Five Prostitution Myths

In the wake of Craigslist’s “adult services” shutdown, Sudhir Venkatesh refutes five myths about the world’s oldest profession, in the Washington Post:

• Men aren’t always looking for sex: In fact, while studying high-end sex workers, Venkatesh found that many men who hire prostitutes simply end up talking or having dinner together. Approximately 40% of such transactions are actually sex-free. (For lower-end sex workers, that number is around 20%.)

• It’s not an “alleyway business”: Nowadays, not very many big cities have a “thriving outdoor street market for sex”—partly because “the Internet became the preferred place to pick up a prostitute.”
• Prostitutes aren’t necessarily drug addicts or abused women: “Sex workers today tend to make a conscious decision to enter the trade—not as a reaction to suffering but to earn some quick cash,” Venkatesh writes. “The population of women choosing sex work has changed dramatically over the past decade.”

For the complete list, including his thoughts on whether Craigslist’s decision will affect the sex trade, click here.