Violence against prostitutes
Encyclopedia
Violence
against prostitutes especially affects female prostitutes, who are at risk of violent crime, as well as possibly at higher risk of occupational mortality than any other group of women ever studied.
According to a study conducted on one hundred and thirty people working as prostitutes in San Francisco, as adults in prostitution, 82% had been physically assaulted, 83% had been threatened with a weapon and 68% had been raped while working as prostitutes.
, Germany. She managed to press the alarm button in her room and security personnel caught the perpetrator; in January 2006, in the same brothel, another prostitute was attacked with a knife by a customer; the woman working next door alerted security and the perpetrator was caught. The victim survived.
) are also sometimes targeted by serial killer
s, who may consider them easy pickings and less likely to be missed, or who use the religious and social stigma associated with prostitutes as justification for their murder.
The unidentified serial killer (or killers) known as Jack the Ripper
killed at least five prostitutes in London
in 1888. Due to the frequent murders of prostitutes at that time and place, however, it is difficult to be certain of the number killed by Jack the Ripper. These particular murders are distinguished from other murders of prostitutes during the same time period due to the post-mortem mutilations that occurred, and it is for that reason that other murders of prostitutes are not usually attributed to the Ripper, or are disputed.
Gary Ridgway
(aka the Green River Killer), confessed to killing 48 prostitutes from 1982 to 1998, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in American
history.
Robert Hansen
murdered between 15 and 21 prostitutes, near Anchorage, Alaska
, between 1980 and 1983.
Joel Rifkin
confessed to killing 17 prostitutes in the New York area between 1989 and 1993, without there having been a missing persons report filed on any of the women during that time.
More recently, Robert Pickton
, a Canadian who lived near Vancouver, made headlines after the remains of several missing prostitutes were found buried on his farm. He now stands charged with the murder of 26 Vancouver area women, and is suspected by police of killing at least four more (though no charges have been filed in relation to their murder).
In December 2006, Steve Wright
murdered five prostitutes in Ipswich
, England
(see 2006 Ipswich murder investigation).
Violence
Violence is the use of physical force to apply a state to others contrary to their wishes. violence, while often a stand-alone issue, is often the culmination of other kinds of conflict, e.g...
against prostitutes especially affects female prostitutes, who are at risk of violent crime, as well as possibly at higher risk of occupational mortality than any other group of women ever studied.
Homicide rate
The homicide rate for female prostitutes was estimated to be 204 per 100,000, which is considerably higher than that for the next riskiest occupations in the United States during a similar period (4 per 100,000 for female liquor store workers and 29 per 100,000 for male taxicab drivers). However, there are substantial differences in rates of victimization between street prostitutes and indoor prostitutes who work as escorts, call girls, or in brothels and massage parlors.Violent clients, pimps and police officers
Perpetrators include violent clients, pimps, and corrupt law-enforcement officers. Prostitutes themselves often take their clients to out of the way places where they are less likely to be interrupted, which is very convenient for their attackers. Being criminals in most jurisdictions, prostitutes are less likely than the law-abiding to be looked for by police if they disappear, making them favored targets of predators.According to a study conducted on one hundred and thirty people working as prostitutes in San Francisco, as adults in prostitution, 82% had been physically assaulted, 83% had been threatened with a weapon and 68% had been raped while working as prostitutes.
Licensed brothels
While women who work on the streets are the most likely to be victimized, attacks and even murders on prostitutes have also occurred in licensed brothels. For example, in June 2003, a Thai prostitute was murdered with a knife by a customer in the Pascha brothel in KölnKOLN
KOLN, digital channel 10, is the CBS affiliate in Lincoln, Nebraska. It operates a satellite station, KGIN, on digital channel 11 in Grand Island. KGIN repeats all KOLN programming, but airs separate commercials...
, Germany. She managed to press the alarm button in her room and security personnel caught the perpetrator; in January 2006, in the same brothel, another prostitute was attacked with a knife by a customer; the woman working next door alerted security and the perpetrator was caught. The victim survived.
Serial killers
Prostitutes (particularly those engaging in street prostitutionStreet prostitution
Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a...
) are also sometimes targeted by serial killer
Serial killer
A serial killer, as typically defined, is an individual who has murdered three or more people over a period of more than a month, with down time between the murders, and whose motivation for killing is usually based on psychological gratification...
s, who may consider them easy pickings and less likely to be missed, or who use the religious and social stigma associated with prostitutes as justification for their murder.
The unidentified serial killer (or killers) known as Jack the Ripper
Jack the Ripper
"Jack the Ripper" is the best-known name given to an unidentified serial killer who was active in the largely impoverished areas in and around the Whitechapel district of London in 1888. The name originated in a letter, written by someone claiming to be the murderer, that was disseminated in the...
killed at least five prostitutes in London
London
London is the capital city of :England and the :United Kingdom, the largest metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, and the largest urban zone in the European Union by most measures. Located on the River Thames, London has been a major settlement for two millennia, its history going back to its...
in 1888. Due to the frequent murders of prostitutes at that time and place, however, it is difficult to be certain of the number killed by Jack the Ripper. These particular murders are distinguished from other murders of prostitutes during the same time period due to the post-mortem mutilations that occurred, and it is for that reason that other murders of prostitutes are not usually attributed to the Ripper, or are disputed.
Gary Ridgway
Gary Ridgway
Gary Leon Ridgway is an American serial killer known as the Green River Killer. He murdered numerous women in Washington during the 1980s and 1990s, earning his nickname when the first five victims were found in the Green River. He strangled them, usually with his arm but sometimes using ligatures...
(aka the Green River Killer), confessed to killing 48 prostitutes from 1982 to 1998, making him one of the most prolific serial killers in American
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
history.
Robert Hansen
Robert Hansen
Robert Christian Hansen is an American serial killer. Between 1980 and 1983, Hansen murdered between 17 and 21 women near Anchorage, Alaska.- Early life :Hansen was born in Estherville, Iowa to Christian and Edna Hansen...
murdered between 15 and 21 prostitutes, near Anchorage, Alaska
Alaska
Alaska is the largest state in the United States by area. It is situated in the northwest extremity of the North American continent, with Canada to the east, the Arctic Ocean to the north, and the Pacific Ocean to the west and south, with Russia further west across the Bering Strait...
, between 1980 and 1983.
Joel Rifkin
Joel Rifkin
Joel David Rifkin is an American serial killer convicted of the murder of nine women , mostly drug addicted prostitutes, between 1989 and 1993 in New York City...
confessed to killing 17 prostitutes in the New York area between 1989 and 1993, without there having been a missing persons report filed on any of the women during that time.
More recently, Robert Pickton
Robert Pickton
Robert William "Willie" Pickton of Port Coquitlam, British Columbia, Canada is a former pig farmer and serial killer convicted of the second-degree murders of six women. He is also charged in the deaths of an additional twenty women, many of them prostitutes and drug users from Vancouver's...
, a Canadian who lived near Vancouver, made headlines after the remains of several missing prostitutes were found buried on his farm. He now stands charged with the murder of 26 Vancouver area women, and is suspected by police of killing at least four more (though no charges have been filed in relation to their murder).
In December 2006, Steve Wright
Steve Wright (serial killer)
Steven Gerald James Wright is an English serial killer, also known as the Suffolk Strangler. He is currently serving life imprisonment for the murder of five women who worked as prostitutes in Ipswich, Suffolk...
murdered five prostitutes in Ipswich
Ipswich
Ipswich is a large town and a non-metropolitan district. It is the county town of Suffolk, England. Ipswich is located on the estuary of the River Orwell...
, England
England
England is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It shares land borders with Scotland to the north and Wales to the west; the Irish Sea is to the north west, the Celtic Sea to the south west, with the North Sea to the east and the English Channel to the south separating it from continental...
(see 2006 Ipswich murder investigation).