Effects of Bans on Prostitution on Prevalence of Induced Abortions
DOI:
https://doi.org/10.52609/jmlph.v5i2.167Keywords:
Induced Abortion, Juvenile Prostitutes, Prostitution.Abstract
Background: Prostitutes are at high risk of unintended pregnancy, and induced abortions are widely practised among this cohort.
Aims: This study examined the effects of prostitution bans on the prevalence of induced abortions. We focused particularly on the bans on juvenile prostitution, which were introduced by 32 states of Japan between 1975 and 1998.
Methods: This was a cross-sectional study employing event-study analyses and a difference-in-difference-in-differences methodology. We compared the changes in numbers of induced abortions before and after the bans were introduced, among women under 20 years of age and among those aged 20―24 years, over states.
Results: The number of induced abortions among women under 20 years of age increased after the juvenile prostitution bans were implemented. In the fifth year of implementation, the number increased by 56.79 percentage points (p < 0.001) compared with the previous year.
Conclusion: The number of induced abortions among adolescents increased after juvenile prostitution was banned. As to its mechanism, the outcomes of our additional identification suggest that former juvenile prostitutes who retired due to the bans contributed to the increase.
References
Sopheab H, Tuot S, Chhea C, Gorbach P. Characteristics, risk behaviors and factors associated with abortion among female en-tertainment workers in Cambodia. Repro-ductive Health. 2015;12:1-8.
Morineau G, Neilsen G, Heng S, Phimpa-chan C, Mustikawati DE. Falling through the cracks: contraceptive needs of female sex workers in Cambodia and Laos. Con-traception. 2011;84(2):194-8.
Feldblum PJ, Nasution MD, Hoke TH, Van Damme K, Turner AN, Gmach R, et al. Pregnancy among sex workers participating in a condom intervention trial highlights the need for dual protection. Contraception. 2007;76(2):105-10.
Delvaux T, Crabbe F, Seng S, Laga M. The need for family planning and safe abortion services among women sex workers seek-ing STI care in Cambodia. Reproductive Health Matters. 2003;11(21):88-95.
Nazemi N. Legalizing prostitution means legitimizing human rights violation. Inter-national Journal of Humanities and Social Science. 2011;1(9):114-20.
World Health Organization. Abortion care guideline. 2022.
Kilvington J, Day S, Ward H. Prostitution policy in Europe: A time of change? Femi-nist Review. 2001;67(1):78-93.
Ayre P, Barrett D. Young people and pros-
titution: an end to the beginning? Children & Society. 2000;14(1):48-59.
Waltman M. Prohibiting sex purchasing and ending trafficking: The Swedish prostitu-tion law. Mich J Int'l L. 2011;33:133.
Sedgh G, Bearak J, Singh S, Bankole A, Popinchalk A, Ganatra B, et al. Abortion incidence between 1990 and 2014: global, regional, and subregional levels and trends. The Lancet. 2016;388(10041):258-67.
Melrose M. Labour pains: Some considera-tions on the difficulties of researching ju-venile prostitution. International Journal of Social Research Methodology. 2002;5(4):333-51.
Kingston S, Thomas T. No model in prac-tice: a ‘Nordic model’ to respond to prosti-tution? Crime, Law and Social Change. 2019;71:423-39.
Vuolajärvi N. Governing in the name of caring—The Nordic model of prostitution and its punitive consequences for migrants who sell sex. Sexuality Research and Social Policy. 2019;16(2):151-65.
Cheng S. Private lives of public women: Photos of sex workers (minus the sex) in South Korea. Sexualities. 2013;16(1-2):30-42.
Bettarini SS, D'Andrea SS. Induced abor-tion in Italy: levels, trends and characteris-tics. Family Planning Perspectives. 1996:267-77.
Bankole A, Singh S, Haas T. Reasons why women have induced abortions: evidence from 27 countries. International Family Planning Perspectives. 1998:117-52.
Argys LM, Averett SL, Rees DI. Welfare generosity, pregnancies and abortions among unmarried AFDC recipients. Jour-nal of Population Economics. 2000;13:569-94.
Bose S, Trent K. Socio-demographic de-terminants of abortion in India: a north–south comparison. Journal of Biosocial Science. 2006;38(2):261-82.
Plummer ML, Wamoyi J, Nyalali K, Msha-na G, Shigongo ZS, Ross DA, et al. Abort-ing and suspending pregnancy in rural Tan-zania: an ethnography of young people's beliefs and practices. Studies in Family Planning. 2008;39(4):281-92.
Lim L, Wong H, Yong E, Singh K. Profiles of women presenting for abortions in Sin-gapore: focus on teenage abortions and late abortions. European Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology and Reproductive Biology. 2012;160(2):219-22.
Quast T, Gonzalez F, Ziemba R. Abortion facility closings and abortion rates in Tex-as. Inquiry: The Journal of Health Care Or-ganization, Provision, and Financing. 2017;54:0046958017700944.
Paternoster R. How much do we really know about criminal deterrence? Deter-rence: Routledge; 2019. pp. 57-115.
Ampt FH, Willenberg L, Agius PA, Cher-sich M, Luchters S, Lim MS. Incidence of unintended pregnancy among female sex workers in low-income and middle-income countries: a systematic review and meta-analysis. BMJ Open. 2018;8(9):e021779.
Bettio F, Villa P. A Mediterranean perspec-
tive on the breakdown of the relationship between participation and fertility. Cam-bridge Journal of Economics. 1998;22(2):137-71.
Shapiro D, Gebreselassie T. Fertility transi-tion in sub-Saharan Africa: falling and stalling. African Population Studies. 2008;23(1).
Kreider A, Shapiro D, Varner C, Sinha M, editors. Socioeconomic progress and fertili-ty transition in the developing world: evi-dence from the Demographic and Health Surveys. International Union for the Scien-tific Study of Population International Pop-ulation Conference, Marrakesh, Morocco, September27-October; 2009.
Majumder N, Ram F. Explaining the role of proximate determinants on fertility decline among poor and non-poor in Asian coun-tries. PloS one. 2015;10(2):e0115441.
Laelago T, Habtu Y, Yohannes S. Proximate determinants of fertility in Ethiopia; an ap-plication of revised Bongaarts model. Re-productive Health. 2019;16:1-9.
Wagenaar H. Why prostitution policy (usu-ally) fails and what to do about it? Social Sciences. 2017;6(2):43.
Åhman E, Shah I. Unsafe abortion: world-wide estimates for 2000. Reproductive Health Matters. 2002;10(19):13-7.
Ketchen Jr DJ, Roccapriore AY, Connelly BL. Using Old Data: When Is It Appropri-ate? Journal of Management. 2023;49(8):2541-8.
Downloads
Published
How to Cite
Issue
Section
License
Copyright (c) 2025 Takahide Kobayashi, Hiroyuki Kobayashi
This work is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution 4.0 International License.
