Prostitution &: Segregation

This series is called “Prostitution &.” The series will highlight the complex and multifaceted phenomenon that is commercial sexual exploitation. Today, I will discuss segregation’s ongoing legacy and how it relates to exploitation. You may also want to read previous posts in the series, “Prostitution &: An introduction,” “Prostitution &: Public Health,” and “Prostitution &: Poverty.”

An excellent example of how racist and sexist policy has increased — and benefitted from — the sexual exploitation of People of Color is Black Storyville, a neighborhood of Historic New Orleans, Louisiana.

New Orleans has a long-standing reputation for commercial sexual exploitation that cannot be extracted from its history of mishandling and displacing its most vulnerable (Long, 2004). A municipal ordinance in 1898 established the red light district, Storyville, between the French Quarter and the Garden District. Storyville was less racially segregated than gender segregated, requiring prostituted females to live within specific boundaries. Due to restrictive zoning, residents were displaced from their homes, creating a housing crisis that is ongoing today.

A portion of Storyville occupied by Black residents was referred to as "Black Storyville." Black Storyville has been credited for its contributions to the creation of jazz music. Its most famous resident, Louis Armstrong, reported that his mother, a teenager when his dad left, was a victim of prostitution (History Channel, 2018; Long, 2004). Black individuals made of 38% of the prostituted women in Storyville (Foster, 1990).

By 1900, Storyville had become New Orleans' largest revenue center (Asbury, 2016). In total, as many as 2,000 individuals between the ages of 12 and 54 were exploited in this district at any given time (Akbar, 2017; Foster, 1990). A "Blue Book" was published that could be purchased for 25 cents and listed the names and addresses of every "prostitute" in the district in alphabetical order (Arceneaux, 1995). The Supreme Court's Plessy v. Fergusson upheld the city's right to establish the district and, therefore, financially benefit from the exploitation of its residents.

Iberville is torn down after Hurricane Katrina.

In 1937, the U.S. Housing Act provided funding for the establishment of housing projects, and New Orleans was one of the first cities to qualify for funding (Long, 2004). New Orleans established six projects — two for Whites and four for Blacks. Iberville, the project built in Storyville's location, was meant to address the housing crisis following the Great Depression. Iberville quickly became well-known for crime, drugs, and prostitution. When Hurricane Katrina hit, Iberville's residents were again displaced. In an effort to "clean up" the area, the city has been working to make this displacement permanent as it is now prime real estate and a detriment to its tourism industry.

Atlanta has similar issues that date back to Jim Crow and continues today due to subprime loans and redlining (Rhodes, 2017; Leonhardt, 2013). Concentrated poverty, lack of mixed-income neighborhoods, single-parent households, and poor public transportation are some of the characteristics that account for the discrepancy in upward mobility for Black Atlantans. Coinciding with a shortage of work, individuals are forced to turn to other means of supporting themselves and their families. It is no coincidence, then, that Atlanta has become famous for its booming adult entertainment industry.

Convention centers, entertainment, major sporting events, trucking, and the world’s busiest passenger airport create an environment conducive for commercial sexual exploitation in Metro Atlanta. The Urban Institute has identified Atlanta as one of the cities with the highest incidences of child sex trafficking (Dank et al., 2014). Approximately 7,200 men in Georgia pay for sex with underage girls each month (Shapiro Group, 2010). Atlanta also ranks 5th in the nation for number of strip clubs per capita (Mathis, 2015). A paradox exists between a city's attempt at controlling and profiting from sexual exploitation and its desire to pretend like it does not exist — that it is clean and safe and can therefore profit from tourism and industry.

[As with prostitution,] ...poverty, in general, is considered pornographic, an embarrassing and shameful fact of life that leaders at all levels of government seem eager to shove into the shadows and otherwise render invisible. But there is no smoke screen large enough to obscure the fact that the poor are still with us and that their largely dark-skinned numbers are growing (Long, 2007).

In 2013, to "clean up" Atlanta, what is now called the "banishment ordinance" attempted to displace (or banish) any individual arrested for prostitution outside Atlanta's city limits (Jarvey, 2013). This ordinance received backlash from the anti-trafficking community, who included this writer. The ordinance is just one more example of how the elite continue to segregate and displace its most vulnerable rather than addressing the housing crisis that could help bring stability to its residents. Farley et al. (2004) found that 84% of individuals in prostitution in the United States had experienced current or past homelessness.

The next portion of the series — “Prostitution &: Barriers to services” — will be out next week!