photo by mogmismo

Once upon a time, The Husband and I sat on a grassy hill in summer, looking out over miles of forest and fields, holding hands and talking about…politics. We were specifically discussing the American plans (at that time they were only plans) to build a big ol’ fence to keep the Mexicans out. The concept, to both of us, was patently idiotic. Whatever your take on Hispanic immigrants in the ‘States, it is easily apparent that building a chain link fence isn’t going to do much but piss them off. So after a few moments’ rant, we began discussing other walls throughout history. The Great Wall of China, the Berlin Wall, Hadrian’s Wall…and how they were all failed attempts at protection and, ultimately, separation of people who weren’t really that different. We talked about all the many ways that people try to draw lines, create Others, and the animal instinct to seek security through being part of a pack. We talked about a lot of things, but somewhere in the discussion we came up with an Idea. The Husband is a photographer, and I have a certain fondness for writing. The Idea was that we could travel the world, visiting all these walls (both ancient and modern), researching their history and talking to the people who lived around them. The Husband could photograph these walls and these people, and I could write about their stories. At the end of it all, we would make a book, and who knows? Perhaps people would read the book and some of them would decide that walls weren’t the solution. Perhaps some of them would even start to look for other ways to approach the difficulties we all face.

Unfortunately, we were broke (as we usually are), and so the idea got put on the shelf along with many other dreams that would be nice, some day…

The other part of the frame for my story takes place a couple of years later, just a few months ago. I was sitting in a coffee shop, chatting online with some dear friends in Australia. The topic was what you would really do, if you could live your life any way you want. And they weren’t quite sure at the time, but I had some definite notions. I wanted to write and to travel. I wanted a lot of things, actually, but at the center of it all was that. And from that conversation came the idea that, if only we could all figure out what we really wanted, we could be allies in helping every one of us to get there.

And then, one day about a week ago, I came home to discover that while I was gone The Husband had signed up for a contest. It’s a photography contest, wherein a $50,000 prize will be given to one person to go do the photography shoot of their dreams. And the idea he entered was…The Idea. The problem was that, to even get to the final round of judging, you had to be in the top 20 “popular” votes, meaning roughly that you had to have a hell of a lot of people show up on the site and vote your project up. And so I emailed a few people, and we went up a few points…and the other top contenders climbed higher and higher. And so I went through my address book again, adding a few more. And again we went up a few more votes, while others climbed steadily higher. Finally I just started emailing everyone I could think of, spammed my Facebook friend’s list, started begging my Mom to send it on to all those people she sends forwards of cutesy animals with their heads in the toilet. And we’re still barely hanging on to 20th place…but I started to realize something. These people, some of whom I hadn’t even spoken to in a year, were turning out to do a little bit to help. Some of them were doing even more, sending our plea on to all their friends, writing articles, helping to film a promotional video for Youtube… and for about the millionth time in my life, I found myself thoroughly humbled.

See, a few minutes to show up on a website and vote doesn’t actually cost any one person a lot, but no one has to do it. And it’s easy not to. There have been many, many times where I got some sort of “please take just a minute to…” email in my inbox, and dismissed it without even really reading it. I’m sitting here now, though, realizing that for whatever reason, a truly amazing number of people looked at my email and decided to lend a hand. It was ten minutes (I said in my email it would be five, but one respondent corrected me) to them…and each one left me feeling truly grateful, just a little closer to something I so desperately wanted. And I thought back to my conversation with my friends in Australia, and I realized this doesn’t have to be a pact among just a few people. We can, each one of us, pick something we really, really want, and then all help each other try to get there.

Today I spoke with a friend online to whom I haven’t really talked in a while. He was having a bad day. Not the end of the world, but with some real problems and no idea how to fix them. As we talked, I realized that there was something I could do, something that would get him a little closer to what he Really Wants To Do. So I just said I would. It’s as simple as that. We can all do whatever is in front of us, whatever is in our power, every chance we get, and know that maybe we are all helping each other get somewhere. It doesn’t have to be every man for himself. It doesn’t have to be sink or swim. We can all of us give whatever we can in any moment to help everyone else we care about get just a little closer to the life they really want. We can all be allies, well before all those walls come down. All it takes is just a little more.

So what I really wanted to say is thanks. To every person who took five ten minutes and tried to help me get a little closer to what I Really Want To Do, thank you. Whether or not we win this contest, you, bit by bit, gave me something more. I hope that when you see your chance you will let me know how I can help. Because you reminded me about what is really important…and you somehow gave me something to write about.

And…ok, yeah. I’m not so altruistic as to not add a plea here for my own cause. If you want to help The Husband and I be able to write our book, please go to our site and follow the instructions to cast your vote. It means a lot to me, and every single vote and comment creates a wave of excitement in our house that I wish you could see.

Now read that again, carefully: charged with

Looking over the website, the morbidly curious public (as well as potential employers, landlords, and lovers) can see the faces and names of those among us who may have committed a crime. There is no clear notation made upon the page that these people have not yet had their day in court, besides the fact that in small print it is stated that these are “Prostitution and Solicitation Arrests”. There is no system wherein this list is updated, should an individual be found innocent at their trial. They will be presumed guilty, and suitably dealt with by their peers.

Asheville is not the first city to take such action. Chicago, Wichita, Denver, San Diego, Arlington and Dallas, Corpus Christi, Saint Paul, and others are all on the same bandwagon, although some display only convicted individuals, and others at least note that those featured are innocent until proven guilty.

Many police departments have argued that these “shaming” programs are no different than the “Police Blotter” segments of local newspapers wherein recent arrests are listed. Such arguments are fallacious on their surface, considering that if there were no difference the new programs could not be expected to be particularly effective. The significant difference between the police blotter and the websites and televised targeting (and even, in some communities, billboards beside the highways) is that while the blotter is primarily used to inform, the prositution-targeted efforts are there to shame.

Privatizing Criminal Sanctions

Many police departments have found prostitution an extremely difficult crime to confront, as frequently convictions result only in a fine and the convicted repeating the behaviour (whether on the buying or selling side of the transaction). Sporadic raids and undercover sting operations are not sufficient deterrents to eliminate it. The latest trend, then, is to rely on the social deterrent of shame to do what fines and minor jail time cannot. Effectively, the system has decided to let the people provide the punishment.

The assumption being made is that public shaming of individuals who have broken the law (or may have broken the law) is an effective deterrent in stopping crime because no one wants to live with the consequences of public censure. And while it is undoubtedly true that no one would prefer to have their employment opportunities or living arrangements compromised, this assumption does not factor in the consideration that many who engage in prostitution (particularly street prostitution) already live on the fringe of society. Those choosing to work as prostitutes may already have encountered difficulty in finding adequate employment, and those who patronize them may already have difficulty in establishing “normal” social relations. In using shaming as a penalty for these individuals, we are simply compounding the circumstances which led them to act as they did in the first place. If, for example, a woman has resorted to prostitution because she cannot find employment sufficient to cover her expenses (whether those expenses are a dying mother or a crack habit), what effect will public shaming have on her future prospects?

Another flaw in the theory of shaming as punishment (which is discussed thoroughly in The Economics of Shame by Alon Harel and Alon Klement) is that there is an inverse relationship between the rate of its usage and its effect as a crime deterrent. Very simply, the more people who have been shamed, the less of a stigma it becomes. Furthermore, society itself incurs a cost in shunning individuals, in the sense that it limits the pool of individuals participating (i.e. A realtor whose face has appeared on one of these websites as “arrested for solicitation of crimes against nature” may well be shunned to the extent that he loses his business. The cost to society is one less realtor in the pool from which it can choose), and eventually the cost can become too high. The inevitable result of overuse of shaming punishments is that society will no longer shun those who have been exposed in this way, and the punishment loses whatever effectiveness it may have.

Finally, we must consider the risk, in communities where shaming techniques are employed prior to actual conviction, of innocent people having their lives ruined by these programs. Although the Asheville Police Department site does state that these are prostitution “arrests”, this is hardly an assurance that the community will withold their judgment until those featured have been convicted, particularly as there appear to be no plans to post the results of their trials once concluded. Furthermore, such a policy poses a risk to the local government, as the possibility of harming an innocent citizen opens the door to expensive lawsuits.

A Delicate Balance

Given the obvious flaws and risks inherent in these programs, consideration must be given to whether the problem actually necessitates such dubious measures to solve. The Asheville Citizen-Times reported on February 6 that local police have arrested more than 100 prostitutes in the last three years, with the current working pool being around 20-25 prostitutes. Hardly an epidemic in a town of 70,000. What, then, prompted local police to launch the shaming program?

Police Chief William Hogan, in response to my questions, stated that “The public is up in arms in the neighborhoods where prostitution is prevalent,” and that “The public is quick to blame the police for all of society’s failures and when the courts fail to deal with the problem that does not stop citizens from demanding that the police do something about the problem.” Unfortunately, at the time of publishing Chief Hogan had not responded to further questions regarding the level of complaint from Asheville citizens he had received or whether there has been an increase in prostitution in this area. What seems apparent from his original answer, however, is that local police perceive a great deal of pressure to eliminate prostitution but that the judicial system “has no impact since they receive a fine and are right back on the street carrying on with their business as usual”.

Is shaming so effective, then, that the risks and flaws are worth it? Chicago introduced its “shaming” program in 2005. Prostitution arrests did, in fact, go down by 16.2% in 2006. But then, so did almost every other category of crime, including many which did not have targeted shaming programs. Prositution arrests were already going down in 2005, when the plan was implemented. A 1982 survey did not find shaming programs to be particularly effective in deterring crime, and though modern psychological understanding would seem to support its potential effectiveness, statistics in communities where it has been implemented do not seem to indicate that it is working.

Are, then, the risks to the community engendered by prostitution so great that any effort to quell it is worth an attempt? It is often associated with other criminal activity, such as drug use and violence, but does prostitution create other crimes, or does it tend to exist in seedier areas where these other crimes are also, independantly, prevalent? While the notion that prostitution increases related violent crime is prevalent and generally accepted at face value, there have been no credible studies undertaken which can point to such a connection. With prostitution remaining an illegal activity in most of the United States, it naturally occurs most often in areas where one finds other illegal activity.

Looking For Solutions

While the legal status of prostitution is an extensive topic in itself, as long as we continue to rank it as an illegal activity we must compare the risks to the community of prostitution taking place in our midst to the risks to the community of any form of enforcement. Many dislike the sight of prostitutes working the streets, and the possibility of sexual acts taking place in public may be offensive. Prostitution may bring down the values of property in neighborhoods where it is obvious, due to its association with other criminal activities. As a result of the unregulated nature of illegal prostitution, it may contribute to the spread of sexually transmitted disease and unwanted pregnancy. These are not insignificant costs for the community to bear.

On the other side of the argument, we have implemented a program which seeks to publicly humiliate both prostitues and johns. The risk to society of this form of punishment includes the possibility of innocent people being harmed by public misjudgment, as well as the possibility of local government having to contend with expensive law suits, should any innocent person so maligned decide to seek legal redress. Furthermore, such a policy may well reinforce the social conditions which led individuals to work as prostitutes or employ them, in the first place.

At the closing of his correspondence with me, police Chief William Hogan stated:

If you have some realistic and effective solution to this problem I am all ears. I wish life was so simple that we could ask people to obey the law and they would graciously comply with our request.

As a local community, and as a culture, it is upon us to respond to this request. We cannot demand that our police solve all problems while refusing to give them the tools to do so. The question for each of us, then, is what really do we want them to do about it?