So what is a sex buyer profile?

According to the study “Who Buys Sex? Understanding and Disrupting the Illicit Market Demand”published by Demand Abolition, demographics are an incredibly poor predictor of who buys sex.

According to this study, “Race and sexual orientation have almost no profiling power. Buyers are found across the income distribution with one important exception: currently active high-frequency buyers are much more likely than other men to make $100,000 or more annually.”

Active sex buyers are 25% of the total buyer population and account for 75% of reported paid sex transactions.

In the same study, the why of sex buying is also highlighted:

NOTE: This study is based on survey completed by 8,201 adult males in the U.S. between December 2016 and January 2017. The questionnaire was developed by a team of researchers and approved by the University of Portland’s Institutional Review Board. It is important to note that all the respondents are MALE.

Culture Shift

Address societal views on masculinity

The way our culture views masculinity and gender. In a culture that values masculinity that is aggressive, domineering and aggressive, it is no wonder that sex buyers’ attitudes toward people veer toward commodification. If we as a culture can shift the way people view masculinity, then not only will the demand for buying sex be reduced, but so will violence against others as a whole.

A CALL TO MEN is a national organization that works to shift the culture to more healthy masculinity. “A CALL TO MEN is a violence prevention organization and respected leader on issues of manhood, male socialization and its intersection with violence, and preventing violence …”

Counter Normalization

Bystander intervention education is important so peers are empowered to challenge false narratives within their networks and to facilitate discussions on consent, sexual harm and relationship power differential.

Survivor voices are necessary. When we say survivor, we mean survivors of sex trafficking, commercial sexual exploitation and the sex trade industry. All their voices are necessary when we look at curbing demand, sexual violence and changing views on commercial sex.

Comprehensive Sex Education is necessary in changing the normalization of sex buying and reducing demand on a long-term basis. Programs for adolescents can help youth understand the non-normative nature of sex buying and other forms of gender-based violence.

— Taken from Demand Abolition, “Understanding and Disrupting Illicit Market Demand”

It is never a deterrent to arrest a prostituted person.

A common deterrent strategy is arrest of the buyer, and according to the Demand Abolition report recommendation, a “shift in law enforcement’s finite resources from arresting and adjudicating prostituted persons and towards arresting and adjudicating buyers” is an effective strategy to deter buying.

The study does highlight sex buyers’ fear of arrest. However, sex buyers know they are unlikely to get arrested. Only 6% of the surveyed sex buyers have ever been arrested for the crime.

With that being said, there must be a basic understanding that in an effort to crack down on sex buyers, prostituted people are to NEVER be arrested for the sake of the sting by law enforcement.

It also needs to be said that police should not harm or exploit already exploited people in an effort to arrest sex buyers. Some police use their position of power to control prostituted people, and that is completely unacceptable. Service providers and exploited persons report frequent abuse by police. In a study done by the American Public Health Association, police abuse highlighted an increase in violence — by police, of course — but also by buyers. According to Police-Related Correlates of Client-Perpetrated Violence Among Female Sex Workers in Baltimore City, Maryland, “Frequent exposures to abusive police practices appear to contribute to an environment where client-perpetrated violence is regularly experienced. For FSWs [female sex workers] who inject drugs, police exposure and client-perpetrated violence appear amplified”

READ — Tactics in prostitution stings raise questions

“Implement mandatory minimum fines of adjudicated buyers to help offset costs of survivor exit services, effective long-term buyer education programs, and law enforcement demand operations.
While mandatory minimum fines of convicted buyers can fund operations, it is just as important—if not more important—that these fines support victim and “exit” services for prostituted persons, including trafficking victims. Not only does this strategy help ensure sustainable funding for such services, but our data demonstrate how it is needed to reinforce the corrective message that sex-buying harms prostituted persons. This message is best delivered through effective long-term sex buyer education programs, which should be mandated as a condition of adjudication rather than as a diversion alternative.” From “Who Buys Sex? Understanding and Disrupting the Illicit Market Demand” published by Demand Abolition.

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