Macro-brothels as crime attractors: Impact of closure, displacement, and diffusion of benefits
| Author | Lucia Summers,Carles Soto |
| Date | 01 May 2020 |
| DOI | 10.1177/1477370818788011 |
| Published date | 01 May 2020 |
| Subject Matter | Articles |
https://doi.org/10.1177/1477370818788011
European Journal of Criminology
2020, Vol. 17(3) 247 –268
© The Author(s) 2018
Article reuse guidelines:
sagepub.com/journals-permissions
DOI: 10.1177/1477370818788011
journals.sagepub.com/home/euc
Macro-brothels as crime
attractors: Impact of closure,
displacement, and diffusion
of benefits
Carles Soto
Public Safety Institute of Catalonia, Spain
Lucia Summers
Texas State University, USA
Abstract
Efforts made at preventing prostitution – and any associated crime and disorder – are sometimes
undermined by assumptions the problem will likely displace elsewhere. This study measures
changes in local crime rates following the closure of two macro-brothels in Castelldefels, a
town in the greater metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. The closures were complemented
by a local ordinance aimed at preventing spatial displacement. Weighted displacement quotients
indicated that the modest crime reductions observed in the treatment area (immediately around
the macro-brothels) did not displace to the buffer area (the rest of the town); instead, a diffusion
of benefits was observed, whereby crime reductions were also observed in the buffer area. The
implications of the findings for criminological theory, policy and practice are discussed.
Keywords
Brothel closure, crime displacement, diffusion of benefits, macro-brothels, prostitution
Introduction
Scholars and policy makers have long debated how best to approach the regulation of
prostitution, with responses ranging from outright abolition through decriminalization to
full legalization (Brufao Curiel, 2008; Schulze et al., 2014). Prostitution, like many other
Corresponding author:
Carles Soto, Public Safety Institute of Catalonia, Ctra. C-17, Barcelona-Ripoll, km. 13,5, Mollet del Valles,
Barcelona 08100, Spain.
Email: carles.soto2@gmail.com
788011EUC0010.1177/1477370818788011European Journal of CriminologySoto and Summers
research-article2018
Article
248 European Journal of Criminology 17(3)
activities, tends to concentrate in space, which leads to the emergence of red-light dis-
tricts and/or clusters of commercial sex establishments (for example, Chin et al., 2015).
Such clusters of prostitution-related activity can lead to nuisance, decreased security, and
other secondary effects (Hubbard et al., 2007; McCord and Tewksbury, 2012). As a
result, not-in-my-backyard (NIMBY) responses are often observed, with residents put-
ting pressure on police departments and other local government agencies to stop such
activities in their neighbourhoods (Cortes Generales, 2007; Hubbard, 1998).
Although several studies have measured the impact on local crime rates of regulating
street prostitution (for example, Home Office, 2004), only a handful (for example,
McCleary, 2008) have focused on brothels and other commercial sex establishments as
crime attractors, and the impact their closure may have on local crime rates. To our knowl-
edge, no empirical studies have focused on the impact of macro-brothels (also known as
mega- and super-brothels), which are large-scale brothels that tend to ‘employ’ tens if not
hundreds of sex workers at any one time and that cater for thousands of clients.
The present study addresses this gap by measuring changes in local crime rates fol-
lowing the closure of two macro-brothels in Castelldefels, a town situated within the
greater metropolitan area of Barcelona, Spain. In an attempt to prevent displacement
onto nearby streets, the town introduced a local ordinance shortly after the macro-brothel
closures that allowed local police to issue citations and fines to both sex workers and
clients if found soliciting/offering commercial sex in a public place.
The paper starts with an overview of how prostitution is regulated in Spain, a theoreti-
cal and empirical discussion of the relationship between prostitution and crime, and a
section on crime displacement. We then describe the methodology adopted, which
includes the use of Bowers and Johnson’s (2003) weighted displacement quotient, a tech-
nique employed to measure potential spatial displacement and diffusion of benefits. The
results are then reported and discussed in relation to theory, policy, practice, and future
research.
Prostitution in the Spanish context
Prostitution in Spain, as is the case in many other countries, is most visible when exer-
cised on the street, but in fact most sex work takes place within commercial sex estab-
lishments such as massage parlours and brothels, and to a lesser extent – but still much
more frequently than on the street – in indoor private residences (Cortes Generales,
2007; Matthews, 2005; Sanchís and Serra, 2011; Sanders et al., 2009). According to the
Spanish association of commercial sex businesses (Asociación de Empresarios de
Locales de Alterne or ANELA, in Spanish), prostitution is a €18-billion business in the
country (see Cortes Generales, 2007), although estimates from multi-method empirical
studies are much lower than this (for example, about €2.3 billion; Sanchís and Serra,
2011). Certainly prostitution is thought to be extremely common and socially accepted in
Spain, with as many as 32 percent of males having paid for sex at some point in their
lives (Ministerio de Sanidad y Consumo, 2009), 6.7 percent being regular commercial
sex buyers (Instituto Nacional de Estadística, 2003), and almost 80 percent of the public
regarding it as inevitable and supporting its legalization (Calvo and Peñadés, 2015;
Centro de Investigaciones Sociológicas, 2008).
To continue reading
Request your trial