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Conclusion

In conclusion, there are three myths that need to be challenged.

The first myth is that prostitution is a victimless crime. The mongers who buy prostitutes spew the myths that women choose prostitution, that they get rich, that it's glamorous, and that it turns women on. Studies show that most women in prostitution, including those working for escort services, have been sexually abused as children. Incest sets young women up for prostitution. Prostitution statistics show that 90 percent of young women involved in prostitution were sexually abused as children. An estimated 80 to 90 percent of young women in the criminal or juvenile justice system have been physically or sexually abused. The average age of entry into prostitution is thirteen. Whether the woman is in a hotel room or on a side street in someone's car, whether she's in New York or Bangladesh, the Philippines or Germany, the experience of being prostituted causes her immense psychological and physical harm. And it all starts with the buyer.

The second myth is the myth of "consensual" or "willing" sex. Young women and children have fled towards cities in an attempt to escape from the harshest, grinding poverty. Poverty had forced them into unfavorable unions. There is a non-voluntary aspect to their sexual activity. Under the weight of devastating poverty, one wonders what to make of the notion of "consensual sex." Few women seek out or choose to be in prostitution, and most are desperate to leave it. A 2003 scientific study in the Journal of Trauma Practice found that 89 percent of women in prostitution want to escape prostitution but had no other options for survival.

The third myth is that this is a "women's problem." Prostitution and sex trafficking are not women's problems or up to them to solve. Men are the perpetrators and women are the victims. Men are the problem. Sex trafficking is a men's issue involving men of all ages and socioeconomic, racial, and ethnic backgrounds. Men are not only perpetrators or possible offenders, but also empowered bystanders who can confront abusive peers. Don't remain silent.

In closing, to my Christian brothers in the military, you need to know that you work for the King of Kings and Lord of Lords. His name is Jesus and he sees and knows all. He has commissioned you to bring his shalom to the world and be an agent of justice and righteousness. Against you are both visible and invisible enemies and there is a very real battle raging not just around you, but in you. It is your duty as an ambassador of your King to be about protection of the weak and liberation of the oppressed. You have no business working with Satan in furthering the enslavement of women made in God's likeness and loved by Jesus. He is ordering you to do nothing to harm them, dishonor them, or defile them. Jesus does not put such women in your path for you to sin against, but rather to pray for and possibly even liberate from evil, oppression, and the Serpent who desperately wants you to join his ranks and participate in his darkness. As Paul told Timothy, you need to fight a good fight.

So keep your pants on, your Bible open, your eyes focused, your hands ready, and your heart broken, and fight in such a way that when you stand before Jesus in the end, you can look him in the eye.