prostitution after they are arrested while the prostitutes typically return to prostitution because that is how they make a living.”

Eliminating the Market

If prostitution is to ever be truly eliminated, the state of Massachusetts and the rest of the world need to make a larger effort to eliminate the prostitution market by targeting the johns and the pimps just as much as, if not more than the prostitutes themselves.

Last year a new human trafficking law created a task force, which was led by Massachusetts Attorney General Martha Coakley. This task force created a set of recommendations to reduce demand for commercial sex, stating that it is a critical part of getting on top of the human trafficking and prostitution problems.

“Arresting prostituted women and trafficked girls is inefficient at best, and leads to re-victimization at worst,’’ the report said. “If demand is not addressed, thereby shrinking or destroying the market, traffickers will continue to victimize their prey for profit.’’

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Related Slideshow: MA Cities and Towns With the Most Prostitution Arrests

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