Calling All ‘Johns’: L.A. to Shame Solicitors of Prostitutes

In less than 45 days, Los Angeles City county attorneys will return a plan to officials underlying steps to carry out a “john-shaming” campaign that will publicly display the identities of people who solicit sex from prostitutes. Part of the move is to stop the spread of chid sex trafficking. 

“Displaying photographs of the so-called ‘johns’ on the Internet, on billboards and other public places should create a large disincentive to participate in this sickening endeavor,” said Supervisor Don Knabe, according to the Los Angeles Times. 

County supervisors are pushing the move forward saying their shaming of johns will protect minors from sex trafficking, notes the Times.

Supervisor Sheila Kuehl, who recently won reelection against Bobby Shriver, also jumped on the “john-shaming” bandwagon, expressing her belief that a “double standard” existed where only sex workers were blamed while their customers flew freely under the radar. 

In July of this year, the Oakland Police Department launched a “Pimps and Purchasers” website with the intent to publicly shame these johns. 

Orange and Richmond Counties have employed similar shaming tactics, notes the Times. In the O.C., the district attorney’s office set up a “Sex Purchasers” website which published photos of solicitors and sex offenders and in Richmond, the Police Department reportedly posted pictures of men arrested in prostitution stings; going so far as allowing others to include the culprits’ home addresses. 

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