Prostitution Is Not Destroying Waikiki
A lot has been written and said about prostitution and Waikiki. Some
think that visible prostitution as in the case of streetwalking is
a major problem. When Terrance Tom chaired the house judiciary he
called the situation "intolerable" and said "such activity
is abhorrent to residents and visitors alike and is driving both from
one of the State's prime attractions. To quote an editorial piece
he wrote "for 20 years, this community has had to contend with
prostitutes, controlled and manipulated by their pimps, plying their
trade in open defiance of our laws, physically and verbally harassing
tourists and residents alike." But what evidence is presented
to support the harm implied by the actions of the prostitutes?
Mr. Tom's comments were made in the 1990's. Prostitution continues
in Waikiki, but no research indicates it has driven tourists or residents
away. Indeed since the activity had been going on for twenty years
prior to his comments one might ask why there was anyone left in Waikiki
at all. There are certainly complaints from visitors and residents
about prostitutes and some unscientific evidence collecting by other
legislators indicating antipathy towards prostitutes among Waikiki
residents. There is no evidence suggesting the visitor industry is
harmed by visible prostitution in Waikiki. The only non-biased attempts
to obtain visitor opinions have been done by the newspapers and television
news reporters doing random interviews on the streets. One good example
was done by the Advertiser during the time Terrance Tom was drumming
up his hysteria. Positive comments about the prostitutes outnumbered
negative ones by four to one. It seems most people out and about in
Waikiki were either interested in or intrigued by the prostitutes,
or at least not offended by them.
It should be obvious that streetwalkers in Waikiki exist because there
is a demand for their services. Without a steady stream of Johns,
the prostitutes would have packed up their bags and left years ago.
It is directly contrary to the interests of working prostitutes to
drive visitors from Waikiki. They are not in business for the purpose
of upsetting anyone. They are in business to please and be paid, just
like everyone else. Many of the specific issues that draw negative
remarks such as aggressiveness and thefts are exacerbated by the anti-prostitution
laws. The laws make things worse for everyone concerned; the prostitute,
her customer, the officers of the law, and the community. The only
ones who benefit are crank politicians. Prostitution is an important
part of the visitor industry adding tens of millions of dollars to
the local economy annually.
Certainly there will continue to be people who complain. For example
there are those who say prostitution is bad for our image as a family
oriented vacation spot. Why the police department should be involved
in such a question is not clear. No business reasons why Waikiki should
be called or promoted as "family oriented" have been put
forward. Most visitors to Hawaii are adults without their children.
We are neither a family oriented destination or seen as such. The
fact that some people don't like seeing street walkers provides no
rationale for arresting them. When I worked in the Waikiki visitor
industry we had lots of complaints from middle aged white people about
the number of Japanese here. They didn't like seeing these foreigners
at all. Should we have paid attention to these bigots? Why should
we listen to people who want to attack Waikiki's prostitutes?
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