What we’re calling for
We're advocating for laws in the US and abroad that:
- Make buying sex a felony (or international equivalent)
- Protect victims of the sex trade from being criminalized, and ensure they are offered services to escape a life of exploitation
For most of those who are being sold, entering the sex trade isn’t a choice.
It’s the byproduct of a lack of choice, coupled with incredible vulnerability. But purchasing sex is always a choice.
Society typically frames the discussion on the sex trade around the “choice” of women, but almost nobody is talking about the “choice” of men who choose to buy sex. And that’s why this campaign is so important. It’s critical to put the onus where it belongs—on sex buyers.
An Explosion of Demand
Technology, globalization, and pornography have facilitated an explosion of demand for prostituted women and girls in recent decades.
The numbers are staggering. In the U.S., one in five men have paid for sex. In Germany, there are a whopping 1.2 million purchases of sex per day. In Thailand, up to 75% of men, including tourists, purchase sex. What is going on in our world?
Tragically, pornography has become a primary source of sex education for men and boys, grooming them to see women and girls as objects to fulfill their sexual fantasies. Combine that with the explosive global sex trade and the results are disastrous.
The Solution with a Proven Track Record
To end sex trafficking, we must pass laws that make sex buying a felony-level offense, prosecute traffickers to the full extent of the law, and protect victims of the sex trade from being criminalized. These victims must instead be offered exit services, to help them escape a life of sexual exploitation.
To accomplish these objectives, Sweden passed the Sex Buyer Law in 1999 and it has since been adopted in Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Ireland, Canada, France and Israel. Within the first few years of this law passing in Sweden, street prostitution was reduced by 76% and demand plummeted. Sweden now has the lowest rate of sex trafficking in the European Union.
A large report done on U.S. sex buyers found that when buyers perceive risk of arrest, it has a diminishing effect on sex buying and can be a powerful deterrent. Currently, only about 6% of men in the U.S. who purchase sex illegally have ever been arrested for it. This must change.
Your Call To Abolition
It’s time to light the fire of abolition and recognize the sex trade for what it really is: a system of violence against the most vulnerable—where sex buyers are funding sex trafficking.
We need your voice in this fight. Sign the petition to help make sex buying a felony, and to protect victims of the sex trade.
Together, we can uproot sex trafficking once and for all.
