Since 1979 declining job opportunities and the reduction of welfare benefits have combined to increase the numbers of adolescent females and young mothers who have drifted into prostitution. At the same time, patterns of law enforcement have ensured that prostitutes who work the streets are subjected to incessant police harassment, while those operating elsewhere are controlled, exploited, and intimidated beyond the reach of the law. Thus, the deterioration in the economic position of women has been accompanied by a crisis in sexual exploitation. In addition, law, social policy, and organized crime currently combine to ensure that while women engaged in prostitution face high risks of either prosecution or exploitation, pimps and others who benefit from the prostitution business remain relatively free to continue to exploit prostitutes. Reference note