Prostitution

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Prostitution
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
"Whore", "prostitute", and "The oldest profession" redirect here. For other uses of "whore" or "whores", see Whore (disambiguation). For the 1967 French film, see The Oldest Profession (film).

Femmes de Maison (prostitutes), Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec, c. 1893–1895

Statue to honor the sexworkers of the world. Installed March 2007 in Amsterdam, Oudekerksplein, in front of the Oude Kerk, in Amsterdam's red-light district De Wallen. Title is Belle, inscription says "Respect sex workers all over the world."
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is calleda prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including "john". Prostitution is one of the branches of the sex industry. The legal status of prostitution varies from country to country, from being a punishable crime to a regulated profession. Estimates place the annual revenue generated from the global prostitution industry to be over $100 billion.[1]Prostitution issometimes referred to as "the world's oldest profession".[2]
Prostitution occurs in a variety of forms. Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution, the act may take place at the customer's residence or hotel room (referred to as out-call), or at the escort's residence or in a hotel room rented for the occasion by the escort (called in-call). Anotherform is street prostitution. Sex tourism refers to travelling, typically from developed to under-developed nations, to engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. Sex trafficking, one type of human trafficking is defined as using coercion or force to transport an unwilling person into prostitution or other sexual exploitation.[3]
Contents  [hide]  * 1 Etymology and terminology *1.1 Other meanings * 2 History * 2.1 Folklore * 2.2 Ancient Near East * 2.3 Greece * 2.4 Rome * 2.5 Asia * 2.6 Middle Ages * 2.7 16th–17th centuries * 2.8 18th century * 2.9 19th century * 2.10 20th century * 3 Legal and socio-economic status * 3.1 Attitudes * 3.2 Legality * 3.3 Advertising * 4 Exploitation in prostitution *4.1 Human trafficking and sexual slavery * 4.2 Use of children * 4.3 Illegal immigration * 4.4 Violence against prostitutes * 4.5 Survival sex * 5 Types * 5.1 Street * 5.1.1 "Lot lizards" * 5.2 Brothels * 5.3 Escorts * 5.4 Sex tourism * 6 Occurrence * 7 Medical situation * 8 See also * 9 References * 10 Further reading * 11 External links* 11.1 News |
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Etymology and terminology
"Prostitute" is derived from the Latin prostituta. Some sources cite the verb as a composition of "pro" meaning "up front" or "forward" and "situere", defined as "to offer up for sale".[4]Another explanation is that "prostituta" is a composition of pro and statuere (to cause to stand, to station, placeerect). A literal translation therefore would be: "to put up front for sale" or "to place forward". The online Etymology Dictionary states, "The notion of 'sex for hire' is not inherent in the etymology, which rather suggests one 'exposed to lust' or sex 'indiscriminately offered.'"[5][6] The word "prostitute" was then carried down through various languages to the present-day Western society.Most sex worker activists groups reject the word "prostitute" and since the late 1970s have used the term "sex worker" instead. However, a "sex worker" can also mean anyone who works within the sex industry or whose work is of a sexual nature and is not limited solely to prostitutes.[7]

The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen(1622)
A variety of terms are used for those who engage in prostitution,...