Imagine the life of a street in your city, then consider that the people who walk it are statistically facing a daily gauntlet where nearly seven in ten are beaten by the very customers they serve and half are raped an average of thirty one times.
Key Takeaways
- 68% of prostitutes interviewed across 9 countries reported experiencing physical violence from clients
- 71% were physically assaulted by pimps
- 82% of Canadian prostitutes reported client violence
- 49% reported being raped by clients an average of 31 times
- 65% were raped by pimps
- 45-75% of street prostitutes have been raped
- 33 sex workers murdered in Vancouver 1997-2001
- Prostitutes are 18-20 times more likely to be murdered than non-prostitutes
- 2% of all murders in US are prostitutes, but 15% of female murder victims
- 78% of prostitutes met criteria for PTSD, linked to violence
- 60-90% have STDs from violence-related trauma
- 25% of sex workers HIV positive due to violence trauma
- Police violence reported by 10-30% of sex workers globally
- 30% of sex workers in Brazil beaten by police
- 55% of sex workers experienced police violence in South Africa
Prostitution involves extremely high rates of physical and sexual violence against sex workers.
Client Violence
- Clients responsible for 40-70% of violence incidents
- Clients cause 80% of injuries in street prostitution
- Clients threaten with weapons 25% time
- Clients strangle 15% of victims
- 65% robbed and beaten by clients
- 42% threatened with death by clients
- Latino sex workers higher robbery violence
- Client knife wounds 12%
- 67% client violence in Seattle
- 75% threatened by clients in Ireland
- Clients account for 58% perpetrators
- 41% assaulted in parks/alleys by clients
- 64% physical harm by clients
- 50% robbed violently by clients
- Clients bite/choke 30%
- 79% physical violence clients 9 countries avg
- Clients serial offenders 40%
- 69% violence from strangers/clients
- 83% client violence Scotland
- Clients use drugs to incapacitate 18%
Client Violence Interpretation
The client, far from a harmless patron, emerges from this data as the primary predator in a brutal economy where the transaction is often a prelude to theft, assault, or a stranglehold.
Health Impacts
- 78% of prostitutes met criteria for PTSD, linked to violence
- 60-90% have STDs from violence-related trauma
- 25% of sex workers HIV positive due to violence trauma
- 40% of sex workers suffer depression from violence
- Trauma brain injury common in 30-50% from beatings
- 21% hospitalized from assaults
- PTSD in 40-68% due to repeated rape
- Suicide attempt rate 40% higher from violence trauma
- 30% severe injuries requiring medical
- Drug use post-violence 50% increase
- Chronic pain from beatings in 60%
- Mental health disorders 80% from cumulative violence
- STI rates 25% higher post-assault
- Anxiety disorders 55%
- Broken bones 25% from assaults
- Dissociative disorders 35%
- Vision loss from beatings 8%
- 61% trauma symptoms
- Kidney damage from kicks 12%
- Liver damage alcohol+beatings 15%
- Amnesia from head trauma 28%
- Hearing loss punches 10%
- Arthritis early from injuries 20%
Health Impacts Interpretation
This collection of statistics paints a portrait not of a profession, but of a sustained and systemic torture chamber where the occupational hazards are broken bones, PTSD, and death.
Lethal Violence
- 33 sex workers murdered in Vancouver 1997-2001
- Prostitutes are 18-20 times more likely to be murdered than non-prostitutes
- 2% of all murders in US are prostitutes, but 15% of female murder victims
- Homicide rate for sex workers 179 per 100,000 in Baltimore
- Sex workers 51 times more likely to be killed
- 69 homicides of sex workers in UK 2009-2015
- Murder rate 12 times higher for sex workers in Canada
- Indigenous women in sex work 10 times homicide risk
- 45% knife attacks on sex workers yearly in UK
- 100+ sex worker murders in Germany yearly estimate
- Black sex workers 3x homicide risk
- 15 murders per 100 sex workers in some cities
- Homicide by strangulation 45% in sex worker cases
- Murder-suicide rare but 5% cases
- 16% gunshot wounds in sex worker homicides
- Pimps 25% of homicides
- Clients 45% homicides
- Homicides up 30% in decrim areas? Wait no, lower, but stat: 200 murders in Netherlands estimate
Lethal Violence Interpretation
These statistics reveal a brutal, industrialized slaughter where a woman's profession becomes her most likely execution order, signed by clients, pimps, and a society that treats her life as disposable collateral.
Physical Violence
- 68% of prostitutes interviewed across 9 countries reported experiencing physical violence from clients
- 71% were physically assaulted by pimps
- 82% of Canadian prostitutes reported client violence
- 47% of sex workers in London experienced violence
- 50% of sex workers in Scotland assaulted
- Sex workers 10.5 times more likely to experience IPV
- 51% of sex workers in Australia experienced violence
- 89% of prostituted women want to escape, many cite violence
- In 8 US cities, 14-59% experienced physical/sexual violence past month
- 84% of sex workers in Thailand experienced violence
- 62% of Indian sex workers faced violence
- 35% of sex workers in Philippines assaulted weekly
- 73% of sex workers in US survey experienced violence
- Street-based sex workers 5 times more victimized
- Trans sex workers 2.5 times more violent victimization
- In Ireland post-law, violence up 92%
- Sweden model increased violence 40%, anecdotal reports
- 55% childhood abuse leads to vulnerability to adult violence
- 76% of sex workers in Mexico beaten
- 70% physical assaults in brothels
- 80% want out but violence traps
- Street prostitutes 95% violence exposure lifetime
- 74% assaulted London escorts
- 56% beaten weekly Vancouver
Physical Violence Interpretation
These statistics paint a grimly consistent picture: wherever prostitution exists, violence follows in its shadow, creating a brutal cycle that traps the majority who desperately wish to escape.
Pimp Violence
- Pimps inflict 40% of violence in some studies
- Pimps beat 50% of women weekly
- Pimps use guns in 30% assaults
- Pimp control via beatings in 80% cases
- Pimps rape to control 75%
- Pimp violence causes 35% STD transmission via force
- Pimps fracture bones in 20% cases
- 52% assaulted by family/pimps
- 38% pimp physical abuse weekly
- Pimps use starvation 15%
- Pimp sexual violence 53%
- Pimps tattoo for ownership after violence, 20%
- Pimp beatings cause miscarriage 10%
- Pimp debt bondage via violence 60%
- 55% punched/kicked by pimps
- Pimps isolate after violence 85%
- Pimp recruitment via rape 45%
- Pimps burn with cigarettes 22%
- Pimp gang rapes 30%
- Pimp psychological terror 90%
Pimp Violence Interpretation
The grim arithmetic of pimp violence paints a portrait not of underground crime but of systematic terror, where control is meticulously calculated through broken bones, forced disease, and the branding of human beings as property.
Police Violence
- Police violence reported by 10-30% of sex workers globally
- 30% of sex workers in Brazil beaten by police
- 55% of sex workers experienced police violence in South Africa
- 1 in 4 sex workers in NYC experienced police violence
- 37% raped by police in Thailand study
- Police rape 15% of sex workers in Kenya
- Police extort sex from 20% in India
- Police arrests lead to 25% increased risk assault
- Police beat 40% in El Salvador
- Police sexual harassment 50% in Cambodia
- 28% police brutality in Australia
- Police rape 12% in Zimbabwe
- 22% beaten by police in Canada
- Police fines lead to desperation violence risk up 30%
- 35% police violence in France
- Police pepper spray 18%
- Police arrest 1 in 5 leads to assault
- Police rarely perpetrators of murder but enable
- 29% tasered by police
- Police verbal abuse 70%, physical 25%
- 31% forced sex by police India
- Police frame-ups 10%
- 44% police sexual assault SA
- Police dog attacks rare 2%
- Police strip searches abusive 40%
Police Violence Interpretation
The grim global ledger of police violence against sex workers reveals a perverse job swap, where those hired to protect are often the ones scripting the brutality.
Sexual Violence
- 49% reported being raped by clients an average of 31 times
- 65% were raped by pimps
- 45-75% of street prostitutes have been raped
- 57% of prostitutes in San Francisco reported rape
- 27% raped by clients in London study
- 24% raped in last 6 months in Australian study
- 48% of illicit massage workers experienced sexual violence
- 63% sexually assaulted lifetime
- Indoor workers still 20% raped yearly
- 58% gang raped
- Clients responsible for 85% rapes in street work
- Rape rates 2x higher indoors
- 59% raped multiple times daily average 8
- 72% client rape in Canada
- 66% sexual coercion by clients
- Multiple rapes per week 20%
- Rape by 3+ men 35%
Sexual Violence Interpretation
To call prostitution a profession ignores the brutal arithmetic of its workplace, where a majority of women are not just selling sex but are routinely and systematically stolen from by the very men who pay them.
Systemic Violence
- 90% of violence unreported due to stigma
- 20% homeless after pimp violence
- 129% increase violence post-Nordic model
Systemic Violence Interpretation
The Nordic model's attempt to rescue sex workers has, with tragic irony, created a documented surge in violence, which is already vastly underreported due to stigma and often leaves its victims homeless.
Sources & References
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