NCJ Number
192584
Journal
Women, Girls & Criminal Justice Volume: 3 Issue: 1 Dated: December/January 2002 Pages: 1-9
Date Published
2002
Length
4 pages
Annotation
This article reports on a Boston study that shows prostitution is not merely a criminal justice issue but also an economic issue, a family issue, a drug issue, a public health issue, and a business issue.
Abstract
Fifty women incarcerated at the Suffolk County House of Corrections-South Bay were interviewed between March 1998 and February 1999. The sample included women who were serving time for some prostitution-related offense. The study found that the average educational level of the women was the 10th grade, with 56 percent of the women never having completed high school. Fifty-six percent reported suffering severe verbal abuse; 46 percent reported physical abuse; 42 percent experienced sexual abuse; and 26 percent were raped before the age of 17. Drug use began early for the women. The median age at first cigarette use was 13.5; alcohol use was 14 years old; cocaine use was 17 years old; heroin use was 18.5 years old; and crack use was at 20 years old. Ninety-two percent of the women reported being addicted to one or more drugs. Sixty-eight percent stated that the primary reason they continued to work as a prostitute was to support their drug habit. Eighty-four percent used drugs, primarily crack and heroin, while providing services. The age at first paid intercourse ranged from 5 to 38, with a median age of 18. The women entered prostitution on a regular basis between the ages of 10 and 38, with a median age of 20. Sixty percent had contracted at least one sexually transmitted disease, and 16 percent said they were HIV positive. Eighty-four percent reported they wanted to quit prostitution. Over two-thirds reported being arrested five or more times for prostitution-related offenses; 62 percent reported that arrest served no socially useful purpose.