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Prostitution is the sale of sexual services (typically manual
stimulation, oral sex, or sexual intercourse, and often anal sex) for money or other kind of return, generally indiscriminately with many persons. A person selling
sexual favors is a prostitute, a type of sex worker. In a more
general sense of the word, anyone selling their services for a cause thought to be unworthy can be described as prostituting
themselves.
Overview
Most prostitutes are women offering their services to men. Male customers of prostitutes are known as clients in
Quebec, Canada, johns in the United States, whilst in Sweden they are known as "Torskar", which means
cod. Torsk is also slang for lose or loser.
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 a less
value-laden term. On the other hand, in Germany most prostitutes' organizations
deliberately use the word Hure (whore) since they feel that prostitute is a bureaucrats' term and an
unnecessary euphemism for something not in need of euphemisms. See also: call girl, courtesan, escort.
Male prostitutes offering their services to male customers are called "escorts", "hustlers", "rent boys", "punks" (US),
"trade," or "boy toys." Male prostitutes offering services to female customers are comparatively rare and are known as "escorts"
or "gigolos."
Organizers of prostitution are typically known as pimps (if male), madams (if female), and mama-sans if female and Asian.
Prostitutes are stigmatized in most societies and religions; their customers are typically stigmatized to a lesser degree.
The term prostitution is sometimes used in the more general meaning of having sex in order to achieve a certain goal
different from procreation or pleasure. This includes forms of religious prostitution in which sex is practiced in compliance with religious precepts. Prostitution
in this broader sense is also used in espionage. Arguably, it frequently occurs
in normal marriages as well.
Another generalization 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. The term pimp is also
sometimes similarly used figuratively, as in poverty pimp.
Types of prostitution
Prostitution today occurs in various quite different settings.
- In street prostitution the prostitute solicits customers while waiting at street corners or walking
alongside a street.
- Prostitution can also take place in the prostitute's apartment and in many countries this is the only legal form of
prostitution. A hybrid between brothel and apartment prostitution exists in Germany,
Belgium, Switzerland and the
Netherlands: female prostitutes rent tiny one-room apartments in red-light
districts and solicit customers from behind windows.
- Prostitution occurs in some massage parlors and in Asian countries in some
barber shops where sexual services may be offered for an additional tip.
- Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution, often confined to special red-light districts in big cities. Other names for brothels include
Bordello, Whore-house and Cathouse. Historical and rarer slang terms for brothels include bordel (from the French), Bovril, case (compare
Spanish casa), common-house*, creep, crib, dress-house,
drum, flash-house, flesh-shambles, gaff, harlot-house, hook shop, hot house*, house of ill/evil repute/fame, house of
accommodation, house of assignation, joy-house, juke, kip, knocking-shop, leaping house, lupanar (from Latin), maison close (French closed
house), maison de passe (house of passage), maison tolérée (tolerated house, i.e. licensed), massage
parlour, meat house, moll-shop, notch-house, nunnery*, panel-house, parlour-house, peg house, picked hatch*, public house, rap
club, rib-joint, slaughter-house, smuggling-ken, sporting-house, stew, trugging house/place, vaulting house, warren and
whore-shop/sty. (* used by Shakespeare) Many of these are or originated as
euphemisms, and their variety is affected in part by the euphemism treadmill.
- In escort or out-call prostitution, the customer calls an agency and the act takes place at
the customer's place of residence or more commonly at his hotel room. This form of prostitution often shelters under the umbrella
of escort agencies, who supply attractive escorts for social occasions.
While some escort agencies provide non-sexual services only, many turn a blind eye to escorts who provide additional sexual
services or actively encourage them. Even where this prostitution is legal, the euphemistic term escort service is common. See
call girl.
Many prostitutes are also drug addicts who use prostitution to pay for their habit. 'High class' prostitution can be extremely
lucrative.
In many countries, illegal immigrants work in prostitution,
sometimes against their will and generally in circumstances such that they feel they have no other choice. Often these
prostitutes are kept in financial debt by the brothel owners, who charge them for their travel and other costs. The arrangement
may be such that the prostitutes can never earn enough to pay off the debt. The term used for forcing people into prostitution is
"sexual slavery".
In addition to the first world, this also takes place in countries of South Asia such as
India and Thailand, where young girls are
sometimes sold to brothel owners. In modern day Thailand and India this is becoming much rarer.
While in both of these societies visiting prostitutes is a common and almost normal behavior, Thailand is also a destination
of sex tourists, travellers from rich countries in search of cheap sexual
services. Other popular sex tourism destinations are Brazil, the Caribbean, and former eastern bloc
countries.
Female prostitutes, especially street prostitutes, are commonly associated with a pimp, a man who lives off the proceeds of
several prostitutes and may offer some protection in return. The relationship between pimp and prostitute is often abusive. In
areas where legal restrictions of prostitution are lifted, the power of pimps over native prostitutes normally decreases.
There are other commercial sexual activities that are generally not classified as prostitution. These include acting and
modeling for pornographic materials, even if this involves engaging in
sexual intercourse; exotic dancing, which is naked, sexually provocative acting (sometimes involving masturbation) without physical contact with the customer; lap dancing, where the dancer may come into contact with the customer in sexually
provocative but strictly limited ways; and the services of professional dominants.
In the case People v.
Freeman, the California Supreme Court ruled that adult film makers could not be prosecuted under state laws against
prostitution.
Street prostitution
In street prostitution, the prostitute solicits customers
while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, usually dressed in skimpy, suggestive clothing. Often the
prostitute appears to mind his or her own business and waits for the customer to initiate contact. The act is performed in the
customer's car or in a nearby rented room. This is the lowest-paid and most dangerous form of prostitution; street prostitutes
are often drug addicts and are commonly subjected to violence by both their
pimps and customers. Street prostitutes are also often too illiterate to get or keep traditional employment.
Street prostitutes may or may not have a pimp.
Pimps justify taking a proportion of the prostitute's earnings by claiming they protect prostitutes from dangerous clients. In
reality prostitutes are often at more risk from the pimps themselves.
Pimps often target vulnerable women and young girls who have run away from home, initially offering themselves as lovers or
father-figures. After introducing their victims to prostitution, they often encourage drug addiction to maintain their victim's dependency and use beatings to assert their control. Pimps are
also commonly low-echelon drug dealers.
Legal situation
Legality of selling sex
The basic act of exchanging money for sex among adults is legal in most countries. However, it is illegal in the United States (except for ten counties in the state of Nevada), India, some Muslim
and various Communist countries.
At one end of the legal spectrum, prostitution carries the death
penalty in some Muslim countries; at the other end, prostitutes are tax-paying and unionized professionals in the Netherlands and brothels are legal and advertising businesses there (however,
prostitutes must be at least 18, while for non-commercial sex the age of
consent is 16). The legal situation in Germany is almost as liberal as in the
Netherlands; see prostitution in Germany.
In most countries, it is almost impossible to engage in most forms of prostitution legally because surrounding activities such
as advertising, solicitation, pimping, as well as, owning, operating, or working in a brothel are illegal.
Rules vary as to which roles in prostitution are illegal: being a prostitute, being a client, or being a pimp. Sweden outlaws
the buying, but not the selling of sex. In the case of a prostitute under 18 in the Netherlands, being the client or pimp is
illegal, but being the prostitute is not, except if the client is also underage (under 16).
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. In most countries
where prostitution is illegal, at least some forms of it are tolerated. It has been alleged that this situation allows the police
to extort money or services from prostitutes in exchange for "looking the other way".
Pimping is a sex crime in almost all jurisdictions.
In 1949, the United Nations
adopted a convention stating that 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 with the notable exceptions of Germany, the Netherlands and the United
States.
Some municipalities in the Netherlands would like a "zero 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 prostitution
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, obviously advertising it is 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 World Wide Web
Regulated prostitution
In some jurisdictions, such as Nevada (see prostitution in Nevada), Switzerland and several
Australian states, prostitution is legal but heavily regulated.
Such approaches are taken with the recognition that prostitution is impossible to eliminate and thus these societies have
chosen to regulate it in ways that reduce the more undesirable consequences. Goals of such regulations include controlling
sexually transmitted disease, reducing
sexual slavery and controlling where brothels may operate.
Daily Planet is a brothel in Melbourne, Australia whose shares have been listed on the Australian Stock Exchange
since 2003.
Child prostitution
For child prostitution the laws on prostitution as well as those on sex with a child apply. If prostitution in general is
legal there may be a minimum age requirement for legal prostitution that is higher than the general age of consent (see above for some examples).
Sex tourism
Sex tourism is tourism,
partially or fully for the purpose of having sex, usually with prostitutes. Sex tourism destinations are typically poor
countries, where poverty drives people into prostitution. Some paedophiles use
sex tourism to have access to sex with children that is unavailable in their home country. Most countries with a major sex
tourism industry are working on attempting to reduce or eliminate sex tourism.
Several western countries have recently enacted laws punishing citizens who, as sex tourists, engage in sex with minors in
other countries. These laws are rarely enforced since the crime often goes undiscovered.
Medical situation
Since prostitutes tend to have large numbers of sexual partners, prostitution has often been associated with the spread of
sexually transmitted diseases such as
AIDS.
These responses to the problem are typical:
- 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.
Politics
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.
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.
The feminist position towards prostitution is divided: while some theorize
prostitution as an act of sexual self-determination, decry discrimination and demand destigmatization and decriminalization,
others, exemplified by the American radical feminist and ex-prostitute Andrea Dworkin, consider it to be sexual abuse or even rape. The
former group pushed a law reform in Germany, resulting in January 2002 in the
recognition of prostitution as a regular profession, making it possible for prostitutes to join the social security and health
care system and to form trade unions. The latter faction of feminists was able in Sweden in 1999 to implement the law outlawing
the buying of sexual favors but not the selling.
History
Prostitution is often called "the oldest profession in the world".
One of the first forms is sacred prostitution, supposedly
practiced among 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 (Aphrodites or Nana/Anahita) and
there have sex with a foreigner as a sign of hospitality for a symbolic price.
A similar type of prostitution was practiced in Cyprus (Paphus) and in Corinth, where the temple counted more than a thousand prostitutes
(hierodules), according to Strabo. It was widely in use in Sardinia and in some of the Phoenician cultures, usually in honour of the goddess ‘Ashtart. Presumably by the Phoenicians, this practice was developed in other ports
of the Mediterranean Sea, like in Erice (Sicily), in Locri Epizephiri, Croton, Rossano Vaglio, Sicca Veneria and other towns. Other hypothesis regard Asia Minor, Lydia, Syria and
Etruscans.
It was common in Israel too, but some prophets, like Hosea and Ezekiel strongly fought it; it is assumed that it was part of
the cults of Canaan, where a significant portion of prostitutes were male.
In the Bible there are many stories about common (non-sacred) prostitution, with also
a case (Tamar) of a false prostitute that commits incest with her father-in-law (Judah). In Jericho, a prostitute named Rahab assisted Israelite spies and was spared from death when the Israelites invaded. Salmon, son
of Nahshon, married Rahab, making her an ancestor of King David.
In ancient Greek society, prostitutes were independent and sometimes influential women who were required to wear distinctive
dresses and had to pay taxes. Some similarities have been found between the Greek Hetaera and the Japanese Geisha, complex figures that are
perhaps in an intermediate position between prostitution and courtisanerie. 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.
In Greece, 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. The greek word for prostitute is
porne, derived from the verb pernemi (to sell), with the evident modern evolution. The procuring was however
severely forbidden.
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.
In ancient Rome, while there were some commonalities with the Greek system, as the Emprire grew prostitutes were often foreign
slaves, caught, bought, or raised for that purpose, sometimes by large-scale "prostitue farmers". Enslavement into prostiution
was sometimes used as a legal punishment against criminal free women. Life expectancy for prostitutes was generally low, but some
managed to get free and establish themselves e.g. as folk doctors.
In Late Antiquity the influential church father Augustine of Hippo argued that while prostitution was an evil, it was a
social necessity in any earthly society which always included many non-believers, and that outlawing it would cause all sorts of
evils, like increased jealousy and many disrupted marriages.
Throughout the Middle Ages, prostitution flourished in Europe and brothels were often operated by municipalities. The outbreak
of sexually transmitted diseases in the 16th century and the Reformation led
to stricter controls.
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 woman didn't 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.
In the 18th century, presumably in Venice, prostitutes started using condoms, made with catgut or cow
bowel.
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 Women'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, and still is
legal in some counties of Nevada. 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.
Communist countries have often claimed that prostitution does not exist within their borders.
In the 1970s some religious groups were discovered practicing religious prostitution as an instrument to make new adepts.
In the animal kingdom
In 1998 Dr. Fiona Hunter (of Cambridge University in the UK) and Dr.
Lloyd Davis (of the University of Otago in New Zealand) reported that they had observed female penguins trading sexual favours with single male penguins for stones (necessary for nest-building) on Ross Island. When penguins take a mate, they are usually monogamous. All the
female penguins who exchanged sex for stones did it behind the backs of their male partners who apparently never caught their
mates in flagrante delicto.
Stones for nest-building are in short supply on Ross Island. This scarcity may be one of the motivations for some of the small
percentage of female penguins who go on the game. However, Dr. Hunter believes that other factors may also be involved,
especially since the female may only take a couple of stones in payment for her services even though hundreds may be required to
build a nest. The females could be assessing the potential of single males in case their mate dies, for example. For the single
male penguins, it is speculated that their only motivation is their own pleasure.
This is believed to be the first time prostitution has been recorded in the animal kingdom. Trading sex for food etc.
within a relationship between animals is, however, much more common.[1]
Related articles
- Sex, Sexual
intercourse, Human sexual behavior, Sexually transmitted disease
- Sex industry, Sex
worker, Professional dominant, Courtesan, Hetaera, Geisha, Rentboy, Call
girl, Go-go dancer/boy, Pimp/Madame, Consensual crime
- Red-light district, Street prostitution, Prostitution in Nevada, Prostitution in New Zealand, Victorian
era, Jack the Ripper, Molly house, List of famous
prostitutes
- Prostitution in Germany, Atlantis (brothel) (large German brothel)
- Drug addiction, Sexual slavery, Debt bondage, Comfort women, Religious prostitution, White slavery,
Sex crime, Joy Division (World War II), Recreation and Amusement Association
- Feminism, Sexually liberal feminism
External links and references
- The UN Convention for
the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others (1949)
- Prostitution Research and Education: Focuses on the harm done to the prostitutes, and ways to reduce it.
- Prostitute's Education Network: American prostitutes' rights organization, aims for decriminalization. Links to sex worker's
rights organizations in other countries.
- Piet den Blanken: The Prostitution Pictures, photographs of streetwalkers and brothels around the world.
- 50 Tips for Prostitutes : Helpful hints to The Working Person, by Jahnet de Light, (British)
- World Sex Guide Report Archives
- U.S. DOJ guide to street prostitution
- FBI press release: Twelve pimps sentenced for prostituting children
- BBC News: Pick up a penguin
- John Preston : HUSTLING, A Gentlemen's Guide to the Fine Art of Homosexual Prostitution, Masqueade Books, New Jork,
1994
- Néstor Osvaldo Perlongher: O negócio do michê, prostituição viril am Sao Paulo, 1.a edição 1987, editora brasiliense
- Ine Vanwesenbeeck (2001), "Another decade of social scientific work on sex work: A review of research 1990-2000," Annual
Review of Sex Research, 12, p. 242
- Sexual Freedom Coalition guide to UK prostitution law
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