This presentation was given at the 2018 Coalition to End Sexual Exploitation Global Summit hosted by the National Center on Sexual Exploitation. (EndExploitationSummit.com)
Peter Qualliotine
Co-Founder/Director, Men’s Accountability, Organization for Prostitution Survivors
Review boards are like “Yelp” for prostitution, where sex buyers who identify as “Hobbyists” promote the exploitation of women through their posted reviews. Men use forums like these confirm to one another their identities as “mongers.” Misogyny, sexism and homophobia are linked closely to their sex buying and are central to their performance of masculinity and their relationships with each other. This happens within the context of power dynamics that operate between “novices” and experienced, or senior, mongers. Learn about the role of review boards in promoting toxic masculinity and sustaining gender inequality; explore the role of “the Hobby” as a form and driver of commercial sexual exploitation and gender-based violence.
Peter Qualliotine is co-founder of Organization for Prostitution Survivors (OPS), a Seattle based group dedicated to stopping the harm of commercial sexual exploitation. Peter became involved in efforts to stop commercial sexual exploitation in the early 1990’s as a volunteer for the Portland, Oregon based Council for Prostitution Alternatives. In 1994 he founded the Sexual Exploitation Education Project (SEEP), a non-profit with the mission of promoting men’s accountability in stopping violence against women and children. As program coordinator of SEEP, Peter collaborated with the staff of the Portland Women’s Crisis Line to develop a comprehensive prevention curriculum for middle and high school students on the issues of sexual harassment; sexual assault; intimate partner violence and commercial sexual exploitation. In 1995, SEEP created one of the first intervention programs in the nation for buyers of commercial sex, an innovative 17-hour experiential education workshop which addressed the demand side of the prostitution problem through the lens of men’s accountability. In 2015, Peter launched “Stopping Sexual Exploitation: a Program for Men” a 10 session prostitution buyers intervention program utilized by municipalities in King County, WA.
