Prostitution is by far the deadliest situation a woman can be in. For women and girls in prostitution, the death rate is 40 times higher than the average. No group of women, regardless of career or life situation, has as high a mortality rate as prostitution.
Source: Kasja Ekis Ekman, “Being and Being Bought”, 2013
In 2003, a survey carried out among 800 prostituted people in 9 countries (Canada, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Germany, Thailand, Turkey, the USA, and Zambia) revealed that:
71 per cent had experienced physical assault while in prostitution
63 per cent had been raped while engaged in prostitution
89 per cent said they wanted to leave prostitution and said they would if they had the possibility
68 per cent met the criteria for a diagnosis of post traumatic stress disorder
Source: Prostitution Research and Education
Up to 95 per cent of women in street prostitution have a problematic drug addiction.
Source: Kat Banyard, “Pimp State”, 2016
According to Wikipedia, there are between 40 and 42 million prostituted persons globally. Estimates put the percentage of women between 80% and 98%. 99% of punters are men.
Source: Wikipedia, NZPC
In 2004, the prostitution trade was estimated to be worth 6 billion euros. The figure is now thought to be more than double that.
Source: Kat Banyard, “Pimp State”, 2016
Governments profit from prostitution; multinational companies organize it; it is even listed on the Australian stock exchange… The ILO estimates profits from trafficking alone to be 28.7 billion USD per year.
Source: Kasja Ekis Ekman, “Being and Being Bought”, 2013
Worldwide, sex trafficking alone generates US$32 billion a year.
Source: Siddharth Kara, “Sex Trafficking”, 2009
“Only 4.2 percent of the world’s slaves are trafficked sex slaves, but they generate 39.1 percent of slaveholders’ profits. To benchmark the astounding profits generated by the exploiters of sex slaves, one need look no further than the fact that the global weighted average net profit margin of almost 70 percent makes it one of the most profitable enterprises in the world. By comparison, Google’s net profit margin in 2006 was 29.0 percent, and it is one of the most profitable companies in the United States.”
“Drug trafficking generates greater dollar revenues, but trafficked women are more profitable. Unlike a drug, a human female can be used by the customer again and again.”
Source: Siddharth Kara, “Sex Trafficking”, 2009
In Germany alone, the prostitution industry involves – on a daily basis – 400,000 prostituted women and 1.2 million male buyers at a calculated annual value of 6 billion euros.
Source: Kasja Ekis Ekman, “Being and Being Bought”, 2013
Of 202 punters interviewed by researchers in Boston, 41 per cent said they knew that women they had paid for sex were under the control of a pimp.
Source: Kat Banyard, “Pimp State”, 2016
“At least 700,000 women are in prostitution in Bangkok today, 30,000 of whom are estimated to be under sixteen. In Korea and the Philippines, there are hundreds of thousands more. Eunice Kim, a human rights activist who is president of the Korea chapter of Asia Women United, claims that there are a million prostitutes in South Korea out of a population of 41 million.”
Source: Janice Raymond, “Women as Wombs”, 1995
A report on Kenyan sex tourism has revealed that up to 30 per cent of teenagers in some Kenyan coastal areas are prostituted. Many enter the sex trade as young as eight or nine.
Source: UNICEF