CAUSES AND DECISION OF WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT INTO PROSTITUTION AND ITS CONSEQUENCES IN PUNJAB, PAKISTAN

Prostitution is the business or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. Prostitution profession is emerging rapidly worldwide, particular in Pakistan. The purpose of this study to explore the factors inclined women towards prostitution, customers’ attitude and behavior towards prostitutes and the effects of co-habitual activities on the stake holders. This study is qualitative in nature and based on in-depth interviews with the thirty three women prostitutes in three cities, Lahore, Faisalabad and Samundri, of the Punjab, Pakistan. In findings, there were multiple pushing factors of women involvement into sex work, some voluntarily and others involuntarily. In voluntarily, poverty, worse economic conditions, illness in family, debt, sex for enjoyment, peer association, family neglect, domestic clashes, drug addiction in husbands and in involuntarily, forced rap, sexual assault, early marriages, trafficking, deceived by family, deceived by lover. In view of the results, women prostitutes had to face worse and severe consequences in concern their health like unwanted pregnancy, abortion, unwanted children, HIV/AIDS, Drug addiction, ovarian issues, break the parts of the body and some other psychological and social issues and in respect of customers’ behavior like refusing of payment, kidnapping and sexual assault, beating, forcefully abusive acts, violence, drug abusing, threatening, tie and sexual abuse.