“I took only one course in business management and economics, but it seems pretty basic to me. Without customers, you don’t have any business and you will fold Police have attacked prostitution with the wrong method. They’ve gone after the prostitutes. I think the focus should have been on the customer.”
—Chief Pierce Brooks Eugene, Oregon Police Department, 1978
When the problems of sex trafficking are examined, rarely are the customers—those who create the demand—the first consideration. These customers, often called “johns,” are faceless and unidentified; the everyman types who are not “as interesting” to discuss and are not perceived nearly as condemnable as traffickers or the individuals being trafficked. Additionally, sociological research often inadequately addresses the demand side of sex trafficking because of the difficulty in collecting data. Despite this difficulty, the University of Minnesota undertook to study the demand of sex trafficking in Minnesota, reporting the results in Mapping the Demand: Sex Buyers in the State of Minnesota. This note will explore the implications of that research. To lay a foundation for this discussion, Part II will include an explanation of the basics of sex trafficking, including the three main parties involved and the differing opinions regarding each party’s culpability. Part II will also include a discussion of two conflicting policies: that which advocates for legalized prostitution and believe that prostitution is valid employment; and that which perceives sex trafficking as inherent victimization and advocates for some type of criminalization. Part III will discuss Mapping the Demand, focusing on three major findings of the study: sex buyers in Minnesota are predominantly white men from middle and upper socio-economic backgrounds; Minnesota has individual markets tied together by the online marketplace; and sex buyers look to purchase a sexual experience based on power and control. Part III will also discuss the implications of these findings. Part IV will explore different types of john-targeted legislation. Part V will recommend a change to laws pertaining to johns in Minnesota. Finally, Part VI will discuss whether a change in law could solve or reduce the problem in Minnesota and considers the results of johns-of- trafficking-victims-targeted approaches in other states. This note argues for the implementation of johns-of-trafficking-victims- targeted legislation not only for those who would purchase commercial sex from minors, but those purchasing commercial sex from adults as well. Throughout this note purchasers and facilitators of commercial sex will be referred to using male pronouns and those who sell commercial sex will be referred to using female pronouns. This is because sex trafficking/prostitution purchasers and facilitators are male, and the victims are primarily female. However, it should be stressed that women can also be traffickers and purchasers of commercial sex, and males can be victims.
