Prostitution, Trafficking, and Cultural Amnesia: What We Must Not Know in Order To Keep the Business of Sexual Exploitation Running Smoothly

"Wise governments," an editor in the Economist opined, "will accept that. paid sex is ineradicable, and concentrate on keeping the business clean, safe and inconspicuous." That third adjective, "inconspicuous," and its relation to keeping prostitution "ineradicable," is the focus of this Article. Why should the sex business be invisible? What is it about the sex industry that makes most people want to look away, to pretend that it is not really as bad as we know it is? What motivates politicians to do what they can to hide it while at the same time ensuring that it runs smoothly?

What is the connection between not seeing prostitution and keeping it in existence?