Summary: <p>Benjamin Nolot and Laila Mickelwait talk about the myth promoted by those that support prostitution of the independent, empowered, and liberated “sex worker” and how the reality of prostitution tells a much different story.</p> <h4>Show Notes</h4> <ul class="list"> <li>“The world as we have created it is a process of our thinking. It cannot be changed without changing our thinking” – Albert Einstein</li> <li>Field research that took place in nine countries (five of the nine were countries where prostitution is legal and regulated) surveyed 854 prostituted women and the study concluded that 60-75 % of women in prostitution were raped, 70-95% were physically assaulted, and 68% met the criteria for post traumatic stress disorder within the same range as treatment-seeking combat veterans and victims of state-organized torture. <a href="http://isites.harvard.edu/fs/docs/icb.topic1001965.files/Week%2011%20Readings/Farley%20et%20al%20%20Prostitution%20and%20Trafficking%20in%20Nine%20Countries.pdf">View the Research</a> </li> <li>A study published in the American Journal of Epidemiology found that the mortality rate of women in prostitution to be 200 times higher than the general population. <a href="http://www.usprisonculture.com/blog/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Am.-J.-Epidemiol.-2004-Potterat-778-85.pdf">View the Study</a> </li> <li>In 2012, researchers Cho, Dreher, and Neumayer published a quantitative, empirical analysis of a cross-section of up to 150 countries that revealed, on average, countries with legalized prostitution experience a larger degree of human trafficking inflows. <a href="https://eprints.lse.ac.uk/45198/1/Neumayer_Legalized_Prostitution_Increase_2012.pdf">View the Research</a> </li> </ul> <p> </p> <h4>Resources discussed in this episode:</h4> <ul class="list"> <li><a href="http://nefariousdocumentary.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Nefarious: Merchant of Souls documentary</a></li> <li><a href="http://exoduscry.com" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Exodus Cry</a></li> <li> <a href="https://www.amazon.com/Not-Choice-Job-Exposing-Prostitution/dp/161234626X" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">“Not a Choice, Not a Job: Exposing the Myths about Prostitution and the Global Sex Trade”</a> by Janice G Raymond, July 1, 2013</li> </ul>
