Social Work Commons^™

There is an organized effort in New Hampshire to fully decriminalize prostitution. What that means is that all laws controlling the buying and selling of sex will be removed from the law books, making prostitution legal. Law enforcement and public officials will then have no control over if, when, and where prostitution occurs, whether it’s in massage parlors (often called spas), hotels, apartments, residences, or strip clubs. Because commercial sex will be legal, pimps and “sex workers” will be able to freely advertise prostitution services. Pimps will be able to openly recruit women and girls into prostitution, without fear of …

Table of Contents, Volume 1, Issue 1, 2016, Dignity: A Journal on Sexual Exploitation and Violence.

The bill against indoor prostitution should be passed. [Prostitution] destroys many families. What happens when a wife catches her husband going to spa or strip clubs? Divorce usually, and then the children involved go to counseling and so does the wife. Medical costs rise, not including STD’s the men catch from these women. To worry about what jobs they’ll get if they can’t do sex acts, well dancing for men is one thing, having sex with them is [another]. If [prostitution] is no longer allowed, the club owners should pay the fines if they cannot control what happens in their clubs. 

Ruth moved to Providence six years ago when she was 18. Young and on her own, she was swept up by a rough crowd of guys who dealt and used crack and cocaine. Hanging around the strip clubs with them until early in the morning was “the thing to do when you were bored.” After hours, her friends would sell cocaine to the women working at the clubs. 

They visited Club Fantasies, Club Desire, Satin Doll Gentlemen’s Club, Cheater’s, the Sportsman’s Inn and Club Balloons. Over a period of several years, Ruth “hung out” at the strip clubs. She talked …

This practical guide focuses on identifying victims of sexual trafficking, meaning they have been

trafficked for commercial sex acts, such as prostitution or other forms of sexual exploitation, such as

stripping, lap dancing, or production of pornography. Although there are commonalities between

victims of sexual and labor trafficking, there are sufficient differences to require separate focus.

Therefore, this guide does not describe ways to identify victims who have been trafficked for forced

labor, such as domestic servants and sweat shop or migrant farm workers.