ABSTRACT
Until the last decade, efforts to deal with the problems caused by prostitution consisted primarily of arresting prostitutes, sometimes providing them with programs to support their exit from the street. Research on prostitution focused mostly on prostitutes, giving scant attention to the demand side, the customer.2 Feminist organizations, impassioned by their concern about violence against prostitutes, argued that the lack of attention to male customers was both unfair and ineffective. This led to new policies and research in the 1990s that targeted customers. Feminists and other supporters of these new efforts argued that, while prostitutes were often compelled to participate due to dire economic circumstances, fear of violence at the hands of a partner or pimp, or drug addiction, customers were more clearly choosing
to participate.3 Police began to conduct stings in which female officers posed as decoys to lure and arrest prospective customers. Special diversion programs designed to convince arrested men not to re-offend were started in several cities. And research focusing on customers and their motives led to a wealth of new information about these men.4
