Prostitution in the US
According to Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, prostitution is the granting of sexual access for payment. Each year 15,000,000 U.S. citizens engage in sex for hire (prostitution) according to USApoll.com, and the National Task Force on Prostitution suggests that over one million people in the U.S. have worked as prostitutes in the United States, or about 1% of American women. With this percentage of Americans involved in prostitution, it is a pertinent subject in our society. I wanted to explore prostitution in today's society because of the ongoing controversy against it. I was surprised to learn that today houses of prostitution are illegal in all states but Nevada, I thought prostitution was illegal throughout the U.S. I am very interested in learning the history of prostitution, where it came from and why. The most interesting part of prostitution to me, though, is the age group it is centered around. I hope writing this paper allows me to explore many new issues for myself. One of the first issues that I wanted to explore was the reason that most women get started in the prostitution industry. I wondered if they wanted to go into this work and what circumstances put them where they currently are. A 1998 study done
Today there are many reasons why prostitution persists. Currently the work also includes men. Many people use prostitution as a means of survival. Compared to the current minimum wage of $5.25/hour, "the average prostitute in the U.S. grosses between $100 and $200 a day" (WAC Stats 51). While I can understand those against prostitution, I have found nothing that proposes a different means of survival for the many people that use prostitution to stay alive. There have been a number of reforms to try to end prostitution throughout the history of the United States. I wanted to look at the reforms that did not just try to end prostitution, but tried to find a solution. In the 1830's some of the first reforms against prostitution formed. John McDowall led an anti-prostitution reform movement in 1832, forming the New York Magdalen Society. By 1839 the Society was a national organization, that tried to change both men and women. The organization believed that although women needed to stop selling themselves, men needed to stop putting them in a position to. By the 1840's the organization changed their interpretation of the prostitution problem. They believed that poverty and male exploitation caused prostitution. The group advocated for higher salaries for women, becoming an early feminist group for equal rights. by the British Medical Association in South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, and Zambia found that about two thirds of prostitutes suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Of those studied, 92% said they wanted to quit the business. Most prostitutes have histories of childhood abuse, including sexual abuse, as well as homelessness, rape, other forms of assault, alcoholism, and drug misuse. The industrial era prompted many families to move toward cities for the jobs and opportunities. "Between 1860 and 1910 the urban population more than doubled" (Cristiani 3). The woman's role became the nurturer in the home, running the household. The man became the breadwinner, providing the family with all its material necessities. During this time period women were required, by society, to remain "pure" unt
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Approximate Word count = 1448
Approximate Pages = 6 (250 words per page double spaced)
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