“We Get a Lot of Crack Whores”: Official Perceptions of Rural Prostitution in Four Rural Counties

Abstract

“We Get a Lot of Crack Whores”: Official Perceptions of Rural Prostitution in Four Rural Counties Christine Mattley, Thomas Vander Ven, Kelly L. Faust Abstract While there is a well-established literature on prostitution in sociology, the lion’s share of it treats prostitution as an exclusively urban phenomenon. Given the paucity of knowledge on rural prostitution, our exploratory study attempts to shed light on perceptions of the sex trade in several rural counties. The current study employs the use of semi-structured interviews with law enforcement officers and with social service agency workers in four rural counties in Appalachia. Our informants shared their perceptions on the prevalence, distribution, and accomplishment of rural prostitution and lend understanding to the omission of the rural sex trade from most official sources of crime data. Law enforcement officers and social service agency workers also discussed the manner in which they are trained to understand and respond to prostitution in rural areas. Our data hint that prostitution may be far more common than official statistics suggest. Far from being unaware of prostitution, both law enforcement and social service providers have detailed understandings of prostitution, yet they differ in their perceptions regarding its frequency. Some see it as an economic strategy women use to deal with the tremendous unemployment and poverty in the region, but also as related to drug use. Finally we discuss the ways in which prostitution is accomplished and transacted and how rural prostitution may be similar to and different from urban prostitution. Full Text: PDF DOI: 10.15640/jssw.v3n1a8