Why Solicitation is More Serious Than Prostitution

 Posted on April 16, 2024 in Sex Crimes

You might be under the impression that working as a prostitute would be a more serious crime than hiring one. While a habitual prostitute makes a career out of crime, a man who hires a prostitute may be a mostly law-abiding citizen who broke the law only once, perhaps during a bachelor party or after a difficult breakup. However, in Texas, the opposite is true. Solicitation, or the crime of paying for sex, is a more serious offense than selling sex. Concerns over human trafficking and the exploitation of vulnerable women are the main reason for this. Courts and legislators are becoming more aware that many women are forced or coerced into prostitution and may be victims themselves. If you have been charged with soliciting a prostitute, you need an experienced Houston, TX criminal defense lawyer.

Why Texas Police Are Cracking Down on Solicitation

Vulnerable women and underage girls are being forced or pressured into becoming prostitutes at high rates in Texas. (Note that while both prostitutes and those soliciting them can be of either gender, most commonly, the prostitute is female and the solicitor is male.) Many of the women found selling sex are in violently abusive relationships, are recent immigrants trying to "pay a debt" to the trafficker who brought them into the United States, or are addicted to drugs. Underage girls who have run away from abusive or challenging home environments are also extremely vulnerable to sex traffickers and may be forced into unlawful sex work by older men who take advantage of their situations.

For these reasons, cracking down on prostitutes themselves would only do so much good. Threatening harsher consequences for women found to be selling sex may not work as a deterrent if the woman or girl is being trafficked and has little or no choice but to perform sexual services in exchange for food, money, or shelter.

Instead, law enforcement taking a different approach to reducing sex trafficking and voluntary prostitution alike. By punishing men who solicit prostitutes more harshly, Texas lawmakers hope to reduce the demand for illicit sexual services. If fewer people are willing to hire prostitutes, the higher-level criminals running these illicit operations will be less motivated to force more vulnerable women and girls into their schemes.

Treating prostitution as a less serious offense is also meant to have the effect of making people who are coerced into the trade more willing to come forward. Many sex trafficking victims do not attempt to flee or reach out to the police for help because they fear getting arrested. Lower risk and more widespread knowledge about sex trafficking can make it easier for victims to get out.

Contact a Houston, TX Solicitation of Prostitution Lawyer 

Murphy & McKinney Law Firm, P.C. is committed to defending people accused of solicitation or prostitution. Experienced Harris County, TX criminal defense lawyer Doug Murphy will do all he can to reduce the seriousness of the offense you are accused of. Contact us at 713-229-8333 for a complimentary consultation.