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Black Markets: Prostitution

Black Markets: Prostitution. Economics Mr. Joshi. History of Prostitution. A prostitute is someone, most often a woman, who exchanges sex for resources. Sometimes called “the world’s oldest profession”

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Black Markets: Prostitution

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  1. Black Markets: Prostitution Economics Mr. Joshi

  2. History of Prostitution A prostitute is someone, most often a woman, who exchanges sex for resources. • Sometimes called “the world’s oldest profession” • Took many forms in ancient times from camp-follower, temple worker, mistress, slave, concubine

  3. Research on Prostitution • Timothy Guilfoil’s “City of Eros” – book about NYC in the early 1900s mentions that there was a brothel on virtually every block! • Why? • New York City, and many industrial centers were places full of men with spending money.

  4. Criminalization of U.S. Prostitution • Prostitution was tolerated though criminalized in cities throughout U.S. history (and continues to be). • A 1910 Department of Justice report stated that in 310 U.S. cities, there were 200,000 working prostitutes – and given the population at the time, that would mean 1 out of every 50 women in their 20s was working as a prostitute.

  5. Why would women become prostitutes? • Lack of money • Drug addiction (opium in the old days) • Sold into brothel by family • Lost virginity and so no longer “marriable” • Lack of other viable career options (teacher, nurse, maid/servant, nannies)

  6. Wage Comparison • In a Chicago study (where there were reportedly 1000 brothels in the early 1900s), here is how wages compared for women who didn’t choose traditional female careers: • $6/per week for factory work • $25-$70 per week for working as a prostitute • In the Butterfly Club in Chicago: • $250 to enter; $370 for champagne; $1250 for sex

  7. A Pyramid in Prostitution

  8. SuperFreakonomics Study • SudhirVenkatesh – the same guy from the drug gang study decided to spend two years studying prostitution in Chicago! • The work of 160 street prostitutes was studied in three poor and working-class neighborhoods in Chicago over a two year period. Venkatesh used former prostitutes to gather data after each transaction!

  9. Results of the study • The 160 prostitutes participated in sex transactions. • The average prostitute in the study worked 15 hours a week and made $350. • This works out to $18,200 per year • 83% of the prostitutes were drug addicts • The average prostitute had 12 acts of violence committed against them by customers. • 3 of the 160 died over the two year study due to violence from customers.

  10. The average prostitute had 300 unprotected sex acts per year. • Pimps in the study made an average of $50,000 per year. • The average prostitute participated in 450 sex transactions before getting arrested. • 1 in 10 arrests resulted in prison time. • 3% of all sex transactions were given as bribes for police officers

  11. Impact of Pimps on Wages • Weekly $Avg. Transactions per week • Solo $325 7.8 • W/Pimp $410 6.2 • Pimps were found to be worth the extra fee due to their ability to bring higher-paying customers to the neighborhood and their ability to protect prostitutes from gangs (violence) and police (arrest).

  12. In a report by the Chicago Police Dept. • 4,400 street prostitutes in Chicago who participated in 1.6 million sex transactions with 175,000 different men. • A man’s chances of being arrested for being a customer is 1 for every 1200 visits • Since the 1950s, the income payoff for prostitution has gone down dramatically – why?

  13. Comparing Demand Factors • Demand Factors in the 1950s • Strict social morality discouraged pre-marital sex – Only 33% of men participated • Abortion was illegal • 20% of first sexual encounters were with prostitutes • Sexual adventurousness for women was discouraged within marriage. • Demand Factors Today • Moral permissiveness • Abortion legal • Birth Control pills available • Feminism as allowed for greater sexual adventurousness.

  14. Prostitution as Sex Slavery in the Modern World • William Kristof reports for the New York Times • http://video.nytimes.com/video/2009/01/03/opinion/1194837193498/the-face-of-slavery.html?scp=1&sq=kristof%20sex%20slavery&st=cse (5 ½ min) • http://video.nytimes.com/video/2008/09/24/opinion/1194818192946/fighting-sex-trafficking-in-cambodia.html?scp=2&sq=kristof%20sex%20slavery&st=cse (3 min)

  15. Prostitution Debate • Should prostitution be legalized – is it a victimless crime or a moral evil that will destroy society as we know it?

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