An Analysis of Sexual Violence – The Relationship Between Sex Crimes and Prostitution in South Korea
Seo-Young Cho
Asian Development Perspectives 9, no. 1 (2018): 12-34.
An Analysis of Sexual Violence – The Relationship Between Sex Crimes and Prostitution in South Korea
Seo-Young Cho
Asian Development Perspectives 9, no. 1 (2018): 12-34.
A South Korean study of 480 male sex offenders found increased frequency of buying sex significantly increased the probability of committing sex crimes, including sexual assault, forced sex with a stranger, and forced sex with a partner. Purchasing sex from a prostituted minor (under the age of 20) exacerbated severity of sex crimes committed. Strong agreement with rape myths, lower levels of self-esteem, and sexual abuse by parents during childhood increased likelihood of committing sex crimes. Sexual abuse by parents during childhood, committing sexual assaults, forced sex with a stranger, forced sex with a partner, and agreement with prostitution myths increased the likelihood of buying sex.
This study examined the connections between prostitution and sex crimes in South Korea. It tested three possible relationships between prostitution and sex crimes: 1) that increased frequency of sex buying decreases sex crimes, 2) that increased frequency of sex buying increases sex crimes, or 3) that demand for prostitution has no effect on sex crimes. The study found support for #2: “…the experience of buying sex has substantial explanatory power over the probability of one committing a sex crime” (p. 24).
The data analyzed in this study were collected by the Korean Institute of Criminology using the Survey on Sex Criminals, which surveyed 480 male sex offenders in prisons or probation centers. The survey asked participants about how often respondents had paid for sex with either adults or minors (defined in this study as people under the age of 20 years) in the year prior to their imprisonment. The survey also asked participants about their belief in rape myths (e.g., women enjoy being raped) and prostitution myths (e.g., the belief that prostitution decreases sex crimes by providing an alternative way to act on sexual impulses). The study reported that:
Of note, this study did not examine acts of sexual violence committed against prostituted persons within the context of a commercial sex transaction, but only examined the effect of sex buying prevalence on probability to commit other sex crimes, outside the context of prostitution. While several other studies have demonstrated high levels of violence within prostitution,1 this study shows that the experience of buying sex may increase the probability of committing other sex crimes. These results also show that purchasing sex with minors is related to more severe, violent types of sex crimes, perhaps because buying sex with a minor is already legally rape (regardless of the commercial aspect).
The author of this study is rightly cautious about concluding that their research demonstrates a causal relationship between buying sex and other types of sexual violence. The study is based on self-reports of prior sex buying, and willingness to disclose or conceal that behavior may be correlated with willingness to commit other offenses, rather than a correlation with the actual behavior of purchasing sex. With cautions about the findings not being proof of direct causation kept in mind, this study nevertheless is an important contribution to the body of evidence showing the strong overlap between the populations of men predisposed to buy sex and those willing to commit violent sex offenses against women and minors.2 This strongly suggests that sexual violence and the purchase of sex may arise from shared sets of traits and attitudes of men “at risk” of these behaviors.
This study adds to the collective evidence and refutes the contention that removing all restrictions on prostitution will reduce sex crimes and provides counter-evidence of the presumed benefits of legalized or fully decriminalized prostitution advanced by its advocates. The role of power and control in explaining rape is consistent with the evidence provided in this study that refutes the claim that prostitution can reduce sex crimes by satisfying the sexual desires of potential offenders, and provides further evidence that buying sex may instead promote other forms of sexual violence.