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Reducing Demand for Prostitution

Most prostitutes are women. Their clients, commonly called "johns," are almost all men.

Most arrests associated with prostitution are arrests of the women; about 10 percent are arrests of the men who purchase commercial sex.

There are several approaches to reducing the demand for prostitution. These include public awareness and education campaigns, neighborhood watch programs, and efforts by law enforcement (such as Web and street-level reverse stings, surveillance cameras, and publicizing the names and photos of johns. However, to date the only strategies qualifying as "evidence-based practices" are arrest [1] and programs, called "john school," that make customers aware of the negative consequences of prostitution. [2]

In San Francisco's john school, (the official name is the First Offender Prostitution Program), first-time offenders who agree to pay the fee and attend a one-day workshop have the charges against them dropped if they avoid rearrest for another prostitution offense for a year after they attend the class.

An NIJ-funded evaluation of the First Offender Prostitution Program reported that the program:

• Produced positive shifts in attitude.
• Reduced the number of repeat johns.
• Was cost-effective.

Over the last 12 years, the program has cost taxpayers nothing because the fees paid by offenders cover all direct costs for educating the johns. The program has also generated nearly $1 million for programs that help prostitutes start another life.

This program has been successfully replicated in other cities and counties.