The Girl That Disappears/Chapter 7
VII
NOW MAN'S BUSINESS, NOT WOMAN'S
THIS brings us to a vital, shameful fact, too little known to the general public, but a fact policemen have impressed on them more and more every day; prostitution as it exists as an international traffic and as a part of the life of every one of our big American cities, is no longer a WOMAN'S trade; it is a MAN'S trade. There are women procurers, women importers, and women proprietors, it is true, but taken in the main the business is carried on by men, stimulated far beyond its natural proportions by men, and much of the profits are collected by men.
The girl who disappears lives on somewhere in the under-world for the money profit of men. These men who profit directly from the shame of women fall into two classes—procurers and protectors. The classes overlap one another, and the men are often engaged in both ends of the business. The procurer, or the "cadet" as he is usually known, keeps up the supply of women, which, except for his industrious labors, would fall far below its present volume. For while it is undoubtedly true that women do adopt voluntarily a life of immorality, it is easy to prove that a large proportion of them must be forced or enticed into the life. If women in large numbers were willing to become prostitutes it would not be necessary to have such enormous machinery in order to recruit the ranks. The "cadet" himself would be unnecessary. But so unwilling are women to debase themselves that the "cadet," the dance hall, the Raines Law hotel, false marriages, drink, and even physical force are necessary to keep the hideous thing alive.