In Episode 48, Marian Hatcher, Dr. Michael Shively, and Jamey Caruthers join the Ending Sexploitation podcast as experts on how to combat the demand for prostitution (ie. Sex buying).
Why focus on combatting the demand for prostitution (ie. Sex buying)? Is combatting demand an effective way to reduce sex trafficking? Is it affordable and accessible for law enforcement? What kind of tactics and strategies can be used to deter sex buyers? How does full decriminalization of prostitution affect demand reduction efforts?
These are some of the questions explored by the experts on Demand who join the Ending Sexploitation podcast for this episode. These experts include Marian Hatcher of the Cook County Sherrif’s Office, who has worked on countless law enforcement initiatives targeting demand; Jamey Caruthers, the Director of Demand Reduction and Policy at Street Grace; and Michael Shively, long-time researcher on Demand and Senior Advisor on Research and Policy.
Our guests discuss strategies for incentivizing law enforcement to focus on demand, and lowering the cost and difficulty of doing so. For example, the fines collected from sex buyers can be used to fund anti-demand initiatives or exit services for prostituted persons. Raising the offence of sex buying to a felony has also been shown to increase law enforcement’s motivation to go after sex buyers. The development of AI has also greatly expanded the realm of possibility for what anti-demand efforts can achieve.
Our guests also discuss the versatility of anti-demand tactics and how there are still ways to combat demand, even in countries where sex buying is legal. At the same time, full decriminalization of prostitution does seriously impede a large majority of anti-demand tactics, particularly those that rely on law enforcement. As such, fighting full decriminalization goes hand in hand with combatting demand.
Tune in to this episode learn more!
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