Portal:Prostitution

Introduction

Femmes de Maison, painting by Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, c. 1893—1895

Prostitution is a type of sex work that involves 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 and whore, are sometimes used pejoratively to refer to those who work in prostitution. The majority of prostitutes are female and have male clients.

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). In most cases, it can be either an enforced crime, an unenforced crime, a decriminalized activity, a legal but unregulated activity, or 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...)

More about prostitution - its laws, history & statistics

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Nevada is the only U.S. state where prostitution is legally permitted in some form. Strictly regulated brothels operate legally in mainly isolated rural areas, away from the majority of Nevada's population. However, prostitution is not legal in all of Nevada, and is illegal in the following counties: Clark (which contains Las Vegas), Douglas, Eureka County, Lincoln, Pershing County and Washoe (which contains Reno). Prostitution is also illegal in Nevada's capital, Carson City, an independent city. The rest of Nevada's counties are permitted by state law to license brothels, but currently only seven counties have active brothels. As of December 2018, there are 21 brothels in Nevada. Despite there being a legal option, the vast majority of prostitution in Nevada takes place illegally in Reno and Las Vegas. (read more...)

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Sarah A. Bowman (c. 1813 – December 22, 1866) was an American innkeeper, restaurateur, and madam. Nicknamed "The Great Western", she gained fame, and the title "Heroine of Fort Brown", as a camp follower of Zachary Taylor's army during the Mexican–American War. Following the war she operated an inn in Franklin, Texas (now El Paso) before settling near Arizona City (now Yuma, Arizona). Over the course of her life she was married multiple times, often without legal record or the blessing of a priest, and was known at various times by the names Boginnis, Bourdette, Bourget, Bourjette, Borginnis, Davis, Bowman, and possibly Foyle.

Bowman is believed to have been born Sarah Knight sometime between 1812 and 1813 (the 1860 census indicates her birth may have occurred as late as 1818 in either Tennessee or Clay County, Missouri. (read more...)

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Did you know?

... 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?

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Quotes

“

The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be to imprison one half of the human race.

”

Isabel Paterson, The God of the Machine (1943).

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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.

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Selected image

Postcard of Yokohama brothel (1907).

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Legality Map

Legality of prostitution Central America and the Caribbean

Decriminalization – no criminal penalties for prostitution

Legalization – prostitution legal and regulated

Abolitionism – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated

Neo-abolitionism – illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex

Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal

Legality varies with local laws

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