A new study entitled “Estimating the Size and Structure of the Underground Commercial Sex Economy in Eight Major US Cities” investigated the sex trade in eight big American cities: Miami, Dallas, Washington, D.C., Denver, Kansas City, San Diego, and Seattle and found that Hispanic prostitutes and pimps are a growing part of the sex trade.
However, it also found that the overall national demand for sex work has decreased, with industry earnings reducing by as much as 37 percent in five of the major American cities, grossing a mere $40 million annually compared to the $32 billion figure that accounts for the human sex trade worldwide.
The study concludes that this is because a century ago, when sexual mores were stricter, prostitution was less common and therefore better paid. The male demand for commercial sex was higher because the non-commercial sort was harder to obtain — there was no premarital hook-up culture as is common in today’s society.
Despite the apparent visibility of Thailand’s sex industry, prostitution is illegal pursuant to Thailand Criminal Law. Section 286 of the Penal Code states: “Any person, being over sixteen years of age, subsists on the earning of a prostitute, even if it is some part of her incomes, shall be punished with imprisonment of seven to twenty years and fined of fourteen thousand to forty thousand Baht, or imprisonment for life.”
Read the full study here
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Flickr photo credit: Blemished Paradise
