The ‘prostitution debate’ has largely been shoved to the sidelines amidst the Covid-19 crisis, as pandemic rhetoric has occupied the news cycle. However, the topic of ‘prostitution’ has never been more relevant in these times for a number of reasons.
The stressful effects of dealing with a worldwide pandemic and the political unrest it has caused, along with a worsening economic recession, has made society ripe for exploitative and perverse behaviours. Many would argue that ‘prostitution services’ would likely decrease as a recession skyrockets, as the ‘sex industry’ is a lucrative business, and a less rich society would reduce the purchase of sexual services. Furthermore, they may argue that during a pandemic where social isolation measures and mandates have been put in place, it is logical to assume ‘sex work’ has decreased.
According to research however, the opposite is likely true. ‘Sex work’ is already an underground ‘industry’ shrouded in secrecy and detached from government regulation mechanisms – and this is particularly true for the more detrimental forms of perverse ‘sex work.’ According to The Scotsman, many women seek ‘sex work’ as a form of employment during economic hardship, to make ends meet during recessions in particular. Following this logic, pimps would also seek to expand their industry during economic downturns, in order to make money during times of economic hardship. Recessions are also known to increase domestic violence, breed an abusive culture, see escalated crime and a lack of federal and state resources going into targeting these matters, resulting in worsened conditions for ‘sex workers.’ This indicates that while all may seem quiet during this pandemic with lockdown restrictions in place, it is likely the ‘sex work industry’ is proliferating like never before, and going unchecked.
In fact it may be even worse than it would be during an economic surge. Brothel regulation would likely be decreased, and there would be a number of bourgeoning perverse habits skyrocketing as the added financial stress of a recession drives people towards abnormal sexual behaviours.
It is also well evidenced in studies that prostitution tends to attract people who have suffered forms of childhood maltreatment. Childhood sexual abuse skyrockets particularly badly during recessions, and because of Covid-19 mandates, many children have actually been locked in domestic spaces for unnatural periods of time, which does nothing other than foster the conditions for abuse. This means that not only has the pandemic likely allowed illicit forms of prostitution and trafficking to skyrocket, but the recession caused by the pandemic itself is likely to breed issues that become factors that lead people towards this damaging way of life. The pandemic has thus not only fostered the conditions for human trafficking to occur, but it has set up the exact economic and socio-cultural climate needed to foster society down a pathway of illicit trafficking in the future.
The solution?
Lawmakers need to consider a swift end to the pandemic and the resulting recession, and create laws which strongly regulate and seek to stop the demand for ‘sex work.’ The nordic model for prostitution has been observed to work in several jurisdictions where ‘sex work’ is an endemic cultural issue. The nordic model seeks to make it illegal to purchase sex, not sell it, therefore protecting prostitutes from jail-time while concomitantly targeting the demand for sex. In doing so, this model sees a significant reduction in human trafficking. It is at present, the best option to mitigate serious sexual trafficking crimes worldwide.
