A friend confessed to me that years ago she had considered the possibility of working as a prostitute for a while while she was studying. They were the times of exposure and the long-awaited sexual freedom in Spain and practicing sex, even for payment, seemed like a liberating option “Thank goodness I didn’t get to do it,” she told me, horrified after investigating the reality of prostitution.
This is the glamor of hell into which some fall and to which the vast majority are pushed and forced. In our days of social networks, millions of websites with sexual and pornographic content, more and more sexual exchanges of all kinds occur, including sexting, sending images of sexual content or nudes, and flirting by many teenagers with the exposure of their body. in digital media, some obtaining financial benefits from it, easily entering pornography, possible entry point into prostitution
And it is that The merit of prostitution has been, in many cases, to camouflage its psychosocial effects with the packaging of marketing associated with glamour.
The psychological and social effects of prostitution
The data I present comes from serious research and scientific work. Let’s see the reality of this false glamor of prostitution.
1. Exposure to abusive situations
86% of women who end up practicing prostitution are physically, mentally and verbally abused and/or were sexually abused in his infancy
2. Violence, abuse and sexual degradation
Some studies have found that prostituted women are up to 200 times more likely to suffer a violent death than the normal population.
3. Presence of trafficking of minors
The average age of initiation into prostitution is between 13 and 14 years (US data). The general and majority picture is women and girls who have been sexually abused and exploited since childhood and who are deterred through a mixture of violence and the use of apparent glamour.
4. Vulnerability of women
90% of prostituted women in Spain They are imported as merchandise from Eastern countries, Africa, the East or South America Most are victims of poverty, some are illiterate. This condition is not only the cause of their victimization but also a consequence of remaining trapped and unable to escape. Many do not speak our language after several years here.
5. Sexually Transmitted Diseases
Logical in an activity where on average between 20 and 30 sexual relations are performed a day, where many clients request unprotected sex and where the exchange of bodily fluids is inevitable, including saliva, urine, semen and feces.
6. Harmful effects on health
Gynecological disorders, chronic pelvic pain and forced abortions They are common among women who have up to 30 sexual relations a day and we can get an idea of the delicacy of sex buyers. In Germany, sex with pregnant women up to 6 months old is very normalized, legal and advertised as another service, even in groups, with serious consequences not only for the woman but obviously for the fetus.
7. Eating disorders
People who fall into prostitution live without a schedule, they can “work” all night and get up at noon or when a client arrives, which leads them to snack between services and consume caffeine or other stimulants without having a regular breakfast, lunch or dinner time.
8. Addiction to alcohol and other drugs
These addictions allow them to survive the situation “anesthetized” in addition to allowing greater control by the mafias.
9. 75% are raped
Extreme physical abuse is suffered by the majority. 95% are attacked and physical attacks or forced abortions are inherent to their activity something normalized and trivialized by many: “if they are there it will be because they like it.”
10. Psychological abuse
Insults and humiliations are part of this world where men pay to use and humiliate a woman The self-esteem of a woman who is abused and insulted daily ends up completely destroyed.
11. Depression, anxiety, irritability and insomnia are common
Anxiety and depression are a logical consequence of the situation of lack of protection, abuse and violence and are usually the basis from which other symptoms and disorders develop.
12. Pathological relationships
Due to the stigma and reality of prostitution, there is a distancing from families that is usually surrounded by lies and a tendency towards isolation. Over time they end up interacting only with colleagues, pimps and clients until they develop a pathological relationship with the men whom they see through the prism of their relationship with the clients.
The majority already learned how to treat men from their childhood, the time of their beginning in prostitution or their sexual abuse.
13. Tendency toward isolation and lack of expectations
The continued practice of prostitution becomes a pit of destruction and degrading adation, since people who work offering their bodies feel that they are not good for anything else. The majority are transferred from club to club every few weeks, which makes their social relationships and roots difficult.
14. Possibility of developing Post-Traumatic Stress Disorder
Up to 68% of them suffer from it. This is a very serious disorder, with a rate of suffering greater than that suffered by war veterans and greater in those who are in the clubs than those who are in the street
15. Possibility of developing dissociative disorders
Dissociative disorders such as Depersonalization Disorder cause persistent periods of distancing oneself, or feeling like an alien observer. These serious disorders, as well as drug addiction, are a way to mitigate pain and anxiety, as well as torture and even a slow death.
Suicide also becomes a door of escape although the mafias are in charge of maintaining threats to them and their families, and also the hope of escaping, paying off the debt or leaving that world to fulfill the dream of a normal life.
Is not always that way?
Some will say: But this will only happen to some, there are many prostitutes and escorts who live very well, as shown in some television programs and other media.
The reality is that prostitution is linked to violence, abuse, the position of superiority of man over woman a situation of gender abuse since more than 99% of clients are men.
It must be taken into account that the data presented is obtained from the average number of women who practice prostitution. It may be that some claim to be at another level, one in which all of this does not affect them, but over time, the first violation will come, as well as psychological or physical abuse; Estrangement from family can also be gradual if not direct rejection or difficulty maintaining a relationship with a partner or family.
Some woman may say that she chose that kind of life, but that does not dignify the fact of being used by many men, of risking life and health. It may be that some young and strong woman or some man too, believes that she is above all that, and is curious about that world. This article is especially for them and to show data that many hide, taking into account the power of the sex industry.
