No More Empty Promises: What It Really Means to Support Prostituted Persons

Supporting Prostituted Persons Means More Than Just Words

“Shaming women doesn’t work because that is not the root of the problem.” -Tonya GJ Prince

Too many people talk about supporting prostituted persons while ignoring the systems that force them into exploitation. They offer empty sympathy while refusing to confront the conditions that make it nearly impossible for so many to escape.

If we are truly about justice, about freedom, about protecting the most vulnerable, then our work must extend beyond shallow words.

Supporting prostituted persons means fighting for every possible barrier to be removed from their path—so they don’t have to let people use their bodies sexually just to survive. It means doing the hard work of prevention. Because if we don’t fight for prevention, we will always be playing catch-up while predators stay ahead of us.

We Must Prevent Child Sexual Violence—At All Costs

There is no conversation about prostitution that doesn’t start with child sexual violence prevention. The connection is too direct, too strong, too deliberate for us to ignore.

Survivors in prostitution overwhelmingly report histories of childhood sexual abuse, neglect, and exploitation. The trauma doesn’t begin when they enter prostitution—it begins when they are first harmed as children. And we live in a society that lets it happen again and again.

If we are serious about ending sexual exploitation, then we must be just as serious about:

• Strengthening child protection laws.
• Holding institutions accountable for covering up abuse.
• Eradicating so-called “child marriage”—which is legalized child sexual abuse.
• Shutting down sex tourism industries that allow predators to exploit children across borders.
• Ensuring every child has access to trauma-informed, Survivor-led prevention education.

A world that protects children before they are harmed is a world that prevents sexual exploitation at its root.

Supporting Prostituted Persons Means Fighting for a Livable Wage

When people don’t have enough to eat, when they can’t afford housing, when their children are cold and hungry, desperation drives vulnerability.

Yet in the U.S., we still have wages so low that full-time workers can’t afford to live. And the loudest voices who moralize about prostitution are often the same ones who block fair wages, housing protections, and social safety nets.

Women, especially single mothers, need real economic security. That means:

• Raising the minimum wage to a true living wage.
• Expanding protections for workers—especially women in precarious jobs.
• Demanding child care and family leave policies that don’t force mothers into impossible choices.

If a society doesn’t provide real economic options for women, then it is complicit in their exploitation. Period.

We Must Protect and Expand Safe Spaces for Girls

Safe spaces for girls are under attack. And not just from predators—but from people who deliberately dismantle spaces designed for girls to heal, learn, and grow.

This is happening in many ways:

• People attacking culturally specific healing spaces for Survivors. Black women, Indigenous women, religious women, immigrant women, women living in rural areas, women living urban areas,—each community has unique healing needs. Erasing those spaces doesn’t create “equality”—it strips Survivors of what they need most.
• The deliberate destruction of organizations that serve girls escaping violence. Shelters, community programs, and education initiatives are being defunded or outright shut down, leaving girls with nowhere to turn.
• Silence around the rise of digital exploitation targeting young girls. The internet has become one of the largest trafficking recruitment tools, yet we are not doing enough to hold platforms accountable. Nor does law enforcement and grass roots organizations have the resources it needs to stay ahead.

If we care about the future, we must fight to keep and create more safe spaces for girls, Survivors, and all vulnerable youth.

We Must Vote for Legislators Who Stand Against Sexual Exploitation

Laws matter. Policies matter. And who we put in power matters.

If we want to protect prostituted persons and prevent more people from being forced into sexual exploitation, we need legislators who:

• Support stronger sentencing for human traffickers and sex offenders.
• Fight against the normalization of commercial sexual exploitation.
• Refuse to let the U.S. become a safe haven for sex tourism.
• Increase funding for Survivor-led services.
• Demand tougher child protection laws that prioritize prevention over reaction.

This is not a passive fight. People who want to keep prostitution as an “option” are active, well-funded, and well-organized. If we are going to stand against them, we need to be just as strong, just as relentless, just as unwavering.

Real Support Requires Real Action

No one wakes up and says, I want to be exploited today.

Dangerous and violent males prey upon exploited persons. We do not have to support their vile, evil, and life-destroying “habit.”

We must create a world where no one is ever forced into prostitution because of poverty, abuse, or lack of options.

And that will only happen if we fight for prevention, fight for justice, and fight for Survivors—at every level, in every space, without compromise.