Skip to main content

Advertisement

SpringerLink
Log in

Purchasers and Perpetrators: A Theoretical Synthesis of The Risk Factors and Implications of Buying Sex for Sexual Violence

  • Review Article
  • Published:
Sexuality & Culture Aims and scope Submit manuscript

Abstract

A growing body of academic literature has directed attention toward the buyers of commercial sex as calls to address the demand side of this underground industry have steadily increased. The presence of violence in the commercial sex market has been extensively documented, compelling scholars to examine how the clientele contribute to this phenomenon and in what ways they can be distinguished from the general population. Empirical evidence gives reason to believe sex buying and sexual violence are connected but also raises questions about the nature and degree of this relationship. Further, findings in this area have been inconclusive as the mechanisms underlying how commodification translates into aggression remain underdeveloped. The current inquiry contributes to the field by synthesizing existing knowledge on sex buyers with correlates of sexual violence. This article compares and contrasts the risk factors for both sex buying and sexual violence and identifies areas where findings have been inconsistent. The discussion concludes with theoretical and methodological recommendations for improving our understanding of violence against women in the modern commercial sex market.

This is a preview of subscription content, log in via an institution to check access.

Access this article

Log in via an institution

Price excludes VAT (USA)
Tax calculation will be finalised during checkout.

Instant access to the full article PDF.

Institutional subscriptions

Similar content being viewed by others

Availability of Data and Material

Not applicable.

Code Availability

Not applicable.

References

  • Abbey, A., & McAuslan, P. (2004). A longitudinal examination of male college students’ perpetration of sexual assault. Journal of Consulting and Clinical Psychology, 72(5), 747

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abbey, A., Parkhill, M. R., BeShears, R., Clinton-Sherrod, A. M., & Zawacki, T. (2006). Cross-sectional predictors of sexual assault perpetration in a community sample of single African American and Caucasian men. Aggressive Behavior: Official Journal of the International Society for Research on Aggression, 32(1), 54–67

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Abel, G. M. (2014). A decade of decriminalization: Sex work ‘down under’but not underground. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 14(5), 580–592

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Aebi, M., Landolt, M. A., Mueller-Pfeiffer, C., Schnyder, U., Maier, T., & Mohler-Kuo, M. (2015). Testing the “sexually abused-abuser hypothesis” in adolescents: A population-based study. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 44(8), 2189–2199

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Albright, E., & D’Adamo, K. (2017). Decreasing human trafficking through sex work decriminalization. AMA Journal of Ethics, 19(1), 122–126

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Alemzadeh, S. (2013). Baring inequality: revisiting the legalization debate through the lens of strippers’ rights. Michigan Journal of Gender & Law, 19(2), 339–372

    Google Scholar 

  • Alves, C. D., & Cavalhieri, K. E. (2021). “Mongering Is a Weird Life Sometimes”: Discourse Analysis of a Sex Buyer Online Community. Violence Against Women, 27(9), 1448–1474

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, L. (2019). Stigma, decriminalisation, and violence against street-based sex workers: Changing the narrative. Sexualities, 22(7–8), 1288–1308

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Armstrong, L. (2021). Decriminalisation of sex work in the post-truth era? Strategic storytelling in neo-abolitionist accounts of the New Zealand model. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 21(3), 369–386

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Backus, P., & Nguyen, T. (2021). The Effect of the Sex Buyer Law on the Market for Sex, Sexual Health and Sexual Violence (No. 2106). Economics: The University of Manchester

    Google Scholar 

  • Bender, R., Bien-Aimé, T., Feifer, K., Foster, R., Hatcher, M., Hersh, L. … Zipkin, R. (2019). Equality Not Exploitation- An overview of the global sex trade and trafficking crisis, and the case for the Equality Model. W. W. Exploitation

  • Bernstein, E. (2001). The meaning of the purchase: Desire, demand and the commerce of sex. Ethnography, 2(3), 389–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Berg, H. (2014). Working for love, loving for work: Discourses of labor in feminist sex-work activism. Feminist Studies, 40(3), 693–721

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Birch, P., Baldry, E., & Hartley, V. H. (2017). Procuring sexual services: Evidencing masculinity diversity and difference through sex work research. Sexuality & Culture, 21(4), 1106–1119

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Blevins, K. R., & Holt, T. J. (2009). Examining the virtual subculture of johns. Journal of Contemporary Ethnography, 38(5), 619–648

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bohner, G., Jarvis, C. I., Eyssel, F., & Siebler, F. (2005). The causal impact of rape myth acceptance on men’s rape proclivity: Comparing sexually coercive and noncoercive men. European Journal of Social Psychology, 35(6), 819–828

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Bounds, D., Delaney, K. R., & Julion, W. (2017). Hunter–Prey Discourse: A Critical Discourse Analysis of the Online Posts of Men Who Buy Sex. Journal of the American Psychiatric Nurses Association, 23(4), 258–267

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Burt, M. R. (1980). Cultural myths and supports for rape. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 38(2), 217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Busch, N. B., Bell, H., Hotaling, N., & Monto, M. A. (2002). Male customers of prostituted women: Exploring perceptions of entitlement to power and control and implications for violent behavior toward women. Violence Against Women, 8(9), 1093–1112

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Chakhssi, F., De Ruiter, C., & Bernstein, D. P. (2013). Early maladaptive cognitive schemas in child sexual offenders compared with sexual offenders against adults and nonsexual violent offenders: An exploratory study. The Journal of Sexual Medicine, 10(9), 2201–2210

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cho, S. Y. (2018). An analysis of sexual violence- The relationship between sex crimes and prostitution in South Korea.Journal of Poverty Alleviation & International Development, 9(1)

  • Church, S., Henderson, M., Barnard, M., & Hart, G. (2001). Violence by clients towards female prostitutes in different work settings: questionnaire survey. BMJ, 322(7285), 524–525

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Collins, V. E., & Rothe, D. L. (2017). The consumption of patriarchy: commodification to facilitation and reification. Contemporary Justice Review, 20(2), 161–174

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Comte, J. (2014). Decriminalization of sex work: Feminist discourses in light of research. Sexuality & Culture, 18(1), 196–217

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Connell, R. W., & Messerschmidt, J. W. (2005). Hegemonic masculinity: Rethinking the concept. Gender & Society, 19(6), 829–859

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Coy, M., Smiley, C., & Tyler, M. (2019). Challenging the “Prostitution Problem”: Dissenting Voices, Sex Buyers, and the Myth of Neutrality in Prostitution Research. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 48(7), 1931–1935

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Cowen, N., & Colosi, R. (2020). Sex work and online platforms: what should regulation do? Journal of Entrepreneurship and Public Policy

  • Davis, A. D. (2015). Regulating Sex Work: Erotic Assimilationism, Erotic Exeptionalism, and the Challenge of Intimate Labor. California Law Review, 103, 1195

    Google Scholar 

  • Decker, M. R., Pearson, E., Illangasekare, S. L., Clark, E., & Sherman, S. G. (2013). Violence against women in sex work and HIV risk implications differ qualitatively by perpetrator. BMC Public Health, 13(1), 1–10

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • DelGreco, M., Hubbard, E., A. S., & Denes, A. (2021). Communicating by catcalling: power dynamics and communicative motivations in street harassment. Violence Against Women, 27(9), 1402–1426

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Deering, K. N., Amin, A., Shoveller, J., Nesbitt, A., Garcia-Moreno, C., Duff, P. … Shannon, K. (2014). A systematic review of the correlates of violence against sex workers. American Journal of Public Health, 104(5), e42–e54

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Diamond-Welch, B., & Kosloski, A. E. (2020). Adverse childhood experiences and propensity to participate in the commercialized sex market. Child Abuse & Neglect, 104, 104468

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Dodillet, S., & Östergren, P. (2011, March). The Swedish sex purchase act: Claimed success and documented effects. In Conference paper presented at the International Workshop: Decriminalizing Prostitution and Beyond: Practical Experiences and Challenges. The Hague (Vol. 3)

  • Durchslag, R., & Goswami, S. (2008). Deconstructing the demand for prostitution: Preliminary insights from interviews with Chicago men who purchase sex. Chicago, IL: Chicago Alliance Against Sexual Exploitation

    Google Scholar 

  • Ellison, G., Ní Dhónaill, C., & Early, E. (2019). A review of the criminalisation of the payment for sexual services in Northern Ireland. ERin, A Review of the Criminalisation of the Payment for Sexual Services in Northern Ireland (September 19, 2019).

  • Escot, L., Belope-Nguema, S., Fernández-Cornejo, J. A., Pozo-García, D., Castellanos-Serrano, E., C., & Cruz-Calderón, S. F. (2021). Can the legal framework for prostitution influence the acceptability of buying sex? Journal of Experimental Criminology, 1–25

  • Efthim, P. W., Kenny, M. E., & Mahalik, J. R. (2001). Gender role stress in relation to shame, guilt, and externalization. Journal of Counseling & Development, 79(4), 430–438

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Fahlberg, A., & Pepper, M. (2016). Masculinity and sexual violence: Assessing the state of the field. Sociology Compass, 10(8), 673–683

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley, M., Macleod, J., Anderson, L., & Golding, J. M. (2011). Attitudes and social characteristics of men who buy sex in Scotland. Psychological Trauma: Theory, Research, Practice, and Policy, 3(4), 369

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley, M., Golding, J. M., Matthews, E. S., Malamuth, N. M., & Jarrett, L. (2017). Comparing sex buyers with men who do not buy sex: New data on prostitution and trafficking. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(23), 3601–3625

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Farley, M., & Golding, J. M. (2019). Arrest histories of men who buy sex. Justice Policy Journal, 16(1)

  • Fisher, D., Beech, A., & Browne, K. (1999). Comparison of sex offenders to nonoffenders on selected psychological measures. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 43(4), 473–491

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Franz, M. R., DiLillo, D., & Gervais, S. J. (2016). Sexual objectification and sexual assault: Do self-objectification and sexual assertiveness account for the link? Psychology of Violence, 6(2), 262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Gimenez, M. E. (2005). Capitalism and the oppression of women: Marx revisited. Science & Society, 69(1: Special issue), 11–32

  • Grady, M. D., Levenson, J. S., & Bolder, T. (2017). Linking adverse childhood effects and attachment: A theory of etiology for sexual offending. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 18(4), 433–444

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Graham, K. R. (1996). The childhood victimization of sex offenders: An underestimated issue. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 40(3), 192–203

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Greathouse, S. M., Saunders, J., Matthews, M., Keller, K. M., & Miller, L. L. (2015). A review of the literature on sexual assault perpetrator characteristics and behaviors. RAND Corporation

  • Guerra, V. M., Gouveia, V. V., Sousa, D. M., Lima, T. J., & Freires, L. A. (2012). Sexual liberalism–conservatism: The effect of human values, gender, and previous sexual experience. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 41(4), 1027–1039

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hamen, M., & Mineva, G. (2016). Dichotomien in Diskursen über Sexarbeit: Aufdeckungen und Problematisierungen aus der Perspektive einer Migrant* innen-Selbstorganisation. Österreichische Zeitschrift für Soziologie, 41(3), 119–131

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Hammond, N., & van Hooff, J. (2020). “This Is Me, This Is What I Am, I Am a Man”: The masculinities of men who pay for sex with women. The Journal of Sex Research, 57(5), 650–663

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harcourt, C., & Donovan, B. (2005). The many faces of sex work. Sexually Transmitted Infections, 81(3), 201–206. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC1744977/pdf/v081p00201.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Harrington, C. (2018). Gender policy models and calls to “tackle demand” for sex workers. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 15(3), 249–258

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Horswill, A., & Weitzer, R. (2018). Becoming a client: The socialization of novice buyers of sexual services. Deviant Behavior, 39(2), 148–158

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huntington, C., Pearlman, D. N., & Orchowski, L. (2022). The confluence model of sexual aggression: An application with adolescent males. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(1–2), 623–643

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huschke, S., & Schubotz, D. (2016). Commercial sex, clients, and Christian morals: Paying for sex in Ireland. Sexualities, 19(7), 869–887

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Huysamen, M., & Boonzaier, F. (2015). Men’s constructions of masculinity and male sexuality through talk of buying sex. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 17(5), 541–554

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jackson, C. A. (2016). Framing sex worker rights: How US sex worker rights activists perceive and respond to mainstream anti–sex trafficking advocacy. Sociological Perspectives, 59(1), 27–45

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jakupcak, M., Tull, M. T., & Roemer, L. (2005). Masculinity, shame, and fear of emotions as predictors of men’s expressions of anger and hostility. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 6(4), 275

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jenness, V. (1990). From sex as sin to sex as work: COYOTE and the reorganization of prostitution as a social problem. Social Problems, 37(3), 403–420

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jewkes, R., Flood, M., & Lang, J. (2015). From work with men and boys to changes of social norms and reduction of inequities in gender relations: a conceptual shift in prevention of violence against women and girls. The Lancet, 385(9977), 1580–1589

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jordanoska, A. (2018). The social ecology of white-collar crime: Applying situational action theory to white-collar offending. Deviant Behavior, 39(11), 1427–1449

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Joseph, L. J., & Black, P. (2012). Who’s the Man? Fragile masculinities, consumer masculinities, and the profiles of sex work clients. Men and Masculinities, 15(5), 486–506

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Jovanovski, N., & Tyler, M. (2018). “Bitch, you got what you deserved!”: Violation and violence in sex buyer reviews of legal brothels. Violence Against Women, 24(16), 1887–1908

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Kaestle, C. E. (2012). Selling and buying sex: A longitudinal study of risk and protective factors in adolescence. Prevention Science, 13(3), 314–322

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Klambauer, E. (2018). Policing roulette: Sex workers’ perception of encounters with police officers in the indoor and outdoor sector in England. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 18(3), 255–272

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • LeBreton, J. M., Baysinger, M. A., Abbey, A., & Jacques-Tiura, A. J. (2013). The relative importance of psychopathy-related traits in predicting impersonal sex and hostile masculinity. Personality and Individual Differences, 55(7), 817–822

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levenson, J. S., Willis, G. M., & Prescott, D. S. (2016). Adverse childhood experiences in the lives of male sex offenders: Implications for trauma-informed care. Sexual Abuse, 28(4), 340–359

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Levy, J., & Jakobsson, P. (2014). Sweden’s abolitionist discourse and law: Effects on the dynamics of Swedish sex work and on the lives of Sweden’s sex workers. Criminology & Criminal Justice, 14(5), 593–607

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Lowman, J., & Atchison, C. (2006). Men who buy sex: A survey in the Greater Vancouver Regional District. Canadian Review of Sociology/Revue canadienne de sociologie, 43(3), 281–296

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Luo, N. (2020). Decriminalizing Survival: Policy Platform and Polling on the Decriminalization of Sex Work. Data for Progress

  • Malamuth, N. M. (1981). Rape proclivity among males. Journal of Social Issues, 37(4), 138–157

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malamuth, N. M., Heavey, C. L., & Linz, D. (1996). The confluence model of sexual aggression: Combining hostile masculinity and impersonal sex. Journal of Offender Rehabilitation, 23(3–4), 13–37

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Malamuth, N. M., Linz, D., Heavey, C. L., Barnes, G., & Acker, M. (1995). Using the confluence model of sexual aggression to predict men’s conflict with women: A 10-year follow-up study. Journal of Personality and Social Psychology, 69(2), 353

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Mancini, C., Reckdenwald, A., Beauregard, E., & Levenson, J. S. (2014). Sex industry exposure over the life course on the onset and frequency of sex offending. Journal of Criminal Justice, 42(6), 507–516

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Maruna, S., & Copes, H. (2005). What have we learned from five decades of neutralization research? Crime and Justice: Review of Research, 32, 221–320

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Menaker, T. A., & Franklin, C. A. (2018). Prostitution myth endorsement: Assessing the effects of sexism, sexual victimization history, pornography, and self-control. Psychology of Women Quarterly, 42(3), 313–325

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Messerschmidt, J. (1993). Masculinities and Crime: Critique and Reconceptualization of Theory. Lanham, MD: Rowman & Littlefield

    Google Scholar 

  • Milrod, C., & Weitzer, R. (2012). The intimacy prism: Emotion management among the clients of escorts. Men and Masculinities, 15(5), 447–467

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monto, M. A. (2004). Female prostitution, customers, and violence. Violence Against Women, 10(2), 160–188

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monto, M. A., & Julka, D. (2009). Conceiving of sex as a commodity: A study of arrested customers of female street prostitutes. Western Criminology Review, 10, 1

    Google Scholar 

  • Monto, M. A., & McRee, N. (2005). A comparison of the male customers of female street prostitutes with national samples of men. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49(5), 505–529

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monto, M. A., & Milrod, C. (2014). Ordinary or peculiar men? Comparing the customers of prostitutes with a nationally representative sample of men. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 58(7), 802–820

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Monto, M., & Milrod, C. (2020). Perceptions of provider power among sex buyers. Sexualities, 23(4), 630–644

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • O’Connor, J. (2021). The longitudinal effects of rape myth beliefs and rape proclivity. Psychology of Men & Masculinities, 22(2), 321–330

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Page, A. D. (2008). Judging women and defining crime: Police officers’ attitudes toward women and rape. Sociological Spectrum, 28(4), 389–411

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pauw, I., & Brener, L. (2003). ‘You are just whores—you can’t be raped’: barriers to safer sex practices among women street sex workers in Cape Town. Culture, Health & Sexuality, 5(6), 465–481

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Pitts, M. K., Smith, A. M., Grierson, J., O’Brien, M., & Misson, S. (2004). Who pays for sex and why? An analysis of social and motivational factors associated with male clients of sex workers. Archives of Sexual Behavior, 33(4), 353–358

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Platt, L., Grenfell, P., Meiksin, R., Elmes, J., Sherman, S. G., Sanders, T. … Crago, A. L. (2018). Associations between sex work laws and sex workers’ health: A systematic review and meta-analysis of quantitative and qualitative studies. PLoS medicine, 15(12), e1002680. https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC6289426/pdf/pmed.1002680.pdf

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Raine, G. (2021). Violence against male sex workers: A systematic scoping review of quantitative data. Journal of Homosexuality, 68(2), 336–357

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Rasmussen, L. A. (2012). Victim and victimizer: the role of traumatic experiences as risk factors for sexually abusive behavior. The Israel Journal of Psychiatry and Related Sciences, 49(4), 270–279

    Google Scholar 

  • Rebocho, M. F., & GonÇalves, R. A. (2012). Sexual predators and prey: A comparative study of the hunting behavior of rapists and child molesters. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 27(14), 2770–2789

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Reilly, E. D., Rochlen, A. B., & Awad, G. H. (2014). Men’s self-compassion and self-esteem: the moderating roles of shame and masculine norm adherence. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 15(1), 22–28

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Roberts, A. L., McLaughlin, K. A., Conron, K. J., & Koenen, K. C. (2011). Adulthood stressors, history of childhood adversity, and risk of perpetration of intimate partner violence. American Journal of Preventive Medicine, 40(2), 128–138

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Romero-Sánchez, M., Toro-García, V., Horvath, M. A., & Megías, J. L. (2017). More than a magazine: Exploring the links between lads’ mags, rape myth acceptance, and rape proclivity. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 32(4), 515–534

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sáez, G., Riemer, A. R., Brock, R. L., & Gervais, S. J. (2022). The role of interpersonal sexual objectification in heterosexual intimate partner violence from perspectives of perceivers and targets. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 37(3–4), 1430–1455

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Sakha, S., Greytak, E., & Haynes, M. (2020). Is Sex Work Decriminalization The Answer? What The Research Tells Us. ACLU

  • Sanders, T. (2016). Inevitably violent? Dynamics of space, governance, and stigma in understanding violence against sex workers. Special issue: Problematizing prostitution: critical research and scholarship (71 vol., pp. 93–114). Politics, and Society): Emerald Group Publishing Limited: Studies in Law

    Chapter  Google Scholar 

  • Sanders, T., & Campbell, R. (2007). Designing out vulnerability, building in respect: violence, safety and sex work policy. The British Journal of Sociology, 58(1), 1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Scoular, J. (2010). What’s law got to do with it? How and why law matters in the regulation of sex work. Journal of Law and Society, 37(1), 12–39

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shechory, M., & Ben-David, S. (2005). Aggression and anxiety in rapists and child molesters. International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology, 49(6), 652–661

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shumka, L., Strega, S., & Hallgrimsdottir, H. K. (2017). “I wanted to feel like a man again”: Hegemonic masculinity in relation to the purchase of street-level sex. Frontiers in Sociology, 2, 15

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Shively, M., Kliorys, K., Wheeler, K., & Hunt, D. (2012). A national overview of prostitution and sex trafficking demand reduction efforts, final report. The National Institute of Justice, US Department of Justice

  • Silver, E., & Silver, S. (2021). The Influence of Moral Intuitions on Americans’ Divergent Reactions to Reports of Sexual Assault and Harassment. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 08862605211050102

  • Simons, D. A., Wurtele, S. K., & Durham, R. L. (2008). Developmental experiences of child sexual abusers and rapists. Child Abuse & Neglect, 32(5), 549–560

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, R. M., Parrott, D. J., Swartout, K. M., & Tharp, A. T. (2015a). Deconstructing hegemonic masculinity: The roles of antifemininity, subordination to women, and sexual dominance in men’s perpetration of sexual aggression. Psychology of Men & Masculinity, 16(2), 160–169

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Smith, N., Laing, M., & Pilcher, K. (2015b). Being, thinking and doing ‘queer’in debates about commercial sex. Queer sex work (pp. 25–34). Routledge

  • Soderlund, G. (2005). Running from the rescuers: New US crusades against sex trafficking and the rhetoric of abolition. NWSA Journal, 64–87

  • Tampep, B. L. (2009). Sex Work In Europe: A mapping of the prostitution scene in 25 countries. Amsterdam: Tampep International

    Google Scholar 

  • Tharp, A. T., DeGue, S., Valle, L. A., Brookmeyer, K. A., Massetti, G. M., & Matjasko, J. L. (2013). A systematic qualitative review of risk and protective factors for sexual violence perpetration. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 14(2), 133–167

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Trivedi-Bateman, N. (2021). The combined roles of moral emotion and moral rules in explaining acts of violence using a situational action theory perspective. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(17–18), 8715–8740

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Troche, S. J., & Herzberg, P. Y. (2017). On the role of dominance and nurturance in the confluence model: A person-centered approach to the prediction of sexual aggression. Aggressive Behavior, 43(3), 251–262

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Turchik, J. A., Hebenstreit, C. L., & Judson, S. S. (2016). An examination of the gender inclusiveness of current theories of sexual violence in adulthood: Recognizing male victims, female perpetrators, and same-sex violence. Trauma, Violence, & Abuse, 17(2), 133–148

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Valine, E. B. (2019). The Demand Side of Sex Trafficking in Minnesota: The Who, Where, and Why-And What We Can Do about It. Mitchell Hamline Law Review, 45, 79

    Google Scholar 

  • Voith, L. A., Anderson, R. E., & Cahill, S. P. (2020). Extending the ACEs framework: Examining the relations between childhood abuse and later victimization and perpetration with college men. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 35(17–18), 3487–3512

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walfield, S. M. (2021). “Men cannot be raped”: Correlates of male rape myth acceptance. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13–14), 6391–6417

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Walsh, K., Sarvet, A. L., Wall, M., Gilbert, L., Santelli, J., Khan, S. … Mellins, C. A. (2021). Prevalence and correlates of sexual assault perpetration and ambiguous consent in a representative sample of college students. Journal of Interpersonal Violence, 36(13–14), NP7005–NP7026

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2005). Flawed theory and method in studies of prostitution. Violence Against Women, 11(7), 934–949

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2007). The social construction of sex trafficking: Ideology and institutionalization of a moral crusade. Politics & Society, 35(3), 447–475

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Weitzer, R. (2019). The campaign against sex work in the United States: A successful moral crusade. Sexuality Research and Social Policy, 1–16

  • Wheeler, J. G., George, W. H., & Dahl, B. J. (2002). Sexually aggressive college males: Empathy as a moderator in the “Confluence Model” of sexual aggression. Personality and Individual Differences, 33(5), 759–775

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • White, J. W., & Kowalski, R. M. (1998). Male violence toward women: An integrated perspective. Human Aggression (pp. 203–228). Elsevier

  • Wikström, P. O. H. (2006). Individuals, settings, and acts of crime: Situational mechanisms and the explanation of crime. The Explanation of Crime: Context, Mechanisms and Development, 61–107

  • Woerner, J., Abbey, A., Helmers, B. R., Pegram, S. E., & Jilani, Z. (2018). Predicting men’s immediate reactions to a simulated date’s sexual rejection: The effects of hostile masculinity, impersonal sex, and hostile perceptions of the woman. Psychology of Violence, 8(3), 349

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Yapp, E. J., & Quayle, E. (2018). A systematic review of the association between rape myth acceptance and male-on-female sexual violence. Aggression and Violent Behavior, 41, 1–19

    Article  Google Scholar 

  • Ybarra, M. L., & Mitchell, K. J. (2013). Prevalence rates of male and female sexual violence perpetrators in a national sample of adolescents. JAMA Pediatrics, 167(12), 1125–1134

    Article  Google Scholar 

Download references

Funding

No funds, grants, or other support was received.

Author information

Authors and Affiliations

  1. School of Criminology and Justice Studies, University of Massachusetts Lowell, Health and Social Sciences Building #477, 113 Wilder St, 01854, Lowell, MA, United States

    Katrina Cole

Authors
  1. Katrina Cole
    View author publications

    You can also search for this author in PubMed Google Scholar

Corresponding author

Correspondence to Katrina Cole.

Ethics declarations

Conflict of Interest

The author has no conflicts of interest to declare that are relevant to the content of this article.

Ethics Approval

Not applicable.

Consent to Participate

Not applicable.

Consent for Publication

Not applicable.

Additional information

Publisher’s Note

Springer Nature remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations.

Rights and permissions

Reprints and permissions

About this article

Check for updates. Verify currency and authenticity via CrossMark

Cite this article

Cole, K. Purchasers and Perpetrators: A Theoretical Synthesis of The Risk Factors and Implications of Buying Sex for Sexual Violence. Sexuality & Culture 26, 1940–1964 (2022). https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09971-9

Download citation

  • Accepted:

  • Published:

  • Issue Date:

  • DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s12119-022-09971-9

Keywords

Search

Navigation