The Johns: Sex for Sale and the Men Who Buy It

Each year, more than 800,000 women and children are lured, tricked, or forced into prostitution to meet an apparently insatiable demand, joining an estimated 10 million women already ensnared in the $20 billion worldwide sex trade. To date, most research on the subject has focused on the various issues that propel these women into the trade, but little has been investigated, or written, about those who trigger the demand—the “Johns.” In this hard- hitting expose´, Victor Malarek ranges worldwide, unmasking the kind of men—and organizations—that foster and drive the sex trade, from America to Europe, Brazil to Thailand, Phnom Penh to St. Petersburg and Costa Rica.

From socioeconomic background to emotional stability, Malarek investigates the root of the cause and attacks the idea that prostitution is a victimless crime. He explores the efficacy of Sweden’s outlawing the buying—rather than the selling—of sex, and its dramatic impact on the country’s prostitution rates. The Johns is a chilling look into a dark corner of the world that these men have created at the expense of countless women and children.