the nia project: working for the safety of women and children

Women In Prostitution

Women who are involved in prostitution face daily abuse, rape, and physical violence, along with social isolation and stereotyping.

Women who become involved in prostitution do so through many avenues. For some women, entering prostitution is a choice they feel they can and must make in order to survive or make a better life for themselves and their families.

The vast majority of women become involved in prostitution through being manipulated and controlled by pimps, drug dealers, and people traffickers. Women are also often forced into drug dealing and may start to misuse drugs and alcohol as a coping mechanism.

Some women become homeless through abuse and violence at home, and are forced into prostitution as a way of surviving on the streets. Many young women who become involved in prostitution do so as a means of getting away from physical, sexual, and emotional abuse at home. For these women, prostitution may seem a safer place than the abusive homes they are escaping from.