Atlanta's "school for johns"

Society has been quick to place full blame on the women working as prostitutes in our cities. Although it is a crime, it should be understood that these women are highly exploited. Often times they are beaten, raped, drugged and trafficked into the profession against their will.

Here in Atlanta we are one of the top cities in the world for child sex trafficking, meaning many "working girls" are underage and forced into sexual slavery which calls for action. The women and girls selling their bodies have felt the persecution. Now it's time for their customers or 'Johns' to learn their lesson.

They will be schooled as told in an article in The Sunday Paper by Diane Loupe. The article tells us that representatives for the Mayor's office, the Atlanta Police Department's vice unit, the municipal court system and the Georgia Network to End Sexual Assault are now coming together to begin planning out Atlanta's first school for johns. Basically these bullies will pay a big fine to be educated about the 'truths of the trade' said Loupe.

This program will be modeled after a similar school, The First Offender Prostitution Program, in San Francisco. At this school the John's tuition is $1,000, a small price to pay for their actions, but "a recent study found that men who attended the school were far less likely to patronize prostitutes." And that is reason enough to implement a similar program here in Atlanta.

The curriculum for the model school includes the following lessons in the eight hour class:
-Prostitution law and street facts- focuses on legal consequences of subsequent offenses and the high probability of johns' getting robbed or assaulted in the act of prostitution
-Health education-Describes the elevated risk of STD or HIV infection associated with prostitution
-Effect of prostitution on prostitutes- looks at the long term negative effects on prostitutes such as mental and health problems, vulnerability to rape and assault, drug addiction and exploitation
-Effect of prostitution on the community-describes the drug abuse, health hazards and violence that results from this crime
-Sexual addiction-focuses on how involvement in commercial sex may be driven or become sexual addiction and how to find help for this condition
-Dynamics of pimping, recruiting, and trafficking- discusses how pimps and traffickers control, exploit and traffic women and girls for profit and how local street prostitution is linked to human trafficking at large, as told in the Final Report on the Evaluation of the First Offender Prostitution Program: Report Summary.

Fees paid by the johns' go back into the San Fran school, helping to meet costs as well as subsidizing police vice operations, screening and processing of arrestees and supports the recovery of the women involved in commercial sex. Stephanie Davis, policy advisor on women's issues for Mayor Franklin, says though they are using FOPP for a model, officials are still working out details for Atlanta.

Although the school won't end prostitution it is a giant step forward. Now is the time for action. Now is the time to end sex trafficking and the exploitation of women and girls here in Atlanta and around the world.

Author: Miranda