John schools are education programs for men arrested for buying sex. The schools can be structured as a sentencing option and combined with other criminal sanctions, or as a diversion program, resulting in dismissed charges. John schools can be one-day classes or designed as multiple-session counseling programs. The programs are financed by the fees or fines that the arrested johns must pay (typically, about $400) for soliciting sex. The fees or fines usually cover all program costs, and often produce excess revenue used to fund survivor recovery programs.

A typical curriculum includes these topics:

• Health consequences
• Impact on communities
• Impact on survivors (testimony from women who have been trafficked or prostituted)
• Victimization risks and impact on johns
• Legal consequences

Other topics presented in John schools include:

• Male development, decision making, and responsibility
• Developing and maintaining healthy relationships
• Anger management
• Sex trafficking
• Dynamics of pimping
• Sex addiction
• Impact on spouses and children
• Link between pornography, prostitution, and human trafficking

Variations on the one-time classroom model include:

• Individual or group counseling sessions
• A video john school in which a DVDI is presented to arrested johns in various locations
• A “roadside john school,” involving a condensed presentation given to men suspected of soliciting but who are not arrested

Overview of John School Programs in the U.S.

•  John School Overview from National Assessment  (PDF, 183 KB)

To find U.S. sites which have employed this tactic, click here.

To help start, improve or sustain a john school, access the resources provided below. Some materials are also available in Spanish.