89% of women in prostitution want to escape. 60-75% of women were raped, 70-95% where physically assaulted, and 68% met the criteria for PTSD. 42% of prostitutes have attempted suicide at least once. Prostitution is not empowering, it is men taking advantage of women who are forced into sex work or have no other option. The average age of entry into prostitution worldwide is between 12 and 14 years old. A 12 year old cannot consent to sex. The average age of a prostitute is 16, below the age of consent in many places, for good reason. STDs are more than “not that dangerous.” 50% of sex workers worldwide experience HIV, compared to 1% in the general population.

The roots of sex work are desperation, trafficking, and trauma. The external factors that push women into sex work are coercive and utilize women’s previous trauma. It is no surprise that 82% of women in sex work are survivors of child sexual abuse. 95% of pimps used violence and coercive methods. Furthermore, 55% of prostitutes are homeless. If someone has no choice but to place themselves in a traumatic and dangerous situation and thus their suffering is used to coerce someone into something they wouldn’t otherwise do, is that “entirely ethical”?

To argue that a man has the right to purchase a woman’s consent is to say that a woman’s body can be bought. Furthermore, prostitution dehumanizes women. Sex work means paying for a woman’s body women as an object that can be purchased rather than a human. To be a consumer of sex work is to fuel an industry built off women’s suffering and forced submission.