In brothel case, erase stigma and transfer shame where it belongs

Re “A case at junction of power and sex: Brothels inquiry reveals abuses, activists contend” (Page A1, Jan. 30): I commend the Globe for exposing the exploitative nature of commercial sex and including the voices of survivor advocates who are helping to break the cycle of abuse, providing support to those who remain trapped.

My research and clinical work have increasingly revealed that in the United States, most sex trafficking occurs in commercial sex and affects both undocumented people and US citizens. The majority are women and girls, racial and ethnic minorities, and the LGBTQ community. Vulnerabilities to exploitation include addiction, homelessness, poverty, social isolation, and the stigma that people choose to be in prostitution when most are coerced by pimps and traffickers.

Those suspected of buying sex in the case of the brothel ring that operated out of Cambridge, Watertown, and the Washington, D.C., suburbs must be named in court. We stand with the clerk magistrate’s decision to make this information public. My scholarship has repeatedly identified the need to eradicate stigma toward all selling sex by transferring the shame where it belongs: on pimps, traffickers, facilitators, and sex buyers who prey on those in commercial sex.

We must remain aware and vigilant that most coercion in commercial sex is invisible, and stigma compounds invisibility. I support the Equality Model in MA (EMMA) Coalition, a survivor-led effort that is working to address systems that perpetuate violence against prostituted people by seeking changes in Massachusetts law.

Those suspected of buying sex in the case must be named in court.

PAOLA MICHELLE CONTRERAS

Newton

The writer, who holds a doctor of psychology degree, is an associate professor in the counseling and behavioral health department at William James College and lead researcher for the school’s Human Trafficking Community Research Hub.