Prostitution: Prostitution, The Practice of Engaging in Relatively Indiscriminate Sexual Activity, in General With

Prostitution
Prostitution, the practice of engaging in relatively indiscriminate sexual activity, in general with

someone who is not a spouse or a friend, in exchange for immediate payment in money or other
valuables. Prostitutes may be female or male or transgender, and prostitution may entail
heterosexual or homosexual activity, but historically most prostitutes have been women and
most clients men.
Perceptions of prostitution are based on culturally determined values that differ between
societies. In some societies, prostitutes have been viewed as members of a recognized
profession; in others they have been shunned, reviled, and punished with stoning,
imprisonment, and death. Few societies have exercised the same severity toward clients;
indeed, in many societies, clients suffer few if any legal repercussions. In some cultures,
prostitution has been required of young girls as a rite of puberty or as a means of acquiring
a dowry, and some religions have required prostitution of a certain class of priestesses. The
ancient Greeks and Romans mandated that prostitutes wear distinctive dress and pay severe
taxes. Hebrew law did not forbid prostitution but confined the practice to foreign women. Among
the ordinances laid down by Moses to regulate public health were several dealing with sexually
transmitted diseases.
In Europe during the Middle Ages, church leaders attempted to rehabilitate penitent prostitutes
and fund their dowries. Nevertheless, prostitution flourished: it was not merely tolerated but also
protected, licensed, and regulated by law, and it constituted a considerable source of public
revenue. Public brothels were established in large cities throughout Europe. At Toulouse, in
France, the profits were shared between the city and the university; in England, bordellos were
originally licensed by the bishops of Winchester and subsequently by Parliament.
Stricter controls were imposed during the 16th century, in part because of the new
sexual morality that accompanied the Protestant Reformation and the Counter-Reformation.
Just as significant was the dramatic upsurge of sexually transmitted diseases. Sporadic
attempts were made to suppress brothels and even to introduce medical inspections, but such
measures were to little avail.
In the late 19th century a variety of changes in Western societies revived efforts to suppress
prostitution. With the rise of feminism, many came to regard male libertinism as a threat to
women’s status and physical health. Also influential was a new religious-based moralism in
Protestant countries. Antiprostitution campaigns flourished from the 1860s, often in association
with temperance and woman suffrage movements. International cooperation to end the traffic in
women for the purpose of prostitution began in 1899. In 1921 the League of Nations established
the Committee on the Traffic in Women and Children, and in 1949 the United Nations General
Assembly adopted a convention for the suppression of prostitution.
In the United States, prostitution was at best sporadically controlled until passage of the
federal Mann Act (1910), which prohibited interstate transportation of women for “immoral
purposes.” By 1915 nearly all states had passed laws that banned brothels or regulated the
profits of prostitution. After World War II, prostitution remained prohibited in most Western
countries, though it was unofficially tolerated in some cities. Many law-enforcement agencies
became more concerned with regulating the crimes associated with the practice, especially acts
of theft and robbery committed against clients. Authorities also intervened to prevent girls from
being coerced into prostitution (“white slavery”). Prostitution is illegal in most of the United
States, though it is lawful in some counties in Nevada.
In most Asian and Middle Eastern countries, prostitution is illegal but widely tolerated. Among
predominantly Muslim countries, Turkey has legalized prostitution and made it subject to a
system of health checks for sex workers, and in Bangladesh prostitution is notionally legal but
associated behaviours such as soliciting are prohibited. In some Asian countries the
involvement of children in prostitution has encouraged the growth of “sex tourism” by men from
countries where such practices are illegal. Many Latin American countries tolerate prostitution
but restrict associated activities. In Brazil, for example, brothels, pimping, and child exploitation
are illegal.
Since the 1980s, attitudes toward prostitution have changed radically through two major
developments. One is the worldwide spread of AIDS, which has increased concern about public
health problems created by prostitution. In Africa especially, one factor in the rapid spread of
AIDS has been the prostitution industry serving migrant labourers. A second influential
development was a renewal of feminist interest and the perspective that prostitution is both a
consequence and a symptom of gender-based exploitation. Reflecting these shifting attitudes,
during the 1980s the more neutral term sex worker was increasingly employed to describe those
involved in commercial sex activities.
It is difficult to generalize about the background or conditions of prostitutes because so much of

what is known about them derives from studies of poorer and less-privileged individuals, people
who are more likely to come into contact with courts and official agencies. Much more is known
about streetwalkers, for example, than about the higher-status women who can be more
selective about their clients and work conditions. Based on available studies, though, it is
reasonable to assert that female sex workers often are economically disadvantaged and lack
skills and training to support themselves. Many are drawn at an early age into prostitution and
associated crime, and drug dependency can be an aggravating factor. They frequently are
managed by a male procurer, or pimp, or by a supervisor, or madam, in a house of prostitution.
Health hazards to prostitutes include sexually transmitted diseases, some of which may be
acquired through drug abuse. Male prostitution has received less public attention in most
cultures. Heterosexual male prostitution—involving males hired by or for females—is rare.
Homosexual male prostitution has probably existed in most societies, though only in the 20th
century was it recognized as a major social phenomenon, and its prevalence increased during
the late 20th and early 21st century.

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Prostitution, the practice of engaging in relatively indiscriminate sexual activity, in general with

It is difficult to generalize about the background or conditions of prostitutes because so much of

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