“Prostitution” is an unfortunate term that groups together a diverse body of sex work, people, practices, ideas, and ideals. While a majority of the research and public policy focuses primarily on the (mostly) women who work in this industry, since the 1970’s attention has increasingly started focusing on a different population: the clients. Using economic metaphor, police and public policy officials often discuss this as getting at “the problem” from the demand side rather than focusing all of their attention on supply.
Collectively, these strategies are referred to as “anti-john” initiatives or tactics, and they actually date back to the early 1900s. But, feminist critiques in the 1970s that called for equal enforcement laws caused anti-john tactics to be taken more seriously. There are a variety of methods for countering sexual commerce that fall under the “anti-john” umbrella: use of surveillance cameras, seizing the cars used to solicit sex (sometimes taken and sold at auction as part of the penalty), community service, “John School” educational programs for men arrested for purchasing sex, “Dear John” letters sent to the homes of johns, reverse stings involving the use of women officers posing as sex workers, and public and private shaming (sending letters to registered auto owners and publicizing identities of arrested johns in newspapers, police website, and on billboards).
A Department of Justice assisted research program—DEMANDforum—has mapped where various strategies have been put to use in the U.S. (see left as well). It’s interesting to see how sex crimes are dealt with differently throughout the U.S. But, the map is also useful for getting a sense of the states that are making use of these strategies at the greatest rates and where such strategies are less relied upon. Zooming in on my community, I found that anti-john tactics are employed in both Buffalo (right) and Rochester (left), though Rochester uses more tactics than Buffalo.
Inequality by (Interior) Design 