Forced Prostitution

Yes.  When a person says “No,” it means no – it doesn’t matter if s/he is a prostituted person or not.  Even if s/he agrees to do one sexual act, if the john forces him/her to do a different sexual act against his/her will, that is still rape. Prostituted people are much more likely to be raped than non-prostituted people. A national study in 2011 found that nearly 1 out of every 5 women in the U.S. has been the victim of an attempted or completed rape.¹ In comparison, an earlier study (in 1990) found that about 80% of women in prostitution have been the victim of a rape and that prostituted women are raped, on the average, eight to ten times per year² – although the numbers may be different if this study were done today.

¹National Intimate Partner and Sexual Violence Survey, Center for Disease Control (2011)
² Susan Kay Hunter and K.C. Reed, July, 1990 “Taking the side of bought and sold rape,” speech at National Coalition against Sexual Assault, Washington, D.C.