Portal:Prostitution
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 this field is called a prostitute, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe 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
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...)
Selected biography
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...)
Did you know?
- ... that Danish women's rights activist Astrid Stampe Feddersen (pictured) took part in the fight against prostitution and fought for greater equality between men and women, including unmarried women?
- ... that Andrés L. Mateo's novel, La balada de Alfonsina Bairán, is set in a brothel during the Rafael Trujillo regime?
- ...that, according to the martyrology, the early 4th century Christian martyr Aedesius of Alexandria was tortured and drowned for striking a judge who had been forcing consecrated virgins to work in brothels?
- ... that Colonia San Rafael in Mexico City is known for old mansions, theaters, and prostitution?
Quotes
| “ | The only way to prevent prostitution altogether would be to imprison one half of the human race. | ” |
Anniversaries - May
- 9th
- 1914: Birth of Denham Fouts, an American male prostitute, socialite and literary muse. He served as the inspiration for characters by Truman Capote, Gore Vidal, Christopher Isherwood and Gavin Lambert.
- 14th
- 1973: Death of Dorothy Baker, also known as Big Dorothy, an American madam in Helena, Montana.
- 26th
- 1956: The Prostitution Prevention Law, which outlawed Prostitution in Japan, was passed by Japan's National Diet
- 27th
- 1835: Birth of Anna Wilson, a pioneer madam in Omaha, Nebraska. When she died she bequeathed her life savings to the City of Omaha, along with her 25-room mansion brothel, which was used as a hospital.
- 1951: Birth of Norma Jean Almodovar, American author and sex workers activist.
- 28th
- 1905: Birth of Sada Abe, a Japanese geisha and prostitute, who erotically asphyxiated her lover and then cut off his penis and testicles and carried them around with her in her kimono.
- 30th
- 1949: The government-run brothel, Campo Alegre, opened in the Dutch Caribbean island of Curaçao in an attempt to concentrate prostitution in one location on the island.
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Legality Map
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Recognised content
Featured (13)
Good (18)
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- Caroline Lacroix
- Ipswich serial murders
- National Action Plan to Combat Human Trafficking
- Neaira (hetaera)
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- She Has a Name
- Soho
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