Abstract

We examine the impact of criminalizing sex work, exploiting an event in which local officials unexpectedly criminalized sex work in one district in East Java, Indonesia, but not in neighboring districts. We collect data from female sex workers and their clients before and after the change. We find that criminalization increases sexually transmitted infections among female sex workers by 58 percent, measured by biological tests. This is driven by decreased condom access and use. We also find evidence that criminalization decreases earnings among women who left sex work due to criminalization and decreases their ability to meet their children’s school expenses while increasing the likelihood that children begin working to supplement household income. Although criminalization has the potential to improve population STI outcomes if the market shrinks permanently, we show that five years postcriminalization the market has rebounded and the probability of STI transmission in the general population is likely to have increased.

中文翻译：

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危害道德罪：将性工作定为刑事犯罪的意外后果*

摘要

我们研究了将性工作定为刑事犯罪的影响，并利用了一个事件，即当地官员在印度尼西亚东爪哇的一个地区意外地将性工作定为刑事犯罪，但在邻近地区却没有。我们会在更改前后从女性性工作者及其客户那里收集数据。我们发现，根据生物学测试，定罪将女性性工作者中的性传播感染增加58％。这是由于避孕套的使用和使用减少。我们还发现有证据表明，定罪会使因定罪而离开性工作的妇女的收入减少，并降低了其支付子女的学费的能力，同时增加了子女开始增加家庭收入的可能性。