Psyhlogical Effects of Prostitution on the Sex Workers

Many prostitutes extinguish their emotions while they are with customers. At least that is the case for Roberta Victor, a prostitute who was interviewed in Working by Studs Terkel. At the outset of her interview, Victor claims that “The role one plays when hustling has nothing to do with who you are” (57). However by the end of the interview, she states that “You become your job. I became what I did. I became a hustler. I became cold, I became hard, I became turned off, I became numb. Even when I wasn’t hustling, I was a hustler. I don’t think it’s terribly different from somebody who works on the assembly line forty hours a week and comes home cut off, numb, dehumanized. People aren’t built to switch on and off like water faucets” (65). Victor seems unaware of the fact that she contradicts herself by stating that she becomes her job [a prostitute] when before she said that she is a different person when she works. Her mindset and analytical process has changed enormously. What factors affected her mindset, from her being able to separate her work from her identity to her thinking that she has become a hustler? What are the psychological and physical effects of prostitution on a prostitute? What factors lead prostitutes to have such a mindset? Is there a way to decrease the effect prostitution has on a prostitute’s mental and physical state? The psychological effects of prostitution are mainly Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD), somatization and stigmatization, and anxiety and depression. The physical effects of prostitution include the high risk of STDs, sexual or physical violence, and introduction to drugs and alcohol. This mindset and alteration of the analytical process is the result of exposure to violence through prostitution. So far it has been said that counselling, cognitive behavioral therapy, and medication can help ease the symptoms of PTSD; however, there is no permanent solution because the condition requires ongoing treatment to control the symptoms and improve the sufferer’s life. Even though are also solutions being found to decrease the physical effects of prostitution in order, there is no perfect solution. There is not any type of medication or therapy that eliminates the psychological or physical effects of prostitution completely.

One of the strongest psychological effects of prostitution on prostitutes is Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD). PTSD is characterized by anxiety, depression, insomnia, irritability, flashbacks, emotional numbing, and hyper alertness. Symptoms are more severe and long lasting when the stressor is a person ( Farley, “Is”). According to Melissa Farley, “PTSD is normative among prostituted women” (“Is”). In San Francisco, Farley conducted an experiment with one hundred and thirty prostitutes were fifty-five percent of them stated that they were sexually assaulted as children and forty-nine percent of them were physically assaulted as children. As adults in prostitution: eighty-two percent had been physically assaulted, eighty-three percent had been threatened with a weapon, sixty-eight percent had been raped while working as prostitutes, and eighty-four percent reported current or former homelessness. In accordance to the one hundred thirty people interviewed, sixty-eight percent of them met the DSM III-R criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD (Farley et al., “Prostitution, Violence”). My interpretation is that most PTSD symptoms are caused by the different types of lifetime sexual and physical violence that can begin from childhood and continue to adulthood. According to Farley, seventy-three percent of the total four hundred and seventy-three people interviewed in five different countries (South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, USA, and Zambia) reported that they had been assaulted in prostitution, and sixty-two percent had been raped in prostitution (Farley et al. , “Prostitution in Five”). Any prostitutes who experience any trauma type of PTSD can result in PTSD. Researchers discovered that out of the five hundred prostitutes interviewed world-wide, sixty-seven percent of them suffer from PTSD.

Another psychological effect of prostitution which is slightly more complex is somatization. Somatization is the production of recurrent and multiple medical symptoms with no discernible organic cause. Somatization disorder results in women who were assaulted in childhood and were sexually abused. Somatization is the result of negative affectivity and feelings of incompetence (Christiansen). The relationship between trauma and somatization appears to be a result of PTSD. Somatic symptoms are common among prostitutes who are trauma survivors. According to Dorte M. Christiansen, depression, dissociation, and anxiety are not associated with degree of somatization. Not much research has been conducted on somatization and its disorders among prostitutes.

Another psychological effect of prostitution is stigmatization. Stigma is “a mark of disgrace associated with a particular circumstance, quality, or person”. Stigma emerges in relationships in the sense that people learn to judge, condemn, stereotype, and fault others for having certain characteristics, (skin color, weight, physical disability) or engaging in behaviors (illicit drug use, smoking, sex work) that are considered socially or culturally disrespectful (Agustin). Stigma usually involves blaming, shaming, and status loss of the sufferer and is often related to social anxieties and fears, and a related need to maintain social order or control. It’s also been said that powerful social norms and values effects lead to negative stereotypes such as that sex workers or prostitutes are considered immoral, unclean, or dangerous. Prostitutes who are often negatively stereotyped and tend to mainly be identified by a certain characteristic think that this characteristic is their sole defining characteristic, just as how Roberta Victor begin to think that she was a prostitute not a woman who worked as one. Some prostitutes worry about “perceived stigma,” and so, they do not socially interact out of the fear that people will treat them differently because they work in prostitution (Agustin). Another way individuals are affected by stigma is “enacted stigma” or discrimination when prostitutes are treated negatively because of the societal beliefs held about them (Agustin). However, unlike some prostitutes who internalize stigma, others perceive themselves as playing a role which is very important in society such as emotional or sexual health counselors (Agustin). Even though some prostitutes may stigmatize themselves, they are likely to not do anything about the discrimination that occurs. Even though some prostitutes resist stigma, they are likely to hide their jobs from family and loved ones because even if they think that they are completely resistant to stigma, many of them would secretly loathe themselves (Corrigan). Stigma is one of the stronger psychological effects of prostitution because there is a possibility that stigma can lead to stress disorders and mental illness (Corrigan). There are not many cures for stigma, however there is an ongoing argument that legalizing prostitution would help decrease the psychological effect of prostitution. I believe that researchers who argue that legalizing prostitution would help seem to think that prostitutes would not feel as stigmatized because it might seem to them that they are doing a job that is now legal and this would help increase their level of self-esteem. However, it is not completely likely that everyone would approve of the legalization of prostitution because people and societies may think that it is immoral and undignified.

The more common psychological effect are anxiety and depression. Anxiety can be the cause of PTSD. Anxiety and depression rates are high among prostitutes; however, according to Margarita Alegria, only nine point seven percent of them are actually receiving treatment and about seventy percent of the prostitutes suffer from depression (“Is”). According to Lloyd A. Goldsamt et al. , anxiety and depression are closely related to illicit use of drugs, and sexual behavior. Even though prostitution is illegal in Switzerland, Zhana Vrangalova in 2005 conducted research with one hundred ninety-three legally registered prostitutes in Zurich. The result of this research showed that thirty percent of the prostitutes were suffering from anxiety (Vrangalova). Anxiety and depression are very common among prostitutes and can lead to serious disorders and mental illnesses. They both are very harmful psychological effects of prostitution. Solutions and ways include meditation, socializing, therapeutic help, and exercise, but no permanent solutions have been found.

Prostitution also has many physical effects. One of these effects is STDs. Sexually Transmitted Disease [STD] are infectious diseases that spread from person to person through sexual intercourse or intimate contact. STDs are, nowadays, more common among teens; however, the numbers are still higher among prostitutes. Prostitutes can easily come in contact with STDs because of unprotected sexual intercourse. Prostitutes are generally known as the “high-risk group” (Gasper et al.). There is no one hundred percent chance to prevent STDs. Some STDs are curable while others are not. STDs include: Chlamydia, Chancroid, Crabs (Pubic lice), Genital herpes, Genital warts, Hepatitis B, HIV/AIDS, Human Papillomavirus (HPV), Trichomoniasis (parasitic infection), Molluscum Contagiosum, Pelvic Inflammatory Disease (PID), Scabies, Syphilis, Gonorrhea, and Trichomoniasis (Trich) (STD Awareness). STDs have been increasing since 2006, the CDC estimates a prevalence of one hundred and ten million new STDs annually in the US, which costs approximately sixteen billion dollars in healthcare expenses alone (“STD Awareness”). In my opinion, these are astronomically high rates. The rates of STDs are five to sixty times higher among sex workers than the general population (“STD Awareness”). Studies have shown that only forty-seven percent of prostitutes (women) know what their HIV status is (“STD Awareness”). Steps can be taken to prevent STDs; however, there is no guarantee. STDs can be prevented by using latex condoms, avoiding sharing towels or underclothing, washing hands before and after sexual intercourse, getting a vaccination for Hepatitis B, getting tested for HIV, abstaining from sexual intercourse. These are some of the ways that you can prevent to catch an STD.

Another physical effect of prostitution is sexual/physical violence. Roberta Victor reports that when she was a streetwalker she had been raped and knives over her head. According to Sophie Day conducted a survey in London in 1989-91, that one hundred and thirteen out of the one hundred and ninety-three women who reported assault were prostitutes. Sexual violence is very common among prostitutes. Beatings, rape, and even murder are generally considered “occupational hazards” of prostitution. A prostitute’s work and personal life are both full of dangers because of the constant danger of their customers. There are not any real solutions that would completely eliminate sexual and physical violence; however, measures can be taken to decrease the violence.

Last but not least, drug use is one of the biggest physical effects of prostitution. Not only do drugs affect the prostitute but there is great possibility that they affect the clients also. Roberta Victor states that she did drugs (heroin, cocaine, and grass) as a recreational activity; however, soon she became addicted and she worked in order to maintain her drug habit. According to WIkipedia, there are forty to eighty percent streetwalkers that abuse drugs. Researchers have found that the choice of drug can be important to the prostitute in serving real or perceived functions; such as putting on an act during work (the perceived function) and helping them remain themselves during their private lives (the real function) (Wikipedia). It has been said that prostitution and drug addiction/ abuse are closely linked because some people go into prostitution in order maintain their drug habit, while prostitutes get to “use” drugs through prostitution. This is why drug addiction can be considered a physical factor of prostitution. Solutions are more psychological based for the physical effect of drug addiction. Solutions of overcoming one’s drug addiction include: limiting the amount of drug intake, removing any reminders of your addiction, and asking your family to help support your abandonment of drug usage (“Teen”). I believe that it would also help if they remind themselves of the dangers that can be the result of drug overdose, such as the dangers of heroin being: mood swings, withdrawal, nausea, and even death. If a drug addict reminded themselves, I believe they would have a better chance of overcoming their addiction.

Prostitution is illegal yet it still occurs. However, prostitutes and sex workers do not understand how their job changes their mindset and analytical process. Prostitution has many psychological effects which include PTSD-Post Traumatic Stress Disorder, anxiety and depression, and somatization and stigmatization. The physical effects include the high risk of STDs, sexual and physical violence, and the introduction to drugs. Even though some of these effects are curable others are not, and most of these are caused by participation in prostitution. Prostitution is serious and people need to understand the side effects of it.