*89% of women state they want to leave prostitution, but see no other options for survival.
*Research shows that 84% of women in prostitution are under third-party control or pimped or trafficked.
*49% of women in prostitution have histories of childhood physical assault.
*Up to 95% were sexually assaulted as children.
*70% of women interviewed noted that childhood sexual abuse had an influence on their entry into prostitution.
*It is estimated that between 60-86% of domestic sex trafficking victims have been in foster care.
*The death rate of prostituted women is 240 times higher than any other profession.
*During their time in exploitation, violence is the norm. 82% of women report being physically assaulted (types of assault include being punched, strangled, slashed with razor blades and burned with cigarettes), while 83% have been threatened with a weapon.
*80% report being raped at least once, and 73% have been raped more than five times.
*70% of female victims who are trafficked are trafficked into the commercial sex industry, including the legal forms of it, such as porn, stripping and legal brothels.
*71% of prostituted women showed "clinically significant symptoms of dissociation" a psychological defense against trauma in which a person splits or detaches from the rest of their self in order to deal with overwhelming fear and pain.
*99% of those purchasing sex are men.
There are those who mistakenly believe that legalizing prostitution will actually reduce crime and provide women the rights, and freedom and protection they need to safely work in prostitution. The reality is, in places where prostitution is legal, there is an exponential increase in the exploitation and trafficking of women. In a study of prostitution and trafficking in 150 countries, it was concluded that on average, countries with legalized prostitution had greater inflows of human trafficking.
Nevada has the highest rates of illegal sex trade in the country, adjusted for population. It is 63% higher than the nest highest state of New York and double that of Florida. This dismantles the myth that full decriminalization will decrease unregulated prostitution or sex trafficking. Wherever prostitution is legal, the demand for commercial sex skyrockets, which provides a great incentive to pimps and sex traffickers to push more women into the marketplace to sell.
-Harmony Dust Grillo
