We’ve just had some new flyers printed. Headlined, ‘What did you want to be when you were growing up’, they briefly set out risks and harms of prostitution, introduce the Nordic Model and provide a comparison with full decriminalisation, (the alternative pushed by those who are desperate for the sexploitation industry to expand and be considered a legitimate business), along with some stats, quotes, and a job spec for prostitution.
The flyers are printed on A4 folded over, making four pages of A5. You can download the PDF or buy a pack of 50 printed flyers in our website shop.
Below, is the image and the full text of each page of the flyer, with links that provide references and further information. Click the images to download a high resolution version.
What did you want to be when you were growing up?
What did you want to be when you were growing up? A doctor? A hairdresser? Maybe a teacher? Perhaps you thought you might be an astronaut or a rock star? Chances are you didn’t see yourself eking out a living in risky and dangerous situations catering to every male desire and fetish.
The idea that prostitution is a normal job and a good solution to women’s poverty is gaining ground. But is this what we really want? The job centre sending single mums and girls just out of school down to the local brothel? Buying sex considered no different than having a haircut?
When you scrape off the sugar-coating, many of the things we expect in the workplace, like career progression, protection from sexual harassment, and health and safety standards, simply do no exist in prostitution. If dentists have to wear masks, goggles and protective clothing just to look in your mouth, what kind of protection would you need to conform to health and safety standards when having full on sexual intimacy with multiple strangers?
Employers are required by law to protect employees from harm. Risks and harms of prostitution include:
- Infections including gonorrhoea, chlamydia, herpes, syphilis, hepatitis, HIV and others, some caused by microbes resistant to antibiotics. Unwanted pregnancy.
- Injuries to the vagina, anus and rectum, including tears, abrasions, fissures and fistulas. Damage to abdominal and pelvic areas that can lead to incontinence, pain and infertility.
- Brain injury through strangulation and other acts of physical violence. Traumatic brain damage at levels comparable to boxers and victims of torture.
- Dissociation. PTSD incidence in range 47-68%, higher than in combat veterans. High rates of mental disorders correlating with high levels of violence from pimps and buyers.
What is the Nordic Model?
The Nordic Model (also known as the Sex Buyer Law, the Equality Model, and the Abolitionist Model) is a human rights-based approach to prostitution law and policy. It recognises the prostitution system as part of the structural oppression of women and other marginalised groups, and as both a cause and a consequence of the persistent inequality between the sexes.
It is the only approach that prioritises support, assistance to exit and alternatives for those caught up in prostitution (almost all surveys show that the overwhelming majority are desperate to get out out), while holding pimps and sex buyers to account.
Specifically, the Nordic Model:
- Decriminalises the selling of sex and provides those doing so with high-quality, non-judgemental support services, genuine routes out and alternatives.
- Strengthens laws against pimping, brothel keeping and human trafficking.
- Makes buying sex a criminal offence with the key aim of changing men’s attitudes and behaviour.
- Must be accompanied by a whole raft of holistic measures, including a public information campaign, education in schools and colleges, training for the police and other front line officials, and tackling the inequality and poverty that drive people into prostitution.
What is the alternative?
The alternative, full decriminalisation (‘decrim’), involves the decriminalisation of all aspects of the prostitution industry, including pimping and brothel keeping. The prostitution industry is treated like any other business and there is no public funding for services to help women exit the industry. It was implemented in New Zealand, where it has not been the success that is often claimed.
Graphic
- Zero men will suffer physical harm if prostitution is abolished.
- Millions of women will be spared physical harm if prostitution is abolished.
A comparison of the two approaches
| Nordic Model | Decriminalisation | |
| Selling sex is legal? | Yes | Yes |
| Services for those selling sex, incl. genuine routes out? | Yes | No |
| Pimping is legal? | No | Yes |
| Brothels are legal? | No | Yes |
| Buying sex is legal? | No | Yes |
Who are we talking about?
- 99% of sex buyers are male.
- 85% of people selling sex are female.
In a study of UK sex buyers:
- 27% believed he was entitled to any act he wanted.
- 47% believed the woman had no rights.
- 49% had bought sex abroad.
In a study of women in prostitution:
- 70% had been sexually abused as children.
- 75% had been homeless.
- 89% wanted to leave prostitution.
What he said:
- Men go to prostitutes so they can do things to them their girlfriends would not put up with. (Quote from the Eaves study.)
- I punt because I like young, pretty girls who are young enough to be my daughter or even granddaughter. (Quote from the Eaves study.)
- I feel sorry for these girls, but it’s what I want. (Quote from punternet)
What she said:
- I would go somewhere else with my thoughts until he got off me and it was over. I don’t know how else to explain it except it felt like rape. It was rape to me. (Woman interviewed in Melissa Farley, 2007, Legal Brothel Prostitution in Nevada. In M. Farley (Ed.), Prostitution & Trafficking in Nevada: Prostitution Research & Education.)
- We want real jobs, not blowjobs. (Aboriginal Women’s Action Network speaker at the One is Too Many Summit, Vancouver, 2009.)
- I was used like a public toilet. (Spoken contribution from a prostitution survivor at Nottingham Women’s Conference 2013.)
Prostitution Job specification
This was compiled by women who have survived prostitution, including Esther who discussed it at an event in Coventry in 2023.
General tasks: Sexual activity with multiple male strangers, regardless of their age, appearance, attitude, health, or hygiene standards. Every orifice must be available. Act degrading scenes from porn.
Responsibilities: Never complain. Simulate pleasure. Be convincing. Do whatever the buyer wants, even if it hurts or disgusts you. The buyer is always right. Conform to unrealistic standards, even when pregnant or distressed. Abandon personal and health & safety boundaries to remain competitive.
Career development: Typically downwards as you get old, less desirable and less able to tolerate the abuse. Potential negative impact on future career ability to work. Physical, emotional and spiritual damage. Social isolation. Substance abuse.
Immediate boss: Brothel owner, human traffickers, escort ‘agencies’, pimps, and every buyer.
Desirable qualifications: As young as possible. A fuckable body. Vulnerability. Ability to dissociate. Lack of social support. A history of prior abuse, exploitation, self-harm, homelessness or being in care. Poor.
Remuneration: Fluctuates due to deliberate over-recruitment by brothel owners etc. leading leads to pressure to extreme porn-related demands from buyers. No pension, sick, or holiday pay.
Deductions: Large deductions to pimps, brothel owners, drivers and others offering ‘protection’ whilst being the greatest source of danger, or facilitators of it. ‘High end’ only means higher overheads and outgoings to satisfy buyers’ expectations.
Occupational hazards: Being urinated and defecated on, being strangled, raped, tortured. Long-term disability due to repeated internal and external injury. PTSD and other enduring mental health challenges.