The most divisive issue, when people discuss human trafficking, is the topic of legalization vs. criminalization. There are two major schools of thought on it, and people tend to be fairly entrenched in their ideas on the matter; whether that’s because of lived experience, political views, or something else altogether everyone has their take. I also have my take, which I hold because I have spent time carefully listening to the experts, and reviewing large scale studies, and it seems to me that the evidence mostly points to the same thing. I believe that the best results can be achieved when you criminalize not only the trafficking of persons, but also the purchasing of sexual services.
I would like to point out my confident statement in this belief is not an indictment of those who disagree, but a strong conviction based on the work I have done to research the problem of human trafficking, and I would like to review one such study that I believe verifies this perspective. This study was published in 2012, by the London school of economics and political science and the German Institute for Economic Research; it asks the question:
Does Legalized Prostitution Increase Human Trafficking?
I would encourage anyone with the time, to read this study in its entirety, however I will be identifying several of the key points it makes.
Substitution vs. Scale
The Substitution effect is when prostitution is legalized, the demand for trafficking victims theoretically go down, as they are substituted by legal “free choice” prostitutes.
The Scale effect is when prostitution is legalized, the demand for sex workers increases, and thus the demand for trafficked sex workers also increases.
When looking at this matter empirically, there is one major comparison to be made, and that is whether substitution or scale has a greater effect on the market demand; that is to say, does it actually result in more or less victims of human trafficking in the sex industry.
Scope
In this study, they look at a cross section of 150 countries in order to paint an accurate picture of how substitution vs. scale has affected the economy of the sex industry worldwide.
Limitation of Data
This study, like any other study on human trafficking, faces the challenge that we do not have accurate numbers on human trafficking offences. Because of the clandestine nature of human trafficking, particularly in the sex industry, the number of reported/ investigated cases is in almost every statistic significantly lower than the real numbers.
The Findings
With all of that said, what does the data show? Looking at the cross section of 150 countries, and comparing human trafficking rates, between those with legalized prostitution and those with criminalized prostitution, the countries with legalized prostitution have a noticeably higher rate of human trafficking. This is also held true for Germany, which legalized prostitution over the course of the study, allowing the inclusion of numbers pre and post legalization.
In the words of those conducting the study: “Our quantitative empirical analysis for a cross-section of up to 150 countries shows that the scale effect dominates the substitution effect.” (Neumayer et. Al. 2012)
Given such a large scope, this is an unmistakable correlation that needs to be considered wherever prostitution laws are being discussed, especially when the limits of data leaves most experts convinced that the real numbers would escalate the scale effect significantly.
The Response:
This is one study, of many, that provides empirical evidence of the harmful effects of legalizing prostitution. There are many others like it that similar and corroborating evidence as well. Things will begin to change when the people in our country are educated on the issue, and speak out for a change. We are fortunate to live in a country that has chosen to follow the Nordic model legislatively, but until we see a push to prosecute the buyers of sexual services, and the removal of legal loop holes like body rub parlors, the young women in our communities are going to continue to be lured into a life of sexual slavery.
Photo by Kyle Glenn on Unsplash