Ethics of the sex buyer? *
Ethics for the sex buyer? – Ethics and moral responsibility do not end when the workday is over.
A moral appeal is not always enough to change attitudes and actions. This is especially true when it comes to prostitution, sexual exploitation, and human trafficking.
Awareness campaigns regarding famine, poverty, and war can evoke compassion and prompt people to take action. However, campaigns concerning prostitution and sexual exploitation often struggle to reach the very men who are already inclined to buy sex.
A key distinction is that a donation to those in need is rooted in a desire to help others, whereas buying sex is typically about satisfying one’s own needs. Consequently, an appeal to one’s conscience is not necessarily sufficient.
The sex buyer is often an entirely ordinary man.
The man who buys sex could be your brother, colleague, father, teacher, tradesman, or local politician. He may be indistinguishable from other men in his everyday life.
Yet, when he buys sex, he risks viewing the woman as an object rather than as a human being with her own feelings, boundaries, and rights.
He may convince himself that prostitution is her free choice, that she enjoys the encounter, or even that he is helping her financially. Such notions can make it easier to ignore the poverty, vulnerability, or coercion that may lie behind prostitution.
Women sell – men buy.
Financial hardship is a significant reason why women enter prostitution. Many find themselves in vulnerable life situations with limited opportunities for conventional employment or financial independence.
In contrast, the reasons men give for purchasing sex often relate to curiosity, desire, or simply the opportunity to do so—not necessarily a lack of access to sex.
This raises a fundamental question: How free is a choice when poverty, desperation, or a lack of alternatives are the deciding factors?
Corporate ethics should also apply outside of working hours.
An increasing number of companies have ethical guidelines—a "Code of Conduct"—that establish expectations regarding the behavior of employees and business partners.
Nevertheless, it happens that business trips—after the meetings have concluded—may involve visits to brothels or strip clubs, or that a sex worker is offered as part of business hospitality. Sometimes, the host or business partner even pays for the sexual service.
Naturally, it is important not to cast suspicion on all business professionals. Of course.
However, a company’s ethical responsibility should extend beyond the meeting room and outside of standard working hours. When sex is included as part of business entertainment, companies risk indirectly supporting exploitation—and, in the worst-case scenario, human trafficking.
Ethics is also a personal responsibility.
Ethical guidelines only hold real value if they are followed in practice—even when no colleagues, managers, or family members are watching.
Human dignity, respect, and responsibility should apply around the clock. Not just from 8 a.m. to 4 p.m.
Because ethics is not only about how we treat the people we work with, but also about how we treat people who find themselves in a far more vulnerable situation than we do.
*The views expressed above are solely the subjective perspective of a volunteer coach who has been with NEWLIVES for nearly 20 years.