Introduction of Red-Light Districts in NYC
Geovanny Amaya
CJBS 250
Professor Tam
Hypothesis
- If red-light districts are introduced in New York City, then crime rates will increase.
- This is a theoretical proposal because it implies if prostitution is legal in New York, which it is not.
Proposal
Additional Info
Prostitution in
Global Perspective
Additional Info
- Nevada is the only U.S. jurisdiction to allow some legal prostitution.
- an area or district in a city in which many houses of prostitution are located.
Data for determining the legality of prostitution and brothels comes from ProCon.org
:http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772.
Literature Review
- A total of four articles were applied in the research proposal.
- Each article explores the results of red-light districts across the world and put into context for a potential analysis to the experiment.
Lit Review
IZA Discussion Paper Series
Street Prostitution Zones and Crimes
- The authors research involves data in the Netherlands with a correlation between legal street prostitution zones and crime rates in the areas.
- Evidence in the research study explores cities with recently open street prostitution zones with significant reductions in drug-related crimes and long-term effects on sexual assaults.
- The study concludes how the opening of a tippelzone in a city is associated with a 30-40% decrease in sexual abuse and rape in the first two years. In addition, drug-related crime is associated with a 25% decrease as well.
The Impact of Legalizing Prostitution On Violent Crime
- This study evaluates the aspect of decriminalizing prostitution and its possible effect on violent crime.
- The author explains how low-income nations can experience a positive effect on legalizing prostitution since it would alleviate stress for men in home life that would normally result in domestic abuse.
- Whereas in higher income nations, prostitution would be viewed as a “seedy” behavior which would potentially increase crime rates.
Decriminalized Prostitution
- The authors study the shift from outdoor to indoor markets in terms of a Rhode Island District Court judge decriminalizing indoor prostitution in 2003.
- The evidence suggests that violent sexual behavior of men decreases with the increase of sex workers.
- It also had an effect of improving public health outcomes since risky sex declined after the decriminalization.
Social Ecology of Red-Light Districts
- This research emphasizes the social ecology of two different red-light districts in two Belgian cities.
- . The Antwerp red-light district displays well-kept buildings, located in a quiet middle-class neighborhood, and high police presence which demonstrates its positive effect of a government-regulated district.
- Meanwhile, the Brussels red-light district consists of a more disorganized prostitution system. This city is located in a poorer area, buildings are in disrepair, and police presence is minimal which explains increased crime activity.
Methodology
Methodology
- The research proposal will consist of the introduction of three red-light districts in three different locations in Manhattan.
- Similar to Weitzer’s study, these three districts will be placed in different socio-economic environments.
- The locations consists of Harlem, Midtown, and the Financial District.
- The three districts will be observed for a one-year evaluation and be under the required regulations to protect the sex workers’ safety and rights.
Data
Data
- The sources that will be used to examine the crime rates in the districts will include CompStat, Uniform Crime Reporting (UCR), and National Crime Victimization Survey (NCVS).
- Quantitative data would provide the best analysis since it will offer a clear measuring in how red-light districts have impacted the neighborhoods.
Results
- The data provided by the sources have reported a significant decrease in the crime rates between areas of the newly opened RLDs.
- In relation to Cunningham and Shaw’s research, rape offenses have dropped in all locations between the districts. Harlem had a 20% decrease in rape charges. Whereas the Financial District consisted of a 27% decrease. Midtown location had a 15% decrease.
Results
Policy Implications
Implications
- The policy implications for this research has only tested the early effects of red-light districts in New York City. However, this study must be further evaluated to determine the long-term effects of the decriminalization on prostitution. To determine a deeper analyzation, the research proposal should continue to gather data on these locations for a ten-year period. This would be able to evaluate potential trends to observe if the offenses will continue to decrease or not.
Works Cited
- http://ftp.iza.org/dp9038.pdf
- https://asp.mercatus.org/system/files/Bowen_MGPE.pdfhttps://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772
- https://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000772
- https://www.nber.org/papers/w20281.pdf
- https://papers.ssrn.com/sol3/papers.cfm?abstract_id=2319034
- https://factfinder.census.gov/faces/nav/jsf/pages/community_facts.xhtml