Prostitution is sexual intercourse in exchange for remuneration.
The legal status of prostitution varies in agencies claim never to provide sexual services, very few successful escorts are available exclusively for
different countries, from punishable by death to complete legality. A woman who is supported by only one
man she has sexual intercourse with but does not live with is a mistress, and is not normally considered a
prostitute. Male prostitutes offering services to female customers are known as "gigolos" or "escorts".
The term is used loosely to indicate someone who engages in sexual acts that are disapproved of[1], such
as sexual promiscuity or sex outside of marriage. Cultural usage varies widely, and the use of the term as a
pejorative indicates acts that are not formally considered prostitution in a cultural context.
Terminology
The English word whore, referring to (female) prostitutes, is taken from the Old English word hōra (from
the Indo-European root kā meaning "desire") but usage of that word is widely considered pejorative and
prostitute is considered a less vulgar and value-laden term. The great degree of social stigma associated
with prostitution, of both buyers and sellers, has led to terminology such as 'commercial sex trade',
'commercial sex worker' (CSW) or sex trade worker. In Germany most prostitutes' organizations
deliberately use the word Hure (whore) since they feel that prostitute is a bureaucratic term. See also: call
girl, courtesan, escort, female companion.
Male prostitutes offering their services to male customers are called "hustlers" or "rent boys". Male
prostitutes offering services to female customers are known as "gigolos". Prostitution is sometimes called
the "world's oldest profession".
Prostitutes are not the only people who have sex for money. Pornographic actors and actresses get paid for
having sex, but are not generally regarded as prostitutes.
Organisers of prostitution are typically known as pimps (if male) and madams (if female). More formally,
they practice procuring, and are procurers, or procuresses.
Another generalisation is using the term or an equivalent to mean any form of earning well in an
unscrupulous degrading manner, e.g., 'quote whore', 'media whore', 'cam whore'. The term pimp is also
sometimes similarly used derogatively, as in poverty pimp, or as a word that means unjustly benefit from
others' misery.
Prostitutes are stigmatised in most societies and religions; their customers are typically stigmatised to a
lesser degree. The sexual counterparts of prostitutes are known as "johns" in North America and "punters"
in the British Isles. These slang terms are used among both prostitutes and law enforcement for persons
who solicit prostitutes.
The term john may have originated from the customer practice of giving their name as 'John', a common
name in English-speaking countries, in an effort to maintain anonymity.
In some places, men who drive around red-light districts for the purpose of soliciting prostitutes are also
known as kerb crawlers.
Definition
In street prostitution the prostitute solicits customers while waiting at street corners or "walking the
street".
Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution, often confined to special red-light
districts in big cities. Other names for brothels include Bordello, Whorehouse, Cathouse, and General
houses. Prostitution also occurs in some massage parlours, and in Asian countries in some barber shops
where sexual services may be offered as a secondary function of the premises.
In escort prostitution, the act takes place at the customer's place of residence or more commonly at his or
her hotel room (currently referred to as "out-call"), or at the escort's place of residence or in a hotel room
rented for the occasion by the escort (called "incall"). This form of prostitution often shelters under the
umbrella of escort agencies, who ostensibly supply attractive escorts for social occasions. While escort
social companionship. Even where this type of prostitution is legal, the ambiguous term "escort service" is
commonly used. (See call girl). In the US, escort agencies advertise frequently on the internet and
example advertisements can be readily found on any major search engine and on open forum sites such as
Craigslist. In the case of prostitutes using the internet to place ads, or prospective customers advertising
for a prostitute, a long list of abbreviations and "code words" are used to describe how much a service
may cost, or what specific act is being requested (see List of prostitution-related jargon terms).
Some escorts may work independently of an agency (indies). This is achieved by advertising the services
on offer directly in newspapers, magazines or the internet. Communication with clients is usually made on
a telephone and appointments are negotiated without any third party involvement.
In sex tourism, travellers from rich countries travel to poorer countries such as Thailand in search of
sexual services that may be more expensive in their own countries. Other popular sex tourism destinations
are Brazil, the Caribbean, and former eastern bloc countries.
The setting common in Russia and other countries of the former USSR takes the form of an open-air
prostitution market. One prostitute stands by a roadside, and directs cars to a so-called "tochka" (usually
located in alleyways or carparks), where lines of women are paraded for customers in front of their car
headlights. The client selects a prostitute, whom he takes away in his car. Under these conditions in
particular, the women (often very young girls) are exposed to the risk of abuse. Prevalent in the late 1990s,
this type of service has been steadily declining in the recent years.
A "lot lizard" is a commonly-encountered special case of street prostitution. Lot lizards mainly serve those
in the trucking industry at truck stops and stopping centers. Prostitutes will often proposition truckers
using a CB radio from a vehicle parked in the non-commercial section of a truck stop parking lot,
communicating through codes based on commercial driving slang, then join the driver in his truck.
"Recreational Reptile" see above.
Street
In street prostitution, the prostitute solicits customers while waiting at street corners (sometimes called
"the track" by pimps and prostitutes alike), usually dressed in skimpy clothing. Street prostitutes are often
called "street walkers" while their customers are referred to as "tricks". The sex is performed in the
customer's car, in a nearby alley, or in a rented room (motels that service prostitutes commonly rent rooms
by the half or full hour). Street prostitutes are often motivated by drug addiction (though the statistics are
disputed),[2] and are sometimes referred to by slang terms such as "crack whores".
Ecort/Outcall
Escort agencies typically advertise in regional publications and even telephone listings like the Yellow
Pages. Many maintain websites with photo galleries of the employees. An interested client contacts an
agency by telephone and offers a description of what kind of escort they are looking for. The agency will
then suggest an employee who might fit that client's need.
The agency collects the client's contact information and calls the escort. Usually, to protect the identity of
the escort and ensure effective communication with the client, the agency arranges the appointment.
Sometimes it may be up to the escort to contact the client directly to make arrangements for location and
time of an appointment. If the agency does not supply transport to and from the client, the escort is also
expected to call the agency upon arrival at the location and again upon leaving to assure his or her safe
completion of the booking.
The purpose of discretion is to attempt to protect the escort agency (to some degree) from prosecution for
breaking the law. If the employee is solely responsible for arranging any illegal aspects of their
professional encounter the agency could try to maintain plausible deniability should an arrest be made.
However in practice, the use of undercover police evidence or the use of links to reviews of the agencies
escorts usually results in this failing.
Typically, an agency will charge their escorts either a flat fee for each client connection or a percentage of
the prearranged rate. In San Francisco, it is usual for typical heterosexual-market agencies to negotiate for
as little as $100, up to a full 50 percent of an escort's reported earnings (not counting any gratuity
received). If they work independently doing either incalls or outcalls, prices can range from $200 to over
$5,000 for more exclusive services. Most transactions occur in cash, and optional tipping of escorts by
clients in most major US cities is customary but not compulsory. Credit card processing offered by larger
scale agencies is often available for a service charge.
Independent escorts, also known as providers, have differing fees depending on many factors. For
example; different seasons bring about different costs (and differing levels of demand), as do regular and
semi-regular customers. Some may charge by the hour, half hour or even in 15 minute blocks. Time
extensions (if offered or requested) are usually priced at the same rate as the original booking. Some
escorts pay another individual to act as their personal security, thus providing a level of protection to
themselves from violent or abusive clients.
An escort who works less often may be able to command a premium for his or her exclusivity. One who
sees several clients each day may charge less, but earn more in the end. Independent escorts might see
clients for extended meetings involving dinner or social activities, whereas escorts who work through
agencies generally provide only sexual services.
Whilst the vast majority of escort agencies are sex related, there are some non-sexual escort agencies,
where escorts provide companionship for business and social occasions.
Sex tourism
Sex tourism is travelling for sexual intercourse with prostitutes or to engage in other sexual activity. The
World Tourism Organization, a specialized agency of the United Nations defines sex tourism as "trips
organized from within the tourism sector, or from outside this sector but using its structures and networks,
with the primary purpose of effecting a commercial sexual relationship by the tourist with residents at the
destination".[3]
Often the term "sex tourism" is mistakenly interchanged with the term "child sex tourism". As opposed to
regular sex tourism, a tourist who has sex with a child prostitute possibly commits a crime against
international law, in addition to the host country, and the country that the tourist is a citizen of. The term
"child" is often used as defined by international law and refers to any person below the age of consent.
Prostitution and the Internet
Some prostitutes use the Internet to find customers.[4] A prostitute may use adult boards or create a
website of their own with contact details, such as email addresses.
Socio-economic and legal status
Legality
Prostitutes working in their vans in Lyon, France. This form of prostitution is often referred to as
"BMC".At one end of the legal spectrum, prostitution carries the death penalty for third-time offenders in
the Sudan;[5] at the other end, prostitutes are tax-paying unionised professionals in the Netherlands and
brothels are legal and advertising businesses there (however, prostitutes must be at least 18, while the age
of consent is 16 in other contexts). The legal situation in Germany, Switzerland (where the issue of legal
age is a source of avid dispute, some insisting that one can legally be a prostitute as of one's sixteenth
birthday, other maintaining it is eighteen), and New Zealand is similar to that in the Netherlands (see
prostitution in the Netherlands, prostitution in Germany and prostitution in New Zealand). In the
Australian state of New South Wales, any person over the age of 18 may offer to provide sexual services
in return for money. In Victoria, a person who wishes to run a prostitution business must have a licence.
Prostitutes working for themselves in their own business, as prostitutes in the business, must be registered.
Individual sex workers are not required to be registered or licensed. In some countries the legal status of
prostitution may vary depending on the activity; in Japan, for example, vaginal prostitution is against the
law while fellatio prostitution is legal, as women who perform fellatio for money are not considered
prostitutes in Japan.
In Turkey, street prostitution is illegal. Prostitution through government regulated brothels is legal. All
brothels must have a license, and all sex workers working in brothels must be licensed as well.
Municipality based "Commissions for the struggle against venereal diseases and prostitution" are in
charge of issuing such licenses.
In the United Kingdom, prostitution is not formally illegal, but several activities surrounding it are
outlawed. In England and Wales, the legal situation is:
for a prostitute to loiter or conduct solicitation in a street or public place is illegal, therefore outlawing
street prostitution.
it is also illegal for a potential client to solicit persistently, or solicit from a motor vehicle ("kerb
crawling").
owning or running a brothel is illegal.
child prostitution is specifically illegal for the person paying (where 'child' is defined as younger than 18,
although the age of consent is 16)
controlling prostitution for gain is an offence, banning pimping.
There has been long and widespread debate as to whether the a toleration of prostitution similar to that
seen in the Netherlands and Germany should be extended. Local police forces have historically flipped
between zero tolerance of prostitution and unofficial red light districts.
The Government announced on January 17, 2006, that in England and Wales it was considering allowing
small brothels, whilst continuing the crackdown against kerb-crawling, which is seen as a nuisance. [1] A
similar situation exists in Scotland, with prostitution itself not illegal but associated activities are. A
Prostitution Tolerance Zones Bill was introduced into the Scottish Parliament but failed to become law.
In all but two U.S. states, the buying and selling of sexual services is illegal and usually classified as a
misdemeanor. Regulated brothels are legal in several counties of Nevada (see prostitution in Nevada). In
Rhode Island, the act of sex for money is not illegal, but street solicitation and operating a brothel are. The
police departments in Canton, New Castle County, Peoria, Wichita, Arlington, and St.Paul post the photos
of prostitutes and their clients on their websites.
In Canada, prostitution itself is legal, but most other activities around it are not. It is illegal to live "off the
avails" of prostitution (this law is intended to outlaw pimping) and it is illegal (for both parties) to
negotiate a sex-for-money deal in a public place (which includes bars). To maintain a veneer of legality,
escort agencies arrange a meeting between the escort and the client. A Canadian Supreme Court ruling in
1978 required that to be convicted of soliciting, a prostitute's activities must be "pressing and persistent".
Similarly, in Bulgaria prostitution itself is legal, but most activities around it (such as pimping) are
outlawed.
Rules vary as to which roles in prostitution are illegal: being a prostitute, being a client, or being a pimp.
In Sweden it is legal to sell sex, but pimping is illegal, and so is the purchase of sexual services since
1999.[clarify] Prostitutes are generally viewed by the government as oppressed, while their clients are
viewed as oppressors.[citation needed] Norway has the same laws as Sweden, except that it's not illegal to
buy sex. This situation is liable to change within a year or so, however, as the delegates at the 2007 annual
meeting of the Labour Party, Norway's largest, and part of the 2005–2009 coalition government, voted in
favour of banning the purchase of sexual services.
In the Netherlands, the purchase of sexual services from prostitutes under 18 years of age, or pimping in
such instances, is illegal. The offering of services by prostitutes under 18 years of age is not illegal, unless
the client is also underage (under 16). In most countries with criminalized prostitution, prostitutes are
arrested and prosecuted at a far higher rate than their clients.
In Brazil and Costa Rica prostitution per se is legal, but taking advantage of or profiting from the
prostitution of others is illegal.
Prostitution is legal for citizens in Denmark, but it is illegal to profit from the prostitution of others (which
outlaws pimping and sex slavery) [citation needed]. Prostitution is not regulated as in the Netherlands;
instead, the government attempts through social services to bring people out of prostitution into other
careers, and attempts to lessen the amount of criminal activity and other problems associated with
prostitution.
In Thailand, prostitution is illegal as stated in the Prevention and Suppression Act of B.E. 2539 (=1996)[6]
In Hong Kong, prostitution is legal so long as it is done in private, but brothels are illegal as is any third-
party profit from prostitution (pimping). However in practice much of the prostitution is controlled by
triad societies or as informal additions to otherwise nonsexual services such as massage parlors, bars and
karaoke establishments. Among the many forms of prostitution common in Hong Kong are "one for one"
girls. To avoid the operation of an illegal brothel, triads will rent tiny apartments and allow girls to
"sublet" them so they appear to be operating out of their own homes. The triads then advertise the girls'
services on web sites or in local publications. Another avoidance strategy is to operate a karaoke
establishment and provide girls as entertainment or companionship only; the girls then take customers to
an hourly hotel in the same building and pay for the room separately. Informal, individual prostitution
(mostly of Filipinas, Indonesians, Thais, and sometimes women from Latin America and the former Soviet
Union) is almost always available at discos or hotel bars, especially in the Tsim Sha Tsui and Wan Chai
districts (the latter famous as the setting for The World of Suzie Wong. Occasionally the police raid the
triad-run prostitution setups, but usually the only arrests made are for immigration violations. Women
frequently enter Hong Kong from mainland China for prostitution services. However, this travel is not
forcible; most women working as prostitutes in Hong Kong are of age and are doing so voluntarily.
Establishments engaged in sexual slavery or owned by organized crime are the highest priority targets of
law enforcement actions against prostitution. Police also frequently intervene when prompted by local
resident complaints, often directed against street prostitution. In most countries where prostitution is
illegal, at least some forms of it are tolerated. This ambiguous status allows the police to extort money or
services, particularly information on criminal activities that prostitutes are often well-placed to obtain,
from prostitutes in exchange for "looking the other way".
Pimping is a sex crime in almost all jurisdictions. Some other countries retain the ill-defined offence of
"living off the proceeds of the prostitution of others", one of the prima facie evidences of which is co-
habiting with a prostitute.
In 1949, the UN General Assembly adopted a convention stating that forced prostitution is incompatible
with human dignity, requiring all signing parties to punish pimps and brothel owners and operators and to
abolish all special treatment or registration of prostitutes. The convention was ratified by 89 countries but
Germany, the Netherlands and the United States did not participate.
Some municipalities in the Netherlands would like a "zero tolerance policy" for brothels, i.e. not allow
any, on moral grounds, but by law this is not possible. However, regulations, including restrictions in
number and location are common. Whether a zero policy on urban planning grounds is allowed is still
unclear.
Advertising
A number of stickers affixed to a pay phone in Sao Paulo.In countries where prostitution is legal,
advertising it may be legal (as in the Netherlands) or illegal (as in Germany). In countries where
prostitution is illegal, advertising it is usually also illegal.
Covert advertising for prostitution can take a number of forms:
by cards in newsagents' windows
by cards placed in public telephone enclosures: so-called tart cards
by euphemistic advertisements in regular magazines and newspapers (for instance, talking of "massages"
or "relaxation")
in specialist contact magazines
via the internet
in public bathroom stalls (i.e. "for a good time call...")
In Las Vegas prostitution is often promoted overtly on The Las Vegas Strip by third party workers
distributing risqué flyers with the pictures and phone numbers of prostitutes. Prostitution is illegal in Clark
County[7] where Las Vegas is located.
Regulated
A Dutch prostitute speaks with a passerby.In some jurisdictions, such as Nevada (see prostitution in
Nevada), Switzerland and in four Australian states or territories (Australian Capital Territory, Victoria,
Queensland and the Northern Territory), prostitution is legal but heavily regulated.
Such approaches are often, but not always taken with the stance that prostitution is impossible to eliminate
and thus these societies have chosen to regulate it in ways that reduce the more undesirable aspects. Goals
of such regulations include controlling sexually transmitted disease, reducing sexual slavery, controlling
where brothels may operate and dissociating prostitution from crime syndicates.
The Dutch legalisation of prostitution has similar objectives, as well as improving health and working
conditions for the women and weakening the link between prostitution and criminality.
Daily Planet is a brothel in Melbourne, Australia whose shares were listed on the Australian Stock
Exchange in 2003, before listing difficulties - investors were asked to undergo police checks before
buying shares - forced the listed company to divest the brothel back into private ownership (the company
remained listed and continues its other business interests). There are various regulatory regimes governing
prostitution in Australia and a level of increasing professionalism is being seen in the industry with the
establishment of business associations like the Queensland Adult Business Association[8] that ascribe to a
strict ethical code which entrenches the independence of service providers.
Of children
An 1871 photograph of a pregnant prostitute approximately 11-years old.Main article: prostitution of
children
Regarding the prostitution of children the laws on prostitution as well as those on sex with a child apply. If
prostitution in general is legal there is usually a minimum age requirement for legal prostitution that is
higher than the general age of consent (see above for some examples). Although some countries do not
single out patronage of child prostitution as a separate crime, same act is punishable as sex with an
underage.
Some pedophiles travel to other countries to have access to sex with children, which is unavailable in their
home country. Cambodia has become a notorious destination for these pedophiles.[citation needed]
Several western countries have recently enacted laws with extraterritorial reach punishing citizens who
engage in sex with minors in other countries. As the crime usually goes undiscovered, these laws are
rarely enforced.[9][10][11]
In illegal immigration
A difficulty facing migrant prostitutes in many developed countries is the illegal residence status of some
of these women. They face potential deportation, and so do not have recourse to the law. Hence there are
brothels that may not adhere to the usual legal standards intended to safeguard public health and the safety
of the workers.
Violence against prostitutes
Prostitutes are at risk of violent crime,[12] as well as possibly at higher risk of occupational mortality than
any other group of women ever studied. For example, the homicide rate for female prostitutes was
estimated to be 204 per 100,000 (Potterat et al, 2004), which is sometimes higher than that for the next
riskiest occupations in the United States during a similar period (4 per 100,000 for female liquor store
workers and 29 per 100,000 for male taxicab drivers) (Castillo et al., 1994). However, there are substantial
differences in rates of victimization between street prostitutes and indoor prostitutes who work as escorts,
call girls, or in brothels and massage parlors (Weitzer 2000, 2005). Perpetrators include violent clients,
pimps, and corrupt law-enforcement officers. Prostitutes (particularly those engaging in street prostitution)
are also sometimes the targets of serial killers, who may consider them easy targets, or use the religious
and social stigma associated with prostitutes as justification for their murder. Being criminals in most
jurisdictions, prostitutes are less likely than the law-abiding to be looked for by police if they disappear,
making them favored targets of predators. The unidentified serial killer (or killers) known as Jack the
Ripper is said to have killed at least five prostitutes in London in 1888. More recently, Robert Pickton, a
Canadian who lived near Vancouver, made headlines after the remains of several missing prostitutes were
found buried on his farm. He now stands charged with the murder of 26 Vancouver area women, and is
suspected by police of killing at least four more (though no charges have been laid). As of December
2006, a serial killer of prostitutes appears to be active in Ipswich, England (see 2006 Ipswich murder
investigation).
Human trafficking and sexual slavery
Statue of a young girl caught in the "white slavery", as prostitution was known in the 19th-century.During
World War II, women and girls were kidnapped and enslaved by the Imperial Japanese military and forced
to work as unpaid prostitutes (see Comfort women).
Human trafficking is the fastest growing form of modern day slavery[13] and is the third largest and
fastest growing criminal industry in the world.[14]
Poverty, social exclusion and war are at the heart of human trafficking. Many women are hoodwinked into
believing promises of a better life, sometimes by people who are known and trusted to them. Traffickers
may own legitimate travel agencies, modeling agencies and employment offices in order to gain women's
trust. Others are simply kidnapped. Once overseas it is common for their passport to be confiscated by the
trafficker and to be warned of the consequences should they attempt to escape, including beatings, rape,
threats of violence against their family and death threats. It is common, particularly in Eastern Europe, that
should they manage to return to their families they will only be trafficked once again.
Due to the illegal and underground nature of sex trafficking, the exact extent of women and children
forced into prostitution is unknown. The International Labour Organization in 2005 estimated at least 2.4
million people have been trafficked.[13]
Thousands of children are sold into the global sex trade every year. Often they are kidnapped or orphaned,
and sometimes they are actually sold by their own families. According to the International Labour
Organization, the problem is especially alarming in Thailand, the Philippines, Sri Lanka, Vietnam,
Cambodia, Nepal and India.[15]
In May 2005 the Council of Europe Convention on Action Against Trafficking in Human Beings opened
for signature. Since then over 30 countries have signed the Convention and four countries have ratified it.
The United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) has produced a Toolkit to Combat Trafficking
in Persons.[16]
Globally, forced labour generates $31bn, half of it in the industrialised world, a tenth in transition
countries, the International Labour Organization says in a report on forced labour ("A global alliance
against forced labour", ILO, 11 May 2005). Trafficking in people has been facilitated by porous borders
and advanced communication technologies, it has become increasingly transnational in scope and highly
lucrative within its barbarity.
In some countries[weasel words] counselling, accommodation, specialist care exists for trafficked people
to help them escape, whilst in other countries, this support is lacking.
Medical situation
Prostitution has often been associated with the spread of sexually transmitted diseases (STDs) such as
HIV. Although people working as prostitutes are not regularly studied as a group by the CDC or other
recognized institutions, what little has been done on the subject suggests that women in prostitution have
either HIV rates similar to the population or lower [reference needed]. Nevertheless, needle-sharing
injection drug users in prostitution or not carry very high rates of hepatitis C virus (HCV) and HIV
compared to the general population. Studies in the USA on non-intravenous drug using prostitutes are few,
although studies in urban settings of prostitution in developing countries have shown a striking burden of
STD's, which acts as a reservoir of STD's within the general population [1].
Typical responses to the problem are:
banning prostitution completely
introducing a system of registration for prostitutes that mandates health checks and other public health
measures
educating prostitutes and their clients to encourage the use of barrier contraception and greater interaction
with health care
Some think that the first two measures are counter-productive. Banning prostitution tends to drive it
underground, making treatment and monitoring more difficult. Registering prostitutes makes the state
complicit in prostitution and does not address the health risks of unregistered prostitutes. Both of the last
two measures can be viewed as harm reduction policies.
In Australia where sex-work is largely legal, and registration of sex-work is not practiced, education
campaigns have been extremely successful and the non-intravenous drug user (non-IDU) sex workers are
among the lower HIV-risk communities in the nation. In part, this is probably due both to the legality of
sex-work, and to the heavy general emphasis on education in regard to Sexually Transmitted Infections
(STIs). Safer sex is heavily promoted as the major means of STI reduction in Australia, and sex education
generally is at a high level. Sex-worker organisations regularly visit brothels and home workers, providing
free condoms and lubricant, health information, and other forms of support.
The encouragement of safer sex practices, combined with regular testing for sexually transmitted diseases,
has been very successful when applied consistently. Prostitution appears to have little effect as a vector of
STDs when safer sex practices are applied consistently. However, in countries and areas where safer sex
precautions are either unavailable or not practiced for cultural reasons, prostitution appears to be a very
active disease vector for all STDs, including HIV/AIDS.
Occurrence
A political cartoon from 1787 jesting about the notion of taxation affecting prostitutes.According to the
paper "Estimating the prevalence and career longevity of prostitute women" (Potterat et al., 1990), the
number of full-time equivalent prostitutes in a typical area in the United States (Colorado Springs, CO,
during 1970–1988) is estimated at 23 per 100,000 population (0.023%), of which fraction some 4% were
under 18. The length of these prostitutes' working careers was estimated at a mean of 5 years. A follow-up
paper entitled "Prostitution and the sex discrepancy in reported number of sexual partners" (Brewer et al.,
2000) goes on to estimate a mean number of 868 male sexual partners per prostitute per year of active sex
work, and offers the conclusion that men's self-reporting of prostitutes as sexual partners is seriously
under-reported.
A 1994 study found that 16 percent of 18 to 59-year-old men in a U.S. survey group had paid for sex
(Gagnon, Laumann, and Kolata 1994).
A number of reports over the last few decades have suggested that prostitution levels have fallen in
sexually liberal countries, most likely because of the increased availability of non-commercial, non-
marital sex.[17]
Politics
Legal issues
Roughly speaking, the possible attitudes are:

abolition: "prostitution should be made to disappear"
"prostitution is immoral and prostitutes and their clients should be prosecuted": the prevailing attitude in
much of the United States with a few exceptions like Nevada.
"prostitution is a sad reality of exploitation of the prostitutes, especially women, but prostitutes should not
be criminalized", the current situation in Turkey.
"the clients of prostitutes exploit the prostitutes": prostitutes are not prosecuted, but their clients and pimps
are, which is the current situation in Sweden, and most likely will also be the situation in Norway from
sometime in 2008 onwards.
prostitution is legal, but discouraged, while pimping is prohibited, the current situation in the United
Kingdom and France among others;
regulation: prostitution may be considered a legitimate business; prostitution and the employment of
prostitutes are legal, but regulated (with respect to health etc. concerns); the current situation in the
Netherlands, Germany and parts of Nevada.
legalization: "prostitution is a victimless crime, and should be made completely legal so that it is no longer
an underground activity, allowing the normal checks and balances of society and existing laws to apply"
decriminalization: "prostitution is labor like any other. Sex industry premises should not be subject to any
special regulation or laws" such as in Australia and New Zealand. Proponents of this view often cite
instances of government regulation under legalization that they consider intrusive, demeaning, or violent,
but feel that criminalization adversely affects sex workers.
In some countries, there is controversy regarding the laws applicable to sex work. For instance, the legal
stance of punishing pimping while keeping sex work legal but "underground" and risky is often
denounced as hypocritical; opponents suggest either going the full abolition route and criminalize clients
or making sex work a regulated business.
Prostitution Information Centre, in Amsterdam.Many countries have sex worker advocacy groups which
lobby against criminalization and discrimination of prostitutes. These groups generally oppose Nevada-
style regulation and oversight, stating that prostitution should be treated like other professions. In the
United States of America, one such group is COYOTE (an abbreviation for "Call Off Your Old Tired
Ethics") and another is the North American Task Force on Prostitution.[18] In Australia the lead sex
worker rights organisation is Scarlet Alliance.[19] International prostitutes' rights organizations include
the International Committee for Prostitute's Rights[20] and the Network of Sex Work Projects.[21]
Other groups, often with religious backgrounds, focus on offering women a way out of the world of
prostitution while not taking a position on the legal question.
Feminism
Since most prostitutes are women, prostitution is a significant issue in feminist thought and activism.
Some feminists argue that the act of selling sex need not inherently be exploitative, but that attempts to
abolish prostitution - and the attitudes that lead to such attempts - lead to an abusive climate for sex
workers that must be changed. In the new discourse, the redefinition of prostitution as "sex work" saw the
development of the sex worker activism movement, comprising organisations such as the Australian
Prostitutes Collective and COYOTE.
Feminists who believe that prostitution is inherently exploitative, such as authors like Andrea Dworkin,
herself an ex-prostitute, argued in the 1980s that commercial sex is a form of rape enforced by poverty
(and often overt violence by pimps). Proponents reject the idea that prostitution can be reformed. These
feminists believe that the assumptions that women exist for men's sexual enjoyment, that all men "need"
sex, or that the bodily integrity and sexual pleasure of women is irrelevant underlie the whole idea of
prostitution, and make it an inherently exploitative, sexist practice. One feminist argument against
Dworkin's position is that prostitution, insofar as it colludes with the perception of an inherent 'need' on
the part of men for sexual release, is exploiting men more than it exploits women.
Sweden's 1999 law forbidding the purchase (but not sale) of sex was a natural extension of this view.
Many prostitutes in Sweden have decried the laws targeting clients, as they say the laws just drive the
industry further underground and reduce sex workers' incomes without providing greater safety.
Some jurisdictions have responded to sex worker activism by decriminalising prostitution. The rationale
for these legal reforms has been to extend to sex workers the same health and safety standards that apply
to other professions involving close bodily contact, for example dentistry, nursing or hairdressing.
History
The examples and perspective in this article or section may not represent a worldwide view of the subject.
Please improve this article or discuss the issue on the talk page.
Mesoamerica
Among the Aztecs, the Cihuacalli was the name given to those controlled buildings where prostitution was
permitted by political and religious authorities. "Cihuacalli" is a Nahuatl word which means "House of
Women".
The Cihuacalli was a closed compound with rooms, all of which were looking to a central patio. At the
center of the patio was a statue of Tlazolteotl, the goddess of "filth". Religious authorities believed women
should work as prostitutes, if they wish, only at such premices guarded by Tlazolteotl. It was believed
Tlazolteotl had the power to incite sexual activity, and at the same time do spiritual cleansing of such acts.
There are stories that also refer to certain places, either inside the Cihuacalli or outside, where women
would perform erotic dance in front of men. The poet Tlaltecatzin of Cuauhchinanco noted that special
"Joyful Women" would perform erotic dances at certain homes outside of the compound.
Near East
One of the first forms is sacred prostitution, supposedly practiced among the Sumerians. In ancient
sources (Herodotus, Thucydides) there are many traces of sacred prostitution, starting perhaps with
Babylon, where each woman had to reach, once in their lives, the sanctuary of Militta (Aphrodite or
Nana/Anahita) and there have sex with a foreigner as a sign of hospitality for a symbolic price.
Prostitution was common in ancient Israel, despite being tacitly forbidden by Jewish Law. Within the
religion of Canaan, a significant portion of temple prostitutes were male. It was widely used in Sardinia
and in some of the Phoenician cultures, usually in honour of the goddess ‘Ashtart. Presumably under the
influence of the Phoenicians,[citation needed] this practice was developed in other ports of the
Mediterranean Sea, such as Erice (Sicily), Locri Epizephiri, Croton, Rossano Vaglio, and Sicca Veneria.
Other hypotheses[citation needed] include Asia Minor, Lydia, Syria and the Etruscans.
In a story in the Bible, a prostitute in Jericho named Rahab assisted Israelite spies with her knowledge of
the current socio-cultural and military situation due to her popularity with the high-ranking nobles she
serviced, among others. The spies, in return for the information, promised to save her and her family
during the planned military invasion as long as she fulfilled her part of the deal by keeping the details of
the contact with them secret and leaving a sign on her residence that would be a marker for the advancing
soldiers to avoid. When the people of Israel conquered Canaan, she left prostitution, converted to Judaism
and married a prominent member of the people.
Greece
In ancient Greek society, prostitution was engaged in by both women and boys. The Greek word for
prostitute is porne, derived from the verb pernemi (to sell), with the evident modern evolution. Female
prostitutes could be independent and sometimes influential women. They were required to wear distinctive
dresses and had to pay taxes. Some similarities have been found between the Greek hetaera and the
Japanese oiran, complex figures that are perhaps in an intermediate position between prostitution and
courtisanerie. (See also the Indian tawaif.) Some prostitutes in ancient Greece, such as Lais were as
famous for their company as their beauty, and some of these women charged extraordinary sums for their
services.
Solon instituted the first of Athens' brothels (oik'iskoi) in the 6th century BC, and with the earnings of this
business he built a temple dedicated to Aprodites Pandemo (or Qedesh), patron goddess of this commerce.
Procuring, however, was severely forbidden. In Cyprus (Paphus) and in Corinth, a type of religious
prostitution was practiced where the temple counted more than a thousand prostitutes (hierodules),
according to Strabo.
Each specialised category had its proper name, so there were the chamaitypa'i, working outdoor (lie-
down), the perepatetikes who met their customers while walking (and then worked in their houses), the
gephyrides, who worked near the bridges. In the 5th century, Ateneo informs us that the price was of 1
obole, a sixth of a drachma and the equivalent of an ordinary worker's day salary. The rare pictures
describe that sex was performed on beds with covers and pillows, while triclinia usually didn't have these
accessories.
Male prostitution was also common in Greece. It was usually practiced by adolescent boys, a reflection of
the pederastic tastes of Greek men. Slave boys worked the male brothels in Athens, while free boys who
sold their favors risked losing their political rights as adults.
Rome
Roman hetaera, relief, around 2nd century—head is missingIn ancient Rome, there were some
commonalities with the Greek system; but as the Empire grew, prostitutes were often foreign slaves,
captured, purchased, or raised for that purpose, sometimes by large-scale "prostitute farmers" who took
abandoned children. Indeed, abandoned children were almost always raised as prostitutes.[22]
Enslavement into prostitution was sometimes used as a legal punishment against criminal free women.
Buyers were allowed to inspect naked men and women for sale in private and there was no stigma
attached to the purchase of males by a male aristocrat. A large brothel found in Pompeii called the Lupanar
attests to the widespread use of prostitutes in Rome around the turn of the century. Life expectancy for
prostitutes was generally low, [citation needed] but some managed to get free and establish themselves
e.g. as folk doctors. Like Greece, Roman prostitution was highly categorized, with titles for prostitutes and
their places of trade including:
Ælicariae, Amasiae, Amatrix, Ambubiae, Amica, Blitidae, Busturiae, Casuaria, Citharistriae, Copae,
Cymbalistriae, Delicatae, Diobolares, Diversorium, Doris, Famosae, Forariae, Fornix, Gallinae, Lupae,
Lupanaria, Meretrix, Mimae, Noctiluae, Nonariae, Pergulae, Proseda, Prostibula, Quadrantariae, Scorta
erratica, Scortum, Stabulae, Tabernae, Tugurium, and Turturilla.
Middle Ages
During the Middle Ages prostitution was commonly found in urban contexts. Although all forms of sexual
activity outside of marriage were regarded as sinful by the Roman Catholic Church, prostitution was
tolerated because it was held to prevent the greater evils of rape, sodomy, and masturbation (MCCall,
1979). Augustine of Hippo held that: "If you expel prostitution from society, you will unsettle everything
on account of lusts". The general tolerance of prostitution was for the most part reluctant, and many
canonists urged prostitutes to reform.
After the decline of organised prostitution of the Roman empire, many prostitutes were slaves. However,
religious campaigns against slavery, and the growing marketisation of the economy, turned prostitution
back into a business. By the High Middle Ages it is common to find town governments ruling that
prostitutes were not to ply their trade within the town walls, but they were tolerated outside if only
because these areas were beyond the jurisdiction of the authorities. In many areas of France and Germany
town governments came to set aside certain streets as areas where prostitution could be tolerated. In
London the brothels of Southwark were even owned by the Bishop of Winchester. (MCCall) Still later it
became common in the major towns and cities of Southern Europe to establish civic brothels, whilst
outlawing any prostitution taking place outside these brothels. In much of Northern Europe a more laissez
faire attitude tended to be found.[23] Prostitutes also found a fruitful market in the Crusades.
16th century
Köçek troupe at a fair. Recruited from the ranks of colonized ethnic groups, köçeks were entertainers and
sex workers in the Ottoman empire.By the very end of the fifteenth century attitudes seemed to have
begun to harden against prostitution. With the advent of the Protestant Reformation numbers of Southern
German towns closed their brothels in an attempt to eradicate prostitution. The prevalence of sexually
transmitted disease from the earlier sixteenth century may also have influenced attitudes. An outbreak of
Syphilis in Naples 1494 which later swept across Europe, and which may have originated from the
Columbian Exchange may have been the one of the causes of this change in attitude.
In some periods prostitutes had to distinguish themselves by particular signs, sometimes wearing very
short hair or no hair at all, or wearing veils in societies where other women did not wear them. Ancient
codes regulated in this case the crime of a prostitute that dissimulated her profession. In some cultures,
prostitutes were the sole women allowed to sing in public or act in theatrical performances.
18th century to present
French prostitutes being taken to the police station.In the 18th century, presumably in Venice, prostitutes
started using condoms, made with catgut or cow bowel.
Many of the women who posed in 19th and early 20th century vintage erotica were prostitutes. The most
famous were the New Orleans women who posed for E. J. Bellocq.
In the 19th century, legalized prostitution became a public controversy as France and then the United
Kingdom passed the Contagious Diseases Acts, legislation mandating pelvic examinations for suspected
prostitutes. Many early feminists fought for their repeal, either on the grounds that prostitution should be
illegal and therefore not government regulated or because it forced degrading medical examinations upon
women. This legislation applied not only to the United Kingdom and France, but also to their overseas
colonies.
Originally, prostitution was widely legal in the United States. Prostitution was made illegal in almost all
states between 1910 and 1915 largely due to the influence of the Woman's Christian Temperance Union
which was influential in the banning of drug use and was a major force in the prohibition of alcohol. In
1917 the legally defined prostitution district Storyville in New Orleans was closed down by the Federal
government over local objections. Prostitution remained legal in Alaska until 1953 (though not yet a US
state), and is still legal in some counties of Nevada.
Prostitutes in the Shimpuro Brothel in Yokohama.Beginning in the late 1980s, many states increased the
penalties for prostitution in cases where the prostitute is knowingly HIV-positive. These laws, often
known as felony prostitution laws, require anyone arrested for prostitution to be tested for HIV, and if the
test comes back positive, the suspect is then informed that any future arrest for prostitution will be a
felony instead of a misdemeanor. Penalties for felony prostitution vary in the states that have such laws,
with maximum sentences of typically 10 to 15 years in prison. An episode of COPS which aired in the
early 1990s detailed the impact of HIV/AIDS among prostitutes to which the felony prostitution laws is
deemed as part of HIV/AIDS awareness.
In the 1970s some religious cults were discovered practicing religious prostitution, or flirty fishing, as an
instrument to make new adepts.[24]
Nonhuman animal prostitution
Prostitution has been observed in nonhuman animal species, notably in Adelie penguins and in
hangingflies.
Other meanings
In colloquial usage, the word "prostitute" is sometimes generalized to mean the selling of one's services
for a cause thought to be unworthy, in the sense of "prostituting oneself" or "whoring oneself". In this
sense, the services or acts performed are typically not sexual. For instance, in the book, The Catcher in the
Rye, Holden Caulfield claims that his brother is in Hollywood, prostituting himself. In fact, he is writing
screenplays.