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Unified Family CourtTraining1.13.2016Peter QualliotineDirector of Men’s AccountabilityOrganization for ProstitutionSurvivors
In a three-week period,men in King County,Washington searchedonline to buycommercial sex 107,000times
King CountyProsecuting Attorney’sOffice has identifiedover one hundredwebsites wherecommercial sex is sold
Understanding Prostitution as GenderBased Violence
The Social Construction of Gender
“Act Like a Man”
“Most men think that sex willprovide them with a sense of beingalive, connected, that sex will offercloseness, intimacy, pleasure. Andmore often than not sex simplydoes not deliver the goods. Thisfact does not lead men to ceaseobsessing about sex; it intensifiestheir lust and their longing.”- bell hooks
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The “Good Girl/ BadGirl” Dichotomy
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“Prostitution isn't like anything else. Rather,everything else is like prostitution because it isthe model for women's condition.”-Evelina Giobbe W.H.I.S.P.E.R.
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Bystanders
Buyers
Pimps
Victim/Survivors
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PROSTITUTIONECOSYSTEM
Program Areas
•Survivor Services
•Community Education
•Men’s Accountability
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Robust exit services for victim/survivors(adults and children) should be thecentral focus of a coordinatedcommunity response to commercialsexual exploitation.
Demand Reduction, Prevention andCommunity Education programmingshould be survivor-informed andaccountable to survivors.
Addressing Demand
There is no Demand for Trafficking; Demand is forsexual access to the bodies of women andchildren in prostitution.
Men’s feelings of Entitlement drive Demand.
OPS and King CountyProsecuting AttorneysOffice received fundingfrom Demand Abolition in2014 to reduce Demandfor Commercial Sex inKing County
Direct Interventions with Commercial Sex Buyers and potentialBuyers along a spectrum of Prevention and Intervention
Spectrum of Direct Interventions focusedon Individual Buyers and Potential Buyers
Parenting Boys
Teaching Empathy and Respect to Children
Middle and High School Prevention Curricula
Awareness promoting Men’s Accountability
Online Deterrence
Outreach
Interruption
Arrest
Prosecution and Conviction
Post-Conviction Intervention Program
PrimaryPrevention
SecondaryPrevention
TertiaryPrevention/
Intervention
“Most men lead lives ofquiet desperation andgo to the grave with thesong still in them.”-Henry David Thoreau
“I feel horrible. I realize that I was usingprostitutes as receptacles for my own shame.They didn’t deserve that”
- SSE Participant
Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex:summary of findings and recommendations
As in other studies of sex buyers, sex buyers expressedambivalence, guilt and negative thinking about buying sex. They feltjust as many negative feelings after buying sex as they did before.
Many sex buyers sought sex that lacked emotional connection. Theyhad little objection if the woman they purchased pretended to likethem or actively disliked performing the act of prostitution.
Sex buyers repeatedly commented that they liked the powerrelationship in prostitution and that they liked the freedom from anyrelationship obligation.
Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex:summary of findings and recommendations
Both sex buyers and non-sex buyers evidenced extensiveknowledge of the physical and psychological harms ofprostitution.
Two thirds of both the sex buyers and the non-sex buyersobserved that a majority of women are lured, tricked, ortrafficked into prostitution.
Many of the men had an awareness of the economic coercionand the lack of alternatives in women's entry into prostitution.
Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex:summary of findings and recommendations
Almost all of the sex buyers and non-sex buyers shared theopinion that minor children are almost always available forprostitution in bars, massage parlors, escort and otherprostitution in Boston.
Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex:summary of findings and recommendations
The knowledge that the women have been exploited, coerced,pimped, or trafficked failed to deter sex buyers from buyingsex.
Many of the sex buyers had used women who were controlledby pimps at the time they used her for sex.
Sex buyers in this study seemed to justify their involvement in thesex industry by stating their belief that women in prostitution areessentially “different from non-prostituting women.”
Comparing Sex Buyers with Men Who Don’t Buy Sex:summary of findings and recommendations
Both sex buyers and non-sex buyers subscribed to the theory thatprostitution reduces the likelihood of rape.
Although half of the study’s sample did not buy sex, many of themwere tolerant of prostitution for men who did.
These findings suggest that efforts to deter sex buyers shouldexpand their focus from men who buy sex to the general public’sattitudes that support prostitution.
“Why did we need a new model program?”
Traditional
“John School”
Diversion
One class
Large group
lecture format
Claims effectiveness
“Shotgun Approach”
Information based
“Stopping Sexual Exploitation: aProgram for Men”
Post Conviction
Multiple sessions
Individual and small group
Interactive exercises
Acknowledges limitations
Clear pedagogical goals
Process based
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ThreeProcess-Based goalsof SSE
“This class helped me take a good long hard look atmyself and my relationships. I want to use this tomake my relationship with my wife a mutualrelationship rather than a controlling one where Iam trying to control her.”
- SSE Participant
What we are asking of our partners:
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Stopping Sexual Exploitation: a Program forMen (SSE)
The program consists of 2 sessionsof Motivational Interviewing followedby an 8-week group class.
Motivational Interviewing Sessions
Motivational Interviewing is a method that works on facilitating andengaging intrinsic motivation within the participant in order to changebehavior. MI is a goal-oriented, client-centered counseling style for elicitingbehavior change by helping clients to explore and resolve ambivalence.
First session is by phone
Second session (same counselor) is in person one week prior to groupstarting at the venue where group program will be held
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The class consists of 8 modules designed to haveparticipants explore the roots and motivations as well as theimpact of the practice of sex buying.
1.Male gender socialization: Myths of Male Sexuality and the Construction of MaleSexual Identity
2.Female gender socialization and prostitution as gender based violence
3.Pornography, Sexual Objectification and the Sexual Violence continuum
4.Domestic Violence, Pimping and Prostitution
5.Oppression and Prostitution
6.Vulnerability
7.Mutuality and Consent
8.the Will to Change: Where do we go from here?
“I really liked this class, but eight weeks is notenough. We have been in this problem for years soeight weeks is not long enough, we need more.”
- SSE Participant
SSE EVALUATION
•EDUCATIONAL PROGRAM
•NOT A CLINICAL INTERVENTION
•PROVIDE INFORMATION AND EDUCATION
•CHANGE IN BELIEFS, ATTITUDES, ANDBEHAVIORS
•NORM CHANGE TOWARD SEX BUYING
GUIDELINES FOR DEVELOPING SSE PRoGRAMEVALUATION
•WHAT WILL BE EVALUATED?
•ASPECTS OF THE PROGRAM CONSIDERED FOR JUDGINGPROGRAM PERFORMANCE
•STANDARDS FOR SUCCESS
•EVIDENCE FOR HOW PROGRAM HAS PERFORMED
•CONCLUSIONS ON PROGRAM EFFECTIVENESS
•EVALUATION DATA USED TO IMPROVE /ADUST PROGRAM
SSE PROGRAM EVALUATION
•24 QUESTIONS
•7 QUALITATIVE RESPONSES
•CATEGORIES
•HAS YOUR THINKING CHANGED ABOUT PROSTITUTION AFTERPARTICIPATING IN SSE?
•WILL YOU BUY SEX AGAIN?
•IMPACT OF SEX BUYING?
•Program Improvement?
HAS YOUR THINKING CHANGED - “YES” 100%
•Made me aware of the hell these girls go through and I never wanted to exploit them again.
•I feel like I know the underlying issues which lead men to prostitution & gives you a way to solve for it.
•Has given me a new perspective on the sex for money business
•It helps me to bring changes on me as well as my friends
•To try to find another way other than sex
•More thoughtful of what is typically involved
•Before I never thought about the prostitute side of the equation. before it seemed like a victimless crime
•I had no idea the horrible things women in prostitution go through.
•I realized that there is more to prostitution than buying sex that many societal problems surround it and manyinjustices are present in the process.
•After this program I learn and realize that what I do is totally unacceptable
•I didn’t know what was behind it before, like the pimp stuff and abuse
•It was enlightening to know some of the facts, and realize how detrimental prostitution is.
•I realized that there is more to prostitution than buying sex that many societal problems surround itand many injustices are present in the process.
•I have a better understanding of the "person" behind the prostitution.
DO YOU THINK YOU WILL BUYSEXAGAIN?
•95% - “NO” (N = 41)
IMPACT OF SEX BUYINGDisagree – Agree1 - 5 (Mean)
•I will talk to other men about negative impact of buying sex 4.14
•Prostitution buying had a negative impact on my life 4.69
•Prostitution buying had a negative impact on others in my life 4.77
•Prostitution buying had a negative impact on prostituted women 4.6
What did you learn in this program?
•Learned how what we learned about being a man growing up continues to influence us and make us feel entitled.
•It's okay to unpack how you feel. There are slippery slopes we all can go down; so stay cautious & accountable on what'sdriving it.
•1) How much a nightmare of a life women in prostitution live. 2) Learn a lot about how to develop and improve myrelationship with people, especially my wife
•I learned about how prostitution isn't really a choice and that even if I did treat her nice it won't stop the pain that shemight receive from others.
•We need to change how we men think about sex, love, relationships
•That buying sex doesn't fulfill my needs and causes harm.
•Higher level of empathy for vulnerable people & women involved in sexual exploitation.
•Looking back changed the way I think moving forward
•To change this problem with prostitution I need to change first
•Too many things, it was a full program and awesome modules
•Keep this program going to educate the community & spread the word
What Did You Learn About Men’sAccountability
•Men who pay for sex increase the demand and help to keepprostitution thriving.
•That it is just as much our fault for buying sex than the pimp whoforces her on the street.
•It's absolutely needed to educate men about this.
•We are responsible for perpetuating this market.
•Men are rarely accountable & can't figure it out. What is wrong withthem.
How Would You Improve the Program?
•Make it available in other languages, maybe do a distancelearning alternative to people that want to do this voluntarily.
•Bilingual classes
•Preventative program and enroll more men
•The program was very useful and informative
“This class opened my eyes to things about myself and my life thatare hard to face. I related these things to myself, and the stuff thatI thought didn't pertain to me. I learned how I can change myselfwhich can help to change these things for others too. I never caredfor or understood how these things really do affect me until now”
-SSE Cohort 1 Participant
Peter QualliotineDirector of Men’sAccountability
www.seattleops.org
