Introduction
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact (e.g., sexual intercourse, non-penetrative sex, manual sex, oral sex, etc.) with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring infections. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in the field is usually called a prostitute or sex worker, but other words, such as hooker, putana, or whore, are sometimes used pejoratively to refer to those who work as prostitutes.
Prostitution occurs in a variety of forms, and its legal status varies from country to country (sometimes from region to region within a given country), ranging from being an enforced or unenforced crime, to unregulated, to a regulated profession. It is one branch of the sex industry, along with pornography, stripping, and erotic dancing. Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution, the act may take place at the client's residence or hotel room (referred to as out-call), or at the escort's residence or a hotel room rented for the occasion by the escort (in-call). Another form is street prostitution.
According to a 2011 report by Fondation Scelles there are about 42 million prostitutes in the world, living all over the world (though most of Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa lack data, studied countries in that large region rank as top sex tourism destinations). Estimates place the annual revenue generated by prostitution worldwide to be over $100 billion. (Full article...)
Selected article
Shortly after taking power in 1949, the Communist Party of China embarked upon a series of campaigns that purportedly eradicated prostitution from mainland China by the early 1960s. Since the loosening of government controls over society in the early 1980s, prostitution in mainland China not only has become more visible, but can now be found throughout both urban and rural areas. In spite of government efforts, prostitution has now developed to the extent that it comprises an industry, one that involves a great number of people and produces a considerable economic output. Prostitution has also become associated with a number of problems, including organized crime, government corruption and sexually transmitted diseases. For example, a Communist Party official who was a top provincial campaigner against corruption was removed from his post after he was caught in a hotel room with a prostitute. (read more...)
Selected biography
Ellis Alfred Swearengen (July 8, 1845 – November 15, 1904) was an American pimp and entertainment entrepreneur who ran the Gem Theater, a notorious brothel, in Deadwood, South Dakota, for 22 years during the late 19th century.
Swearengen originally owned and operated a canvas-and-lumber saloon in Deadwood known as the Cricket, which featured gambling and hosted prizefights. Shortly after, he closed it down and opened a larger saloon known as the Gem Theater. The Gem functioned as a saloon, dance hall and brothel. Swearengen lured desperate young women to Deadwood, then forced them into prostitution through a combination of bullying and physical brutality committed by himself and his henchmen. Calamity Jane, who was one of his first dancers at the Gem, procured 10 girls from Sidney, Nebraska, for him on one occasion. (read more...)
Did you know?
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- ... that between 1778 and 1801, Manor House, 21 Soho Square, London, (pictured) was a high-class magic brothel called The White House, described by Henry Mayhew as a "notorious place of ill-fame"?
- ... that the Admiral Apartments, built in 1909, had "sporting girls" (prostitutes) operating out of it by 1913?
- ... that at the town next to the Brazilian gold mine Serra Pelada, thousands of underage girls prostituted themselves for gold flakes while around 60–80 unsolved murders were registered every month?
- ... that the area around La Merced Market, Mexico City, is considered to be a "tolerance zone" for prostitution?
Quotes
| “ | The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be to imprison one half of the human race. | ” |
Anniversaries - August
- 11th
- 1929: Birth of Grisélidis Réal, a writer, sex worker and activist from Geneva, Switzerland.
- 1952: Birth of Lindi St Clair (Marian June Akin), a British author, leader of the Corrective Party, and campaigner for prostitutes' rights. She accused the Inland Revenue in the High Court of England of being "Her Majesty's pimps".
- 14th
- 1885: Brothels were outlawed in the United Kingdom by the passing of the Criminal Law Amendment Act 1885.
- 15th
- 1889: Birth of Marthe Richard, a French prostitute and spy. She later became a politician and worked towards the closing of brothels in France in 1946.
- 16th
- 1959: Street prostitution was outlawed in England and Wales by the Street Offences Act 1959 coming into force.
- 17th
- 1888: Murder of Martha Tabram, an English prostitute killed in a spate of violent murders in Whitechapel, in the East End of London. She may have been the first victim of the still-unidentified Jack the Ripper.
- 31st
- 1888: Murder of Mary Ann Nichols. Her death has been attributed to the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper.
Selected image
Man negotiating with a sex worker in Amsterdam's De Wallen (Red-light district).
Legality Map
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Recognised content
Featured (13)
Good (18)
- Mah Laqa Bai
- Butters' Bottom Bitch
- Child prostitution
- Elizabeth Cresswell
- Casey Donovan
- Dumas Brothel
- Andrea Dworkin
- Natasha Falle
- Kanhopatra
- Caroline Lacroix
- Ipswich serial murders
- National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking
- Neaira (hetaera)
- Salon Kitty
- She Has a Name
- Soho
- Valerie Solanas
- Three Sisters Tavern
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