In the Chicago area and the rest of the nation, prostitution is illegal, but it is thriving nonetheless.
A 2002 study estimated the number of prostitutes in the Chicago area to be about 16,000. The study, conducted by the Center for Impact Research, found that about a third of the prostitutes interviewed began selling themselves for money before age 15.
In recent years, Chicago has been identified by the Justice Department as one of 13 cities nationwide where the trafficking of people — particularly children — for the sex industry is a problem.
“We’re seeing a growing number of women being trafficked in for the sex-trade industry,” said Samir Goswami of the Chicago Coalition for the Homeless, which advocates for prostitutes in the city.
Goswami said in recent years he has seen a shift in law enforcement regarding prosecutions in the city’s illegal sex trade. Where prostitutes once were the primary subject of arrest, numbers show an increased focus on arresting johns, or the men attempting to trade money for sex.
“Now about two-thirds of the arrests are the women,” he said, “while the last third are the johns.”
Illinois last year passed a law targeting those who profit from illegal prostitution. The law, the Predator Accountability Act, allows workers in the sex trade to sue people who profited from their prostitution. Goswami said his organization is in the process of helping to launch a free legal clinic that will allow women to pursue such lawsuits.
In addition, Melissa Farley, the prostitution researcher who recently released a scathing study of the Nevada industry, said her next project will examine what motivates men to pay for sex with prostitutes. One of the cities where such men will be interviewed is Chicago, she said.
