Prostitution is a violent, abusive industry, and if men appreciated that, it would end

This editorial is a consensus opinion of the Daily Herald Editorial Board.

Drug use and prostitution have long been argued by some to be victimless crimes.

Hogwash.

As we've illustrated time and again, the ripples caused by illicit drug use extend from property crime to the destruction of users, their families and perhaps others. That's not victimless.

The same should be said about prostitution.

No transaction of money for sex is truly between two people. The prostitute rarely sees the money after it's collected, Hollywood fables notwithstanding.

Few enter prostitution willingly. Many who become prostitutes survived abusive childhoods or were cajoled into it by boyfriends.

Once in, they are endlessly exploited by others - whether a pimp or a whole network of people who keep business moving. The prostitutes themselves tend to be at the end of the line for getting paid.

The recent arrests of five people who authorities say were trafficking seven women in Kane and Cook counties prompted us to want to know what would happen to the women, who were flown to Illinois from South America. Once here, prosecutors said, traffickers exercised financial control over the women and, in at least one case, withheld food from one of the women for two days. One was threatened, as were her family, prosecutors said.

It's heartening to see authorities treating prostitutes as victims rather than criminals.

It's believed that 16% of men in the U.S. admit to having paid a prostitute for sex. You can bet many more wouldn't admit it.

"As long as there's demand, there will always be a supply," Simone Halpin, co-founder and executive director of Naomi's House, told our reporter, Alicia Fabbre.

Naomi's House, based in Wheaton, provides therapeutic services to victims of trafficking.

The problem is, few people are aware such services exist, and many victims don't know they have a choice to seek help.

Illinois has the eighth best funding for helping victims come back from a life of prostitution to a life of self worth, only 1% of sex trafficking victims are ever reached.

Would that Hollywood made fewer movies such as "Pretty Woman" that tend to glamorize prostitution and others that make light of it, we might all appreciate the true nature of it a little better.

Prostitution is not a Cinderella story. Let's stop thinking about it that way.

It's strange that in a business in which so much money changes hands that prostitution only serves to devalue people.

Should you know anyone in need of help, try:

• Naomi's House, (630) 480-1697;

• The National Human Trafficking Hotline, to report a tip or get help - (888) 373-7888;

• The Honoring Individual Power and Strength (HIPS) Hotline helps sex workers get help - (800) 676-HIPS (4477).