City starts two-year effort to reduce sex trafficking

I worked on human trafficking issues in the state. The difference is that in the past, women were treated like criminals and the johns were given a fine and a slap on the wrist, if that. They were given the benefit of the doubt, essentially. The difference is that it has taken a hell of a long time for society to realize that most of these women selling themselves for sex are victims of pimps and of the johns who hire them, and if you shame the johns, send them to "john school" and educate them on the lack of agency the woman they are buying actually has, it might make a difference in behavior. There is tons of emerging research out there, basically look in any criminal justice scholarly journal. Look at the work of researchers like Melissa Farley and Amy Farrell, who was my professor at Northeastern and an expert on domestic minor sex trafficking in the state. (The average age of entry into prostitution or "the life" is 14 years old - very rarely do women start as adults. So, they start as sex trafficking victims under the control of an adult male pimp, then when they turn 18 the law changes and they become adult offenders, even though the earlier they got in the life, the harder it is to get out). Basically, targeting the supply instead of the demand, because the women often times have no choice in the supply of it. This has worked very well in European countries like Sweden, where it basically started and has been a model for the demand reduction strategy. It is entirely run by the pimps, who often get slapped on the wrist with a "promoting prostitution" thing. The women often won't testify or press charges against the pimp out of fear. They take the charge for the pimp instead. So while I think that targeting johns is important in changing the discussion and perspective, research has shown that it is not effective unless it is a) you hit the pimps hard and with hard jail time; b) you secure protection and services for the prostitutes who work for them (look up Safe Harbor laws which protect domestic minor sex trafficking victims - which are new and we are still looking at the data on how effective they are) and c) law enforcement is aware of and trained in this policy and changes their way of thinking about the issue. Research has also shown that when it comes to changing perspectives on criminal justice, law enforcement has an organizational culture that is resistant to change. Training for them must be a long-term commitment and this has to be practiced frequently and it must filter down to the patrol level. There is a big difference between theory and practice, which is why I am reserving my thoughts on Walsh's new initiative until I see some details on how it is actually being implemented in the field.