About prostitution

Society Ključ is the only specialised non-governmental organisation in Slovenia working in the field of combating trafficking in human beings, which includes both preventive activities and the provision of direct forms of assistance to all actual and potential victims of trafficking (men and women, regardless of the form of exploitation). As we also provide assistance to “possible”, potential, high-risk persons who we assess as potentially trafficked, and as the phenomena of trafficking for sexual exploitation and prostitution are inextricably linked, we very often encounter in our work persons working in prostitution who wish to leave a system they perceive as exploitative, even though it appears at first sight, and even they themselves consider that the “decision” to enter prostitution was voluntary.

These are persons who have supposedly chosen to sell sexual services themselves, but we consider this so-called “autonomous free choice” to be quite problematic. Why? Our long experience in working with both victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation and victims of prostitution shows the following facts: they have all been misled about the conditions of work, they have been threatened if they did not hand over a certain amount of money to pimps/traffickers (the amount varies), they have little or no choice about clients themselves, number of clients, sexual practices, whether to have sex with or without protection (many are willing to pay more for sex without protection). There is debt dependency, fictitious costs (the debt is constantly increasing or never decreasing, and they are subject to financial sanctions if they do not comply with the rules), and threats are mainly linked to the virtually only choice of agreeing to the conditions imposed by the employer or returning home, where they have no chance for survival and often no chance for survival of their children and/or their primary family. Threats of physical and sexual violence are also common, either direct threats to the victims or threats directed against their loved ones. People are also coerced into this type of activity in more subtle ways, notably through various forms of manipulation.

All of the women we have worked with as an NGO, providing direct support and assistance amongst others to those experiencing violence and/or trafficking, have one or more of the following characteristics: they had very limited financial resources or means to secure their livelihoods (poor, long-term unemployed, often from countries where even with a university degree they were unable to find suitable employment); they were victims of domestic violence, either in the family of origin or in a partner relationship (it is also common for a woman to be forced into prostitution by her partner, thus perpetrating further violence against her); they have been sexually abused in childhood (some researches suggest that up to 30% of people who have been abused as children are involved in prostitution at some point in their lives); they were addicted to drugs and/or alcohol. (Organisations working in the field of addiction prevention and support estimate that the vast majority of addicted women, and even some male addicts, are involved in prostitution in order to get money for drugs. This is particularly often the case for under-age addicts. It is also common for addicts to be forced into prostitution by their dealers in order to pay off debts. Often, a woman has to engage in prostitution in order to obtain the funds to buy drugs for herself and her partner).

In Slovenia, and in most other European countries, most prostitutes are foreigners from non-EU countries (Eastern Europe, South America, Africa, the Balkans) or from poorer EU countries (Romania, Bulgaria, etc.). The fact that they are foreigners means that they have an additional vulnerability that is easier for traffickers/ pimps to exploit. Their lack of opportunities puts them in a position where they have to accept prostitution in order to secure their own livelihood and/or that of their children/other family members. Transgender people should not be overlooked either, as they are stigmatized (and therefore cannot get a job) and so have to resort to prostitution as their only livelihood option. We would argue that talking about someone choosing the profession of “prostitute” in a context where the choice is between decent and undignified life, even survival and non-survival, is nonsensical and inappropriate.

It is the consequences of prostitution that are most problematic and should not be overlooked, ignored and/or underestimated, as they are the same for both trafficked and “self-determined” victims of prostitution. They blame themselves for everything that has happened to them. They have very low self-esteem and self-confidence. They are suffering from the consequences of post-traumatic stress disorder and long-lasting dissociation caused by forced sexual relations or consensual sexual relations without a real sexual desire. All this often leads to depression, anxiety, alcohol and drug abuse, self-harming and harmful relationships. People in prostitution are often suicidal.

We often hear from advocates of prostitution as a form of work that all consequences of prostitution listed above are in fact the result of stigma. But that is not true. They are all the result of trauma that comes with handing your sexual autonomy over to someone you do not want to have sex with. That’s what is harmful in the long run. NGOs working in the above mentioned areas notice that it takes a lot of time and energy to empower victims to accept that they are not responsible for prostitution ‘happening’ to them, but that unpredictable circumstances of their lives pushed them to make the decision they made to survive. We do not want to put people who prostitute themselves in the role of victims or take away their autonomy. Quite the opposite. We aim to empower them to fulfil their own desires, their own goals, to live a life that they would actually choose for themselves, a life without violence. We firmly believe that selling their own bodies cannot lead them to these goals. And given that we who work directly with victims have no shortage of users of our services, it is nevertheless possible to conclude that the majority of people do not feel that we are trying to harm them or take away their autonomy by our attitudes.

We believe that legalising prostitution cannot protect women (and men and transgender people) in prostitution, or actually help them build a decent life. It has not happened in Germany, nor in Austria, nor in the Netherlands. The number of victims of prostitution and trafficking in these countries has actually increased with legalisation, and according to NGOs, the number of child victims of prostitution has also increased. Legalisation has significantly increased the demand for prostitution. This has led to the importation of even more women and girls from poorer countries; most of the prostitutes are, as has already been said, foreigners. Making something that is so harmful to persons legal only perpetuates and/or increases the suffering. It also prolongs the exploitation of all those who are already in prostitution and those who are entering prostitution. On the other hand, NGOs in countries that have opted for the so-called Nordic model of criminalisation of the use of paid sexual services (users) report improvements.

Iinstead of trying to convince prostitutes that their choice is voluntary and thus causing secondary victimisation, we need to talk about following isues: more effective/efficient criminal prosecution of the abuse of prostitution and exploitation of prostitution (so-called “pimping”), efficient prohibition of advertising prostitution (no one shoud profit on suffering of others), development and efficient implementation of programmes aimed at reducing the demand for prostitutes/prostitutes, i.e. the clients (regardless of whether the persons in prostitution are women, men or transgender, the users are mostly men), and last but not least, the development of programmes to enable persons in prostitution to escape exploitation, both through psychosocial and therapeutic assistance and through employment, training, etc.