Dayton announces initiative to combat prostitution

DAYTON — The City of Dayton announced a new initiative Friday aimed at combating prostitution.

Called Buyer’s Remorse, the campaign will “modernize” the city’s approach to prostitution, according to a press release.

It will make the information of anyone that comes to Dayton to pay for sex “very” public, Mayor Nan Whaley said during a press conference Friday.

Social media ads that are geo-targeted to the offenders’ locations will list the names of people convicted of prostitution-related crimes, Whaley explained.

Their names and addresses will added to a map on www.buyersremorsecampaign.com, according to the press release.

The names and addresses of people convicted of selling sex will not be published though.

Whaley said that prostitution is not a victimless crime and added that many women involved in prostitution end up in the sex trade.

“Prostitution is a complex issue, but we know it follows the laws of supply and demand just like any other industry,” said Whaley. “It is important that we focus on reducing the demand because we know that the women involved in prostitution are almost never there by choice.”