Equality Now Statement

New York, March 11, 2008—Equality Now is stunned and saddened by the publicly disclosed evidence indicating that New York Governor Eliot Spitzer was “Client 9” of a high-end prostitution ring called the Emperor’s Club VIP. To date Governor Spitzer has not denied this identification, which would violate several laws including the Mann Act, a federal law that makes it a crime to transport an individual in interstate or foreign commerce for the purposes of prostitution. Patronizing prostitution is a crime in Washington D.C. as well as in New York State, where the law was amended last year to increase the penalties for this offense.

It is painfully ironic that Governor Spitzer, who was one of the strongest political voices against the commercial sexual exploitation of women, not only in New York but across the nation, may have been himself involved in buying a woman for prostitution. Governor Spitzer led the fight against human trafficking and sex tourism, spearheading the effort that led New York to adopt the strongest anti-trafficking law in the country. This law, which he signed in June 2007, recognized the link between the demand for prostitution and sex trafficking by raising the penalty for “johns.”

In a New York Times article yesterday, Mr. Alan M. Dershowitz, a Harvard law professor for whom Governor Spitzer was once a research assistant, was quoted as saying “Men go to prostitutes—big deal, that’s not a story in most parts of the world.” He also added that prostitution is a victimless crime. Equality Now has been particularly concerned by the way in which the media has highlighted this view, with so many commentators such as Mr. Dershowitz failing to acknowledge the harms of prostitution and its link to the ever growing sex trafficking industry. Taina Bien-Aimé, Executive Director of Equality Now, notes, “These types of commentaries underline how pervasive and normalized the sexual exploitation of women is in our cultural psyche. Prostitution is never a victimless crime. The commercial sexual exploitation of women must be understood as a form of violence and discrimination against women.”

Ms. Bien-Aimé added, “It is actually very unusual for a “client” in this type of investigation to be identified, and we would like to know the identity of Clients 1-8 and others discovered in this case. The “johns” have for too long been invisible. It is time we put faces to the buyers of prostituted women and hold them accountable for their criminal behavior.”

Equality Now Executive Director Taina Bien-Aimé has been interviewed by several media sources on this issue. Some of these include the Associated Press, CNN, NY1, New York Post, New York Times and WNYC Radio.

Equality Now is an international human rights organization that works to protect and promote the civil, political, economic and social rights of girls and women. Equality Now’s Women’s Action Network is comprised of more than 30,000 organizations and individuals in more than 160 countries. For more information, please visit www.equalitynow.org.

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