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Melissa Farley

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Melissa Farley
Born1942 (age 81–82)
NationalityAmerican
Alma materUniversity of Iowa (Ph.D., Counseling Psychology, 1973)
San Francisco State University (MS, Clinical Psychology, 1966)
Mills College (BA, Psychology, 1964)
Known forResearch on the effects of prostitution, sexual abuse, and violence against women
Scientific career
FieldsPsychology
InstitutionsProstitution Research and Education 1996–present
Kaiser Foundation Research Institute (Oakland, CA), 1993–2000

Melissa Farley Ph.D. (born 1942) is an American clinical psychologist, researcher[1][2][3] and feminist anti-pornography and anti-prostitution activist.[4][5] Farley is best known for her studies of the effects of prostitution, trafficking and sexual violence. She is the founder and director of the San Francisco-based organization, Prostitution Research and Education.

Career

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Farley, a clinical psychologist for over 45 years, has consulted with agencies, governments, medical centers, advocates for women in prostitution and trafficked women. These groups include the United Nations, the California Medical Examining Board, the US State Department, the Center for World Indigenous Studies, the Minnesota Indian Women's Sexual Assault Coalition, Refuge House, Breaking Free, Veronica's Voice and the Cambodian Women's Crisis Center. Farley has 50 publications in the field of violence against women, most of which address prostitution, pornography and sex trafficking. Her research has been used by governments in South Africa, Canada, France, New Zealand, Ghana, Scotland, Sweden, the United Kingdom and the United States to develop education and policy on prostitution and human trafficking.

Research

Women in prostitution

Since 1993, Farley has researched prostitution and trafficking in 14 countries. She has published many studies of prostituted women which found high rates of violence and post-traumatic stress disorder in the sex trade.[3][6]

In a 2003 paper summarizing prostitution research in nine countries (Canada, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, the US and Zambia), Farley and others interviewed 854 people (782 women and girls, 44 transgender people and 28 men) currently active in prostitution or having recently left.[7] Based on interviews and questionnaires, the paper's authors reported high rates of violence and post-traumatic stress: 71 percent of the respondents had been physically assaulted while in prostitution, 63 percent had been raped and 68 percent met the criteria for PTSD. Eighty-nine percent wanted to leave prostitution, but were unable to do so.[7]

In this 2004 peer-reviewed study, Farley and co-authors found that certain myths about prostitution were contradicted by the empirical data. These myths included the notion that street prostitution is worse than prostitution in other locations, that male prostitution differs qualitatively from female prostitution, that women voluntarily and happily engage in prostitution, that most prostitutes are drug addicts, that a qualitative difference exists between prostitution and trafficking, and that legalizing or decriminalizing prostitution would reduce its harm.[7]

In an earlier peer-reviewed study (1998) of those in San Francisco prostitution (one of the samples included in the nine-country study), Melissa Farley and Howard Barkan found a history of violence in the lives of those surveyed. For example, 57 percent of respondents reported sexual abuse in childhood and 49 percent reported other physical abuse. While in prostitution, 68 percent reported being raped, 82 percent reported being physically assaulted and 83 percent reported being threatened with a weapon. The incidence and severity of PTSD correlated with the amount of violence experienced by an individual, and 84 percent of the respondents reported a history of homelessness.[8]

In September 2007, Farley published a book on prostitution and sex trafficking in Nevada, based on research conducted for the US State Department's Office of Trafficking in Persons.  Farley found that although Nevada has legal brothels, 90 percent of Nevada's prostitution was illegal, often in Las Vegas, a major sex trafficking destination. 81 percent of the 45 women prostituting in legal brothels wanted to escape prostitution, but were unable to do so.[9][10]

[11]

Men who buy sex

Farley has co-authored a series of studies of men who buy sex.  A 2015 study published in the peer-reviewed Journal of Interpersonal Violence  found that sex buyers share many similarities with other sexually coercive men.[6][17]  Objectifying, dehumanizing attitudes and abusive behavior toward women in prostitution (and women in general) were common among sex buyers but NOT among men who chose not to buy sex. Similar research studies, based on interviews with 100 men in each city who responded to newspaper ads placed by the researchers (a common method of recruiting research interviewees), found attitudes and behaviors typical of men who commit violence against women. Similar studies of sex buyers ("the demand) have also been published in Cambodia, Scotland, England and Chicago[12].[13][14][15][16][17][18][19][20]

Other research

Farley has written or co-written several studies sponsored by Kaiser Foundation Research Institute on the long-term health effects of sexual abuse and trauma. Several report higher rates of dissociation and somatization in patients with a history of childhood sexual abuse than those without such a history,[21][22][23] with symptom frequency reportedly greater in those with a higher number of perpetrators in their sexual-abuse history.[22] One study reported higher rates of PTSD, emergency-room and medical visits, and prescriptions in patients with a history of sexual abuse than those without, and relatively high rates in people with unclear memories of abuse.[23]

Prostitution Research and Education

Farley is the founder and director of Prostitution Research and Education, a San Francisco-based 501(c)(3) organization.[24][25] The organization, sponsored by the San Francisco Women's Centers,[1] conducts research on prostitution, pornography and trafficking and offers education and consultation to other researchers, survivors, the public and policymakers. Its goal is "to abolish the institution of prostitution while at the same time advocating for alternatives to trafficking and prostitution – including emotional and physical healthcare for women in prostitution."[26]

Activism

Farley favors the abolition of prostitution,[27] believing that a prostitute is the weaker partner in a transaction (making prostitution inherently exploitative and traumatizing).[28] She advocates the Swedish model, in which paying for sex, pimping and human trafficking are illegal while the sale of sex is decriminalized; under the Swedish (or Nordic) Model, social services are given funding to aid prostitutes in leaving the sex trade. Farley opposes the decriminalization of pimps and sex buyers. Sex workers' rights activists and groups (such as COYOTE) advocate legalizing or decriminalizing pimps and those who purchase sexual services.[29][30] According to sex trade activists, Dr. Farley's research discredits and misrepresents women working in the sex industry.[30][31]

An anti-pornography activist,[4] in 1985 Farley led a National Rampage Against Penthouse with Nikki Craft. The Rampage was a campaign of the public destruction of bookstore-owned copies of Penthouse and Hustler which were denounced as violent pornography. Farley was arrested 13 times in nine states for her actions.[32][33][34] In March 2007 she testified in hearings on Kink.com's purchase of the San Francisco Armory, comparing the company's images to those of prisoner abuse at Abu Ghraib.[35][36] Farley is opposed to sadomasochism in general. Her essay, "Ten Lies about Sadomasochism", outlines her opposition to BDSM practices; such practices are abusive, harmful and anti-feminist.[37] On April 29, 2009 Farley argued on the radio program Intelligence Squared U.S. in favor of the proposition, "It is wrong to pay for sex".[38]

Controversy

On June 11, 2003, Labour MP for Wairarapa Georgina Beyer read portions of a letter from Farley research assistant Colleen Winn in New Zealand's House of Representatives. In the letter, Winn said that Farley had fabricated and misrepresented data in elements of reports which Farley had prepared on prostitution in New Zealand. Among Winn's accusations was that Farley's alleged statement that she had evidence that women were entering prostitution at age nine was untrue; the studies she performed did not collect any data indicating this. According to Winn, Farley was operating her research projects without oversight from an ethics committee in New Zealand: "I have read and am aware of the ethics of psychologists working in New Zealand. I know these were not adhered to".[39] Winn told Beyer orally that Farley had paid some of the interview subjects, saying that Farley had made false claims on New Zealand television about her findings. She wrote that Farley's study " ... was not ethical, and the impact has done harm to those women and men who took part in it. It is for that reason that I am writing to the psychologists [sic] board of registration in California to lay a formal complaint regarding Melissa. I also believe that Melissa has committed an act of intentional misrepresentation of fact".[39] The California board did not respond to Winn's complaint.

In Canada (AG) v Bedford, Farley was called as an expert witness by the Attorney General of Canada. The case was brought by current and former sex workers, who argued that Canadian laws restricting prostitution were unconstitutional. Farley's evidence was criticized by presiding judge Susan Himel in her conclusion:[40]

I find that some of the evidence tendered on this application did not meet the standards set by Canadian courts for the admission of expert evidence. The parties did not challenge the admissibility of evidence tendered but asked the court to afford little weight to the evidence of the other party.


I found the evidence of Dr. Melissa Farley to be problematic. Although Dr. Farley has conducted a great deal of research on prostitution, her advocacy appears to have permeated her opinions. For example, Dr. Farley's unqualified assertion in her affidavit that prostitution is inherently violent appears to contradict her own findings that prostitutes who work from indoor locations generally experience less violence. Furthermore, in her affidavit, she failed to qualify her opinion regarding the causal relationship between post- traumatic stress disorder and prostitution, namely, that it could be caused by events unrelated to prostitution.

Dr. Farley's choice of language is at times inflammatory and detracts from her conclusions. For example, comments such as "prostitution is to the community what incest is to the family" and "just as pedophiles justify sexual assault of children . . . . men who use prostitutes develop elaborate cognitive schemes to justify purchase and use of women" make her opinions less persuasive.

Dr. Farley stated during cross-examination that some of her opinions on prostitution were formed prior to her research, including "that prostitution is a terrible harm to women, that prostitution is abusive in its very nature, and that prostitution amounts to men paying a woman for the right to rape her".

Accordingly, for these reasons, I assign less weight to Dr. Farley's evidence.

Bibliography

Main article: Melissa Farley bibliography

References

  1. ^ a b Farley, Melissa. CV 2016 (pdf).
  2. ^ Foley, Kevin (14 August 1995). "Slick S.F. posters advocate decriminalizing prostitution". The San Francisco Examiner. San Francisco Media Company.
    "Melissa Farley, a San Francisco clinical and research psychologist who helped to interview 130 local prostitutes for a survey,...
  3. ^ a b Zuger, Abigail (18 August 1998). "Many prostitutes suffer combat disorder, study finds". New York Times. The New York Times Company.
    "Dr. Melissa Farley, a psychologist and researcher at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco who directed the study with colleagues from Turkey and Africa."
  4. ^ a b Farley, Melissa (May 1994). "Prostitution: The oldest use and abuse of women". off our backs. 24 (5). off our backs, inc.: 14–15, 22. JSTOR 20834769. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  5. ^ Hoge, Patrick (31 August 2004). "Sober forum, street theater on prostitution ballot issue". San Francisco Chronicle. Hearst Corporation.
    "Melissa Farley, a San Francisco psychologist and anti-prostitution activist."
  6. ^ Farley, Melissa; Golding, Jacqueline M.; Schuckman Matthews, Emily; Malamuth, Neil M.; Jarrett, Laura (August 2015). "Comparing sex buyers with men who do not buy sex: new data on prostitution and trafficking". Journal of Interpersonal Violence. Sage. doi:10.1177/0886260515600874. PMID 26324260. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) Pdf.
  7. ^ a b c Farley, Melissa; Cotton, A; Lynne, J; Zumbeck, S; Spiwak, F; Reyes, ME; Alvarez, D; Sezgin, U (January 2004). "Prostitution and trafficking in nine countries: Update on violence and posttraumatic stress disorder". Journal of Trauma Practice. 2 (3–4). Taylor and Francis: 33–74. doi:10.1300/J189v02n03_03. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) Pdf.
  8. ^ Farley, Melissa; Barkan, Howard (August 1998). "Prostitution, violence, and post-traumatic stress disorder". Women & Health. 27 (3). Taylor and Francis: 37–49. doi:10.1300/J013v27n03_03. PMID 9698636. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) Pdf.
  9. ^ Curtis, Lynnette (6 September 2007). "Outlaw industry, ex-prostitutes say". Las Vegas Review-Journal.
  10. ^ Waite, Mark (7 September 2007). "Panel: brothels aid sex trafficking". Pahrump Valley Times.
  11. ^ Brenneman, Jill (18 September 2007). "Response to Melissa Farley". swopeast.blogspot.com. SWOP East. [dead link]
  12. ^ Farley. "Deconstructing the Demand for Prostitution" (PDF). {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help)
  13. ^ Brown, Annie (28 April 2008). "Sex industry in Scotland: inside the deluded minds of the punters". Daily Record. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  14. ^ Farley, Melissa; Macleod, Jan; Golding, Jacqueline (April 2008). Challenging men's demand for prostitution in Scotland (PDF). Women's Support Project. ISBN 9780955897603.
  15. ^ Heinzmann, David (5 May 2008). "Some men say using prostitutes is an addiction". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 11 May 2008.
  16. ^ http://www.theherald.co.uk/news/news/display.var.2229052.0.Prostitute_punters_more_violent.php. {{cite web}}: Cite has empty unknown parameter: |dead-url= (help); Missing or empty |title= (help)
  17. ^ "A Thorn in the Heart: Cambodian Men Who Buy Sex - Prostitution Research & Education". prostitutionresearch.com. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  18. ^ Gardham, Magnus (2008-04-28). "Sex industry in Scotland: MSP calls for crackdown on punters". dailyrecord. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  19. ^ "Men Who Buy Sex (London) 2009 - Prostitution Research & Education". prostitutionresearch.com. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  20. ^ Bindel, Julie (2010-01-14). "Why men use prostitutes". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077. Retrieved 2017-03-18.
  21. ^ Farley, Melissa; Keaney, Joanne C. (February 1996). "Dissociation in an outpatient sample of women reporting childhood sexual abuse". Psychological Reports. 78 (1). Ammons Scientific: 59–65. doi:10.2466/pr0.1996.78.1.59. PMID 8839296. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  22. ^ a b Farley, Melissa; Keaney, Joanne C. (July 1997). "Physical symptoms, somatization, and dissociation in women survivors of childhood sexual assault". Women & Health. 25 (3). Taylor and Francis: 33–45. doi:10.1300/J013v25n03_03. PMID 9273982. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  23. ^ a b Farley, Melissa; Patsalides, Beatrice M. (December 2001). "Physical symptoms, posttraumatic stress disorder, and healthcare utilization of women with and without childhood physical and sexual abuse". Psychological Reports. 89 (3). Ammons Scientific: 595–606. doi:10.2466/pr0.2001.89.3.595. PMID 11824722. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  24. ^ Staff. "Legal Prostitution Home Page > Source Biographies > Melissa Farley, PhD". prostitution.procon.org. ProCon.org. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  25. ^ Staff. "Leadership". prostitutionresearch.com. Prostitution Research and Education. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  26. ^ Staff. "Mission". prostitutionresearch.com. Prostitution Research and Education. Retrieved 5 September 2014.
  27. ^ deBoer, Roberta (September 24, 2006). "Feminists fight over prostitution". Toledo Blade. Toledo, Ohio: Block Communications.
  28. ^ * Farley, Melissa (Spring 2006). "Prostitution, trafficking, and cultural amnesia: what we must not know in order to keep the business of sexual exploitation running smoothly". Yale Journal of Law and Feminism. 18 (1). Yale Law School: 101–136. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link) Pdf.
  29. ^ Associated Press (April 13, 1994). "Ex-prostitutes' quilt honors slain women". Las Vegas Review-Journal. New Media Investment Group. p. 14.
  30. ^ a b Dunn, Katia (May 9, 2002). "Prostitution: pro or con?". The Portland Mercury. Index Publishing.
  31. ^ Portillo, Alicia (September 20, 2007). "A victimless crime?". The Rebel Yell (student newspaper). UNLV. Original copy.
  32. ^ Farley, Melissa (1992), "Fighting femicide in the United States: the Rampage against Penthouse", in Russell, Diana E.H.; Radford, Jill (eds.), Femicide: the politics of woman killing, New York Toronto: Twayne Publishers, ISBN 9780805790283. {{citation}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help) Pdf.
  33. ^ Hyland, Terry (February 25, 1985). "2 groups on 'Midwestern Rampage' 'Violent Pornography' protested". Omaha World-Herald. Berkshire Hathaway.
  34. ^ Staff writer (March 10, 1985). "Protesters of porn guilty of destruction". Omaha World-Herald. Berkshire Hathaway.
  35. ^ "San Francisco Planning Commission - Special Public Hearing", SFGTV, March 8, 2007. (link to streaming Windows Media Video and downloadable MP3 audio)
  36. ^ Farley, Melissa (October 22, 2007). "Kink.Com in San Francisco: women and gay men's Abu Ghraib (blog)". prostitutionresearch.com. Prostitution Research and Education.
  37. ^ Farley, Melissa (Summer–Fall 1993). "Ten lies about sadomasochism". Sinister Wisdom. 50. Elana Dykewomon: 29–37. Archived February 7, 2009, at the Wayback Machine
  38. ^ Farley, Melissa (April 29, 2009). "Is it wrong to pay for sex?". Intelligence Squared U.S. (radio show). Intelligence Squared.
  39. ^ a b Speeches (11 June 2003). "Beyer, Georgina: Prostitution Reform Bill — In Committee". Hansard (debates). 609. New Zealand Parliament: 6159. {{cite journal}}: Invalid |ref=harv (help)CS1 maint: postscript (link)
  40. ^ Superior Court of Justice (September 28, 2010). "Bedford v. Canada (Attorney General), 2010 ONSC 4264". CanLII. Canadian Legal Information Institute. Retrieved September 5, 2015.
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