Addressing Demand
No Buyer = No Victim = No Sex Trafficking
No Buyer
=
No Victim
=
No Sex Trafficking
At its core, sex trafficking is fueled by the basic principle of supply and demand. Traffickers make enormous profits by selling vulnerable human beings for sex (this is the ‘supply’). They can do this because there are willing buyers seeking to pay for sex (this is the ‘demand’). If no one purchased sex acts, viewed pornography, subscribed to live sex cams or engaged in promoting the commercial sex world altogether, our epidemic of girls, boys, women and men trafficked for sex would be gone.
The sex trade exploits survivors of child sexual abuse.
Studies have found that 80 percent of prostituted women in Canada and 82 percent in the U.S. were sexually abused as children. Forty-seven to fifty percent of prostituted people entered the sex trade before the age of 18.
Source: Pimp State by Kat Banyard
Purchasing sex is not ‘normal male behavior.’
Most sex buyers are men, but most men don’t buy sex. In any given year, only six percent of men purchase sex. Twenty-five percent of sex buyers purchase frequently, accounting for nearly 75 percent of transactions. This means there is an opportunity for the 94 percent of men who do not purchase sex to speak up.
Violence is extremely common in prostitution.
In a study of prostituted people, 73 percent reported physical assault; 62 percent reported having been raped; 67 percent met criteria for a diagnosis of PTSD; and 92 percent stated they wanted to leave prostitution.
Let's Talk:
Man-to-Man
TAT’s Man-to-Man Campaign fights the demand side of sex trafficking by giving individuals and corporations a platform to address harmful misconceptions about the sex trade, hold sex buyers accountable and prevent sex trafficking. Non-buying men and community groups can play a role by starting conversations and raising awareness. From a corporate perspective, addressing demand is as much a good business practice as it is the right thing to do. Through taking action, companies are demonstrating their high standards of business conduct and values, while also mitigating risk.
Combat trafficking through awareness about demand.
TAT’s free Addressing Demand resources include a video, brochure and wallet card. These resources can be used by companies, agencies, task forces, buyer-diversion programs, community groups and the public.
Prevent trafficking through demand-reduction policies.
TAT recommends companies adopt an anti-human trafficking policy with a demand-reduction focus that states company time or resources cannot be used to purchase sex, view pornography or to engage in other activities that fuel the demand for sex trafficking.