The Effects of Prostitution on Girls' Future in Post Conflict Liberia

Seminar paper from the year 2015 in the subject Sociology - Gender Studies, , course: Sociology, language: English, abstract: Prostitution is described as a practice of engaging in sexual relations for payment or benefits. There have been two schools of thoughts on prostitutions in society. Depending on the jurisdiction and community, prostitution can be legal or illegal. A global statistics shows that there are about 42 million prostitutes in the world. Prostitution is frequently viewed as a form of exploitation of or violence against women and children. It helps to create a supply of victims for human trafficking. However, there has not been any empirical examination and data of the effects and causes of this social phenomenon in Liberian society, specifically in the in the Center Street community which is the focus of this term paper. Thus, the purpose of this study is to bridge this gap in the literature by providing knowledge of the effects of prostitution among young girls between ages of 18 to 35 in the targeted community.

The Center Street is a local community situated in central Monrovia, which harbors some of Liberia's leading and professional prostitutes the country had ever known. A prostitute by definition is one who exchanges sex or sexual favors for money, drugs and other desirable commodities. According to academicians as well as public opinions, there are many reasons why women enter the world of prostitution. While many of these reasons may be important to examine, relatively few capture the experiences of women.

As such, I will argue in this paper, after presenting some of the basic underlying assumptions that are frequently associated with this controversial subject, that some approaches to understanding prostitution are more valid than others. Historically, it appears that prostitution is something that is typically looked down upon and viewed as morally repugnant-something in which only women with low self-esteem and low socioeconomic status participate. This, however, is not always the case. Prostitutes as well as the men who use them come from all walks of life; in fact, some prostitutes make a great deal of money. Many people have difficulty in understanding how individuals end up in the prostitution industry. Similarly, many prostitutes have a difficult time leaving prostitution. This paper will explore a high degree of investigation from those involved as well as feminist perspectives to identify the root or background factors that lead someone into prostitution and its effects on girls' future.