Introduction
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...)
Selected article
Gropecunt Lane /ˈɡroʊpkʌnt ˈleɪn/ was a street name found in English towns and cities during the Middle Ages, believed to be a reference to the prostitution centred on those areas; it was normal practice for a medieval street name to reflect the street's function or the economic activity taking place within it. Gropecunt, the earliest known use of which is in about 1230, appears to have been derived as a compound of the words grope and cunt. Streets with that name were often in the busiest parts of medieval towns and cities, and at least one appears to have been an important thoroughfare.
Although the name was once common throughout England, changes in attitude resulted in its replacement by more innocuous versions such as Grape Lane. A variation of Gropecunt was last recorded as a street name in 1561. (read more ...)
Wikipedia Featured Article
Selected biography
Mary Jane Kelly (c. 1863 – 9 November 1888), also known as Marie Jeanette Kelly, Fair Emma, Ginger, Dark Mary, and Black Mary, is widely believed to be the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper, who killed and mutilated several women in the Whitechapel area of London from late August to early November 1888. She was about 25 years old, and living in poverty at the time of her death.
Compared with other Ripper victims, Kelly's origens are obscure and undocumented, and much of it is possibly embellished. Kelly may have herself fabricated many details of her early life as there is no corroborating documentary evidence, but there is no evidence to the contrary either. (read more...)
Did you know?
- ... that art historians often find it difficult to judge whether 17th-century merry company paintings (example illustrated) show scenes of prostitution?
- ... that Peg Plunkett, brothel keeper, had the leader of the Pinking Dindies gang sent to jail after she lost her baby?
- ... that clam juice and aspirin were served at the Everleigh Club brothel as a starter for breakfast, which began at 2:00 in the afternoon?
- ... that taekwondo practitioner Logan Campbell has opened a brothel to fund his bid to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics?
- ... that the brothel Bon Ton is described by BBC as "an ideal showcase for New Zealand-style liberalisation"?
Quotes
| “ | I think it proves that if my business could be made legal, the way off-track betting is in New York, I and women like me could make a big contribution to what Mayor John Lindsay calls Fun City, and the city and state could derive the money in taxes and licensing fees that I pay off to crooked cops and political figures. | ” |
Anniversaries - December
- 1st
- 1992: The Prostitution Act 1992 (Anna's Law), came into force in the Australian Capital Territory. The law regulated prostitution in the Territory.
- 6th
- 2014: The Parliament of Canada passed legislation to criminalise the buying of sex.
- 13th
- 17th
- 2003: First International Day to End Violence Against Sex Workers. The event has taken place annually since then.
- 20th
- 2013: The Supreme Court of Canada struck down the country's prostitution laws, finding that bans on street soliciting, brothels and people living off the avails of prostitution create severe dangers for vulnerable women.
- 30th
- 1965: Birth of Heidi Fleiss (the Hollywood Madam), an American former madam, and television personality who was imprisoned for running a prostitution ring based in Los Angeles.
- 31st
Selected image
This area of Pennsylvania Avenue in Washington, D.C. was known from the mid-1800s to the 1920s as "Murder Bay," home to numerous brothels. The youth on the left was a "procurer".
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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