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Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a
prostitute 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-penet ...
or other
sex worker A sex worker is a person who provides sex work, either on a regular or occasional basis. The term is used in reference to those who work in all areas of the sex industry.Oxford English Dictionary, "sex worker" According to one view, sex work is d ...
in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp (if male) or a madam (if female, though the term pimp has still extensively been used for female procurers as well) or a brothel keeper, is an
agent Agent may refer to: Espionage, investigation, and law *, spies or intelligence officers * Law of agency, laws involving a person authorized to act on behalf of another ** Agent of record, a person with a contractual agreement with an insuranc ...
for prostitutes who collects part of their
earnings Earnings are the net benefits of a corporation's operation. Earnings is also the amount on which corporate tax is due. For an analysis of specific aspects of corporate operations several more specific terms are used as EBIT (earnings before intere ...
. The procurer may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing and possibly monopolizing a location where the prostitute may solicit clients. Like prostitution, the legality of certain actions of a madam or a pimp vary from one region to the next. Examples of procuring include: *
Trafficking Smuggling is the illegal transportation of objects, substances, information or people, such as out of a house or buildings, into a prison, or across an international border, in violation of applicable laws or other regulations. There are various ...
a person into a country for the purpose of soliciting sex * Operating a business where prostitution occurs * Transporting a prostitute to the location of their arrangement * Deriving financial gain from the prostitution of another


Etymology


''Procurer''

The term ''procurer'' derives from the French .


''Pimping''

The word ''pimp'' first appeared in English in 1607, in a
Thomas Middleton Thomas Middleton (baptised 18 April 1580 – July 1627; also spelt ''Midleton'') was an English Jacobean playwright and poet. He, with John Fletcher and Ben Jonson, was among the most successful and prolific of playwrights at work in the Jac ...
play entitled ''
Your Five Gallants ''Your Five Gallants'' is a Jacobean comedy by Thomas Middleton. It falls into the subgenre of city comedy. Allusions in the play point to a date of authorship of 1607. The play was entered into the Stationers' Register on 22 March 1608. The ...
''. It is of unknown origin, but may have stemmed from the French infinitive meaning to dress up elegantly and from the present participle meaning alluring in seductive dress. ''Pimp'' used as a verb, meaning to act as a pimp, first appeared in 1636 in
Philip Massinger Philip Massinger (1583 – 17 March 1640) was an English dramatist. His finely plotted plays, including '' A New Way to Pay Old Debts'', ''The City Madam'', and ''The Roman Actor'', are noted for their satire and realism, and their polit ...
's play, '' The Bashful Lover''. In the 18th and 19th centuries, the term was commonly used to refer to
informers An informant (also called an informer or, as a slang term, a “snitch”) is a person who provides privileged information about a person or organization to an agency. The term is usually used within the law-enforcement world, where informan ...
. A pimp can also mean "a despicable person". The term can also be applied to a person who is considered a
ladies' man A ladies' man or lady's man is a man who enjoys spending time socially with women, who strives to please them and that women find attractive. Ladies' man or lady's man may also refer to: Literature * ''Ladies' Man'' (novel), a 1978 novel by R ...
. Jesse Sheidlower
A History of Pimping. What the word meant and what it means now.
Slate.com ''Slate'' is an online magazine that covers current affairs, politics, and culture in the United States. It was created in 1996 by former '' New Republic'' editor Michael Kinsley, initially under the ownership of Microsoft as part of MSN. In 2 ...
, 11 February 2008
Rapper
Nelly Cornell Iral Haynes Jr. (born November 2, 1974), better known by his stage name Nelly, is an American rapper, singer, actor and entrepreneur. He embarked on his music career with the hip hop group St. Lunatics in 1993 and signed to Universal ...
tried to redefine the word "pimp" by saying that it is an
acronym An acronym is a word or name formed from the initial components of a longer name or phrase. Acronyms are usually formed from the initial letters of words, as in ''NATO'' (''North Atlantic Treaty Organization''), but sometimes use syllables, as ...
for "positive, intellectual, motivated person". He created a
college scholarship A scholarship is a form of financial aid awarded to students for further education. Generally, scholarships are awarded based on a set of criteria such as academic merit, diversity and inclusion, athletic skill, and financial need. Scholarshi ...
with the name "P.I.M.P. Juice Scholarship". Dawn Turner Trice of the ''
Chicago Tribune The ''Chicago Tribune'' is a daily newspaper based in Chicago, Illinois, United States, owned by Tribune Publishing. Founded in 1847, and formerly self-styled as the "World's Greatest Newspaper" (a slogan for which WGN radio and television ar ...
'' argues that there is "something truly unsettling, to say the least, about attaching such a vile word to a scholarship" and expresses concern about the glamorization of the term. In the first years of the 21st century, a new meaning of the word emerged in the form of a transitive verb ''pimp'', which means "to decorate" or "to
gussy up Gussie is a shortened version of the given names Augustus, Augusta, Gustave and others. Gussie or Gussy may refer to: People * Edward Augustus Bowles (1865–1954), British horticulturalist, botanist and writer * Gussie Busch (1899–1989), Ameri ...
" (compare '' primp'', especially in Scottish usage). This new definition was made popular by ''
Pimp My Ride ''Pimp My Ride'' is an American television series produced by MTV and hosted by rapper Xzibit, which ran for six seasons on MTV from 2004 to 2007. In each episode, a car in poor condition is both restored and customized. The work on the show w ...
'', an
MTV MTV (Originally an initialism of Music Television) is an American cable channel that launched on August 1, 1981. Based in New York City, it serves as the flagship property of the MTV Entertainment Group, part of Paramount Media Networks, a di ...
television show. Although this new definition paid homage to hip-hop culture and its connection to street culture, it has now entered common, even mainstream commercial, use. In medical contexts, the verb means "to ask (a student) a question for the purpose of testing her or his knowledge".


''Pandering''

The word "pander", meaning to "pimp", is derived from
Pandarus Pandarus or Pandar (Ancient Greek: Πάνδαρος ''Pándaros'') is a Trojan aristocrat who appears in stories about the Trojan War. In Homer's ''Iliad'' he is portrayed as an energetic and powerful warrior, but in medieval literature he b ...
, a licentious figure who facilitates the affair between the protagonists in ''
Troilus and Criseyde ''Troilus and Criseyde'' () is an epic poem by Geoffrey Chaucer which re-tells in Middle English the tragic story of the lovers Troilus and Criseyde set against a backdrop of war during the siege of Troy. It was written in '' rime royale'' an ...
'', a poem by
Geoffrey Chaucer Geoffrey Chaucer (; – 25 October 1400) was an English poet, author, and civil servant best known for ''The Canterbury Tales''. He has been called the "father of English literature", or, alternatively, the "father of English poetry". He wa ...
. Pandarus appears with a similar role in
Shakespeare William Shakespeare ( 26 April 1564 – 23 April 1616) was an English playwright, poet and actor. He is widely regarded as the greatest writer in the English language and the world's pre-eminent dramatist. He is often called England's nation ...
's interpretation of the story, ''
Troilus and Cressida ''Troilus and Cressida'' ( or ) is a play by William Shakespeare, probably written in 1602. At Troy during the Trojan War, Troilus and Cressida begin a love affair. Cressida is forced to leave Troy to join her father in the Greek camp. Meanwh ...
''.


Overview

Pimps and madams are diverse and variegated, depending on the strata in which they work, and they enter and leave the sex industry for a variety of internal and external reasons, such as family pressure, interactions with the police, and in some cases recruitment from peer sex workers. Procuring can take abusive forms. Madams/pimps may punish clients for physical abuse or failure to pay, and enforce exclusive rights to "turf" where their prostitutes may advertise and operate with less competition. In the many places where prostitution is outlawed, sex workers have decreased incentive to report abuse for fear of
self-incrimination In criminal law, self-incrimination is the act of exposing oneself generally, by making a statement, "to an accusation or charge of crime; to involve oneself or another ersonin a criminal prosecution or the danger thereof". (Self-incrimination ...
, and increased motivation to seek any physical protection from clients and law enforcement that a madam/pimp might provide. The madam/pimp–prostitute relationship is often understood to be abusive and possessive, with the pimp/madam using techniques such as psychological intimidation, manipulation, starvation, rape and/or gang rape, beating, tattooing to mark the woman as "theirs", confinement, threats of violence toward the victim's family, forced drug use and the shame from these acts. Recent empirical research of madams/pimps suggest that these assumptions about abusive relationships represent stereotyped oppression narratives that may only represent a small percentage of the relationships between madams/pimps and sex workers. In the US, madams/pimps can be arrested and charged with pandering and are legally known as procurers. This, combined with the tendency to identify pimping with African-American masculinity, may provide some of the explanation for why approximately three-fifths of all "confirmed" human traffickers in the United States are African-American men. It has recently been argued that some of the extreme examples of violence cited in the article below come primarily from such stereotyping supported by Hollywood screenwriters, selective and decontextualized trial transcripts, and studies that have only interviewed parties to sex commerce in institutions of rescue, prosecution, and punishment, rather than engaging rigorous study ''
in situ ''In situ'' (; often not italicized in English) is a Latin phrase that translates literally to "on site" or "in position." It can mean "locally", "on site", "on the premises", or "in place" to describe where an event takes place and is used in ...
''. A 2018 study by researchers from the University of Montreal divided the concept of a pimp into three distinct categories: "low-profile" (primarily female), "hustlers" (predominantly male and violent, marking the common stereotype), and "abused" (even malefemale split, more likely to be subjected to violence than to commit it).


Legal status and debates about legality

Where prostitution is decriminalized or
regulated Regulation is the management of complex systems according to a set of rules and trends. In systems theory, these types of rules exist in various fields of biology and society, but the term has slightly different meanings according to context. Fo ...
, procuring may or may not be legal. Procuring regulations differ widely from place to place. Procuring and brothels are legal in the
Netherlands ) , anthem = ( en, "William of Nassau") , image_map = , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands , established_title = Before independence , established_date = Spanish Netherl ...
,
Germany Germany,, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It is the second most populous country in Europe after Russia, and the most populous member state of the European Union. Germany is situated betwe ...
,
Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...
,
New Zealand New Zealand ( mi, Aotearoa ) is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and over 700 smaller islands. It is the sixth-largest island count ...
, and most of
Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...
and
Nevada Nevada ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, Western region of the United States. It is bordered by Oregon to the northwest, Idaho to the northeast, California to the west, Arizona to the southeast, and Utah to the east. N ...
.


Canada

In
Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, covering over , making it the world's second-largest country by tot ...
, there was a legal challenge to prostitution laws, which ended in the 2013 ruling of '' Bedford v. Canada''. In 2010,
Ontario Ontario ( ; ) is one of the thirteen provinces and territories of Canada.Ontario is located in the geographic eastern half of Canada, but it has historically and politically been considered to be part of Central Canada. Located in Central Ca ...
Superior Court Judge Susan Himel overturned the national laws banning
brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
s and procuring, arguing that they violated the constitution guaranteeing "the right to life, liberty and security".Canadian judge overturns brothel ban in Ontario
BBC News. 29 September 2010.
In 2012, the
Court of Appeal for Ontario The Court of Appeal for Ontario (frequently referred to as the Ontario Court of Appeal or ONCA) is the appellate court for the province of Ontario, Canada. The seat of the court is Osgoode Hall in downtown Toronto, also the seat of the Law Societ ...
reaffirmed the unconstitutionality of the laws. The case was appealed by the
Canadian government The government of Canada (french: gouvernement du Canada) is the body responsible for the federal administration of Canada. A constitutional monarchy, the Crown is the corporation sole, assuming distinct roles: the executive, as the ''Crown-in-C ...
, and was under trial in the
Supreme Court of Canada The Supreme Court of Canada (SCC; french: Cour suprême du Canada, CSC) is the Supreme court, highest court in the Court system of Canada, judicial system of Canada. It comprises List of Justices of the Supreme Court of Canada, nine justices, wh ...
in June 2013. On 20 December 2013, the Supreme Court unanimously struck down the remaining prostitution laws. , the Canadian government began working on regulations to allow the trade to operate.


United Nations

The
United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and international security, security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be ...
1949
Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others The Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and of the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others was approved by the United Nations General Assembly on 2 December 1949, and entered into force on 25 July 1951. The preamble states: ...
requires state signatories to ban pimping and brothels, and to abolish regulation of individual prostitutes. It states:
Whereas prostitution and the accompanying evil of the traffic in persons for the purpose of prostitution are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person and endanger the welfare of the individual, the family and the community
The convention reads:
Article 1 The Parties to the present Convention agree to punish any person who, to gratify the passions of another: (1) Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that person; (2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of that person. Article 2 The Parties to the present Convention further agree to punish any person who: (1) Keeps or manages, or knowingly finances or takes part in the financing of a brothel; (2) Knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for the purpose of the prostitution of others.
Various UN commissions however have differing positions on the issue. For example, in 2012, a
UNAIDS The Joint United Nations Programme on HIV and AIDS (UNAIDS) (, ONUSIDA) is the main advocate for accelerated, comprehensive and coordinated global action on the HIV/AIDS pandemic. The mission of UNAIDS is to lead, strengthen and support an ...
commission convened by Ban Ki-moon and backed by
UNDP The United Nations Development Programme (UNDP)french: Programme des Nations unies pour le développement, PNUD is a United Nations agency tasked with helping countries eliminate poverty and achieve sustainable economic growth and human dev ...
and UNAIDS, recommended the decriminalization of brothels and procuring.


Business

Pimping is sometimes operated like a business. The pimp may have a bottom girl who serves as office manager, keeping the pimp apprised of law-enforcement activity and collecting money from the prostitutes. Pimps recognize a
hierarchy A hierarchy (from Greek: , from , 'president of sacred rites') is an arrangement of items (objects, names, values, categories, etc.) that are represented as being "above", "below", or "at the same level as" one another. Hierarchy is an important ...
among themselves. In certain pimp strata, the least respected, or newer pimps, are the "popcorn pimps" and "wannabes". "Popcorn pimps" was a phenomenon which occurred among adolescent cocaine users of both sexes who utilized children younger than themselves to support their habits. A pimp who uses violence and intimidation to control his prostitutes is called a "gorilla pimp", while those who use psychological trickery to deceive younger prostitutes into becoming hooked into the system are called "finesse pimps". In addition, a prostitute may "bounce" from pimp to pimp without paying the "pimp moving" tax. Some pimps in the United States are also documented
gang A gang is a group or society of associates, friends or members of a family with a defined leadership and internal organization that identifies with or claims control over territory in a community and engages, either individually or collectivel ...
members, which causes concerns for police agencies in jurisdictions where prostitution is a significant problem. Pimping rivals narcotic sales as a major source of funding for many gangs. Gangs need money to survive, and money equates to power and respect. While selling drugs may be lucrative for a gang, this activity often carries significant risk as stiff legal penalties and harsh
mandatory minimum sentencing Mandatory sentencing requires that offenders serve a predefined term for certain crimes, commonly serious and violent offenses. Judges are bound by law; these sentences are produced through the legislature, not the judicial system. They are inst ...
laws exist. However, with pimping, gang members still make money while the prostitutes themselves bear the majority of the risk. Pimping has several benefits to the gang that the pimp belongs to. These benefits include helping the gang recruit new members because the gang has women available for sex, and the money brought in by prostitution allows gang members to buy cars, clothes and weapons, all of which help to recruit younger members into the gang by increasing the reputation of the gang in the local gang subculture. The presence of gangs (and weapons and drugs) is a virtual guarantee when prostitutes are present, which is why many law-enforcement agencies advocate taking an aggressive stance against prostitutes. Many
vice unit A vice is a practice, behaviour, or Habit (psychology), habit generally considered immorality, immoral, sinful, crime, criminal, rude, taboo, depraved, degrading, deviant or perverted in the associated society. In more minor usage, vice can refe ...
s work to ascertain if the prostitute they have arrested has a pimp, and if so, they pressure them to provide information about their pimp and the gang involved. This information can then be used to go after the more serious and violent offenders. Some pimp businesses have an internal structure – built around violence – for dealing with rule breakers. For example, some pimps have been known to employ a "pimp stick", which is two coat hangers wrapped together, in order to subdue unruly prostitutes. A variation is a "pimp cane", used for similar purposes. Although prostitutes can move between pimps, this movement sometimes leads to violence. For example, a prostitute could be punished for merely looking at another pimp; this is considered in some pimp milieus to be "reckless eyeballing". Violence can also be used on customers, for example if the customer attempts to evade payment or becomes unruly with a prostitute.


Use of tattoos

Some pimps tattoo prostitutes as a mark of "ownership". The tattoo will often be the pimp's street name or even his likeness. The mark might be as discreet as ankle tattoo, or blatant as a neck tattoo or large scale font across the prostitute's lower back, thigh, chest, or buttocks.


Internet effect

Since the
Internet The Internet (or internet) is the global system of interconnected computer networks that uses the Internet protocol suite (TCP/IP) to communicate between networks and devices. It is a '' network of networks'' that consists of private, pub ...
became widely available, prostitutes increasingly use websites to solicit sexual encounters. This has bypassed the need for pimps in some contexts, while some pimps have used these sites to broker their sex workers.


Criticism of portrayals

Some scholars and
sex workers' rights Sex workers' rights encompass a variety of aims being pursued globally by individuals and organizations that specifically involve the human, health, and labor rights of sex workers and their clients. The goals of these movements are diverse, but ...
advocates dispute portrayals of third-party agents as violent and extremely committed to a pimp subculture, finding them inaccurate exaggerations used to foster harmful policies. For example, one study found that pimps tend to drift in and out of pimping, with some of their goals and identities classified as predominantly mainstream, some as predominantly outside of that mainstream, and some as a hybrid of conventional and non-conventional.


Pornography

Attempts have been made in the US to charge pornographic-film producers with pandering under state law. The case of ''
California v. Freeman ''People v. Freeman'' was a criminal prosecution of Harold Freeman, a producer and director of pornographic films, by the U.S. state of California. Freeman was charged in 1987 with pandering - procurement of persons "for the purpose of prostituti ...
'' in 1989 is one of the most prominent examples where a producer/director of pornographic films was charged with pandering under the argument that paying porn actors to perform sex on camera was a form of prostitution covered by a state anti-pandering statute. The State Supreme Court rejected this argument, finding that the California pandering statute was not intended to cover the hiring of actors who would be engaging in sexually-explicit but non-obscene performances. It also stated that only in cases where the producer paid the actors for the purpose of sexually gratifying themselves or other actors, could the producer be charged with pandering under state law. This case effectively legalized pornography in the State of California. In 2008, the New Hampshire Supreme Court issued a similar ruling (''New Hampshire v. Theriault'') which declared that producing pornography was not a form of prostitution under state law.


Art

File:Dirck van Baburen - The Procuress - Google Art Project.jpg, '' The Procuress'' by
Dirck van Baburen Dirck Jaspersz. van Baburen (c. 1595 – 21 February 1624) was a Dutch painter and one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti. Biography Dirck van Baburen was probably born in Wijk bij Duurstede, but his family moved to Utrecht when he was still youn ...
, 1622 File:Jan G. van Bronckhorst The procuress.jpg, ''The procuress'' by Jan G. van Bronckhorst, 1636–1638 File:Bijlert At the procuress.jpg, ''At the procuress'', by
Jan van Bijlert Jan Hermansz van Bijlert (1597 or 1598 – November 1671) was a Dutch Golden Age painter from Utrecht, one of the Utrecht Caravaggisti whose style was influenced by Caravaggio. He spent some four years in Italy and was one of the founders of the ...
, second quarter of 17th century (Albi) Au Salon de la rue des Moulins - Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec 1894 MTL.inv180( small).jpg, ''In Salon of Rue des Moulins'', (
La Fleur blanche La Fleur blanche was a famous ''maison close'' ( brothel) in the city of Paris, located at 6 rue des Moulins in the 1st Arrondissement. The property was also known as ''rue des Moulins'' and was famous for its torture room. History The buildi ...
), by
Henri de Toulouse-Lautrec Comte Henri Marie Raymond de Toulouse-Lautrec-Monfa (24 November 1864 – 9 September 1901) was a French painter, printmaker, draughtsman, caricaturist and illustrator whose immersion in the colourful and theatrical life of Paris in the ...
, 1894


Notable pimps and madams

* Elizabeth Adams *
Polly Adler Pearl "Polly" Adler (April 16, 1900 – June 9, 1962) was an American madam and author, best known for her work ''A House Is Not a Home'', which was posthumously adapted into a film of the same name. In 2021, Pulitzer Prize-winning historian D ...
*
Ah Toy Ah Toy ( Taishanese language, Taishanese: /a˧ tʰɔi˥/, Standard Cantonese language, Standard Cantonese: ''Aa3 Coi2'', May 18, 1829 – February 1, 1928) was a Chinese Americans, Chinese American prostitute and pimp, madam in San Francis ...
*
Brenda Allen Brenda Allen (aka Marie Mitchell) was a madam based in Los Angeles, California, whose arrest in 1948 triggered a scandal that led to the attempted reform of the Los Angeles Police Department (L.A.P.D.). Allen received police protection due to h ...
* Sydney Biddle Barrows *
Scotty Bowers George Albert "Scotty" Bowers (July 1, 1923 – October 13, 2019) was an American who was active from 1945 to 1980 as a procurer and prostitute for closeted Hollywood film and television industry people interested in homosexual or bisexual l ...
* Kid Cann *
Belle Cora (Arabella Ryan) Belle Cora (1827?–February 18/19, 1862), also known as Arabella Ryan, was a madam of the Barbary Coast of San Francisco during the mid-nineteenth century. She rose to public attention in 1855 when her lover, Charles Cora, killed US Marshall W ...
* Kristin M. Davis *
Shirley Finn Shirley June Finn, née Shewring (2 November 1941 – 22 or 23 June 1975), was an Australian brothel keeper, nightclub operator and socialite who was shot dead at about midnight on 22–23 June 1975 in Perth, Western Australia. Her body, dressed ...
*
Heidi Fleiss Heidi Lynne Fleiss (born December 30, 1965) is an American former madam. She ran an upscale prostitution ring based in Los Angeles and is often referred to as the " Hollywood Madam". Fleiss has also worked as a columnist and was a television per ...
(madam) *
Marguerite Gourdan Marguerite Gourdan, née ''Marguerite Alexandrine Ernestine Stock'' (c. 1730 in Béziers – 28 September 1783 in Paris) was a French brothel owner and procurer in 18th-century Paris. Her brothel was the most exclusive in Paris during that age, ...
(madam) *
Lou Graham Louis Krebs Graham (born January 7, 1938) is an American professional golfer who won six PGA Tour tournaments including the 1975 U.S. Open. Most of his wins were in the 1970s. Lou Graham was born in Nashville, Tennessee. He started playing g ...
*
Dennis Hof Dennis Leroy Hof (October 14, 1946 – October 16, 2018) was an American brothel owner. He owned seven legal brothels in Nevada, most notably the Moonlite BunnyRanch. Hof was also a Republican candidate in 2018 for the Nevada Assembly, whic ...
*
Xaviera Hollander Xaviera Hollander (born 15 June 1943) is a Dutch former call girl, madam, and author. She is best known for her best-selling memoir '' The Happy Hooker: My Own Story''. Early life Hollander was born Xaviera "Vera" de Vries in Surabaya, Japanes ...
*
Don "Magic" Juan Don "Magic" Juan, (born Donald Campbell November 30, 1950, also known as The Chairman of the Board, Archbishop Don 'Da Magic' Juan, Bishop Don Magic Juan, or just Bishop) is an American former pimp, preacher, hip hop personality, actor, and fash ...
* Mary-Anne Kenworthy (madam) *
Gangubai Kothewali Gangubai Harjeevandas, better known as Gangubai Kothewali or Gangubai Kathiawadi, was an Indian Activism, social activist, prostitute and Procuring (prostitution), madam of a brothel in the Kamathipura area of Mumbai during the 1960s. Gangubai d ...
(madam) * Isabel La Negra *
Meyer Lansky Meyer Lansky (born Maier Suchowljansky; July 4, 1902 – January 15, 1983), known as the "Mob's Accountant", was an American organized crime figure who, along with his associate Charles "Lucky" Luciano, was instrumental in the development of the ...
*
Ghislaine Maxwell Ghislaine Noelle Marion Maxwell ( ; born 25 December 1961) is a British convicted sex offender and former socialite. In 2021, she was found guilty of child sex trafficking and other offences in connection with the financier and convicted sex o ...
* Enriqueta Martí *
Mother Damnable Mary Ann Conklin, also known as Mother Damnable and Madame DamnableT. S. Phelps: '. Originally published by The Alice Harriman Company, Seattle, 1908. Accessed online November 2, 2006 on the site of the U.S. Department of the Navy. (1821–187 ...
*
Elizabeth Needham Elizabeth Needham (died 3 May 1731), also known as Mother Needham, was an English procuress and brothel-keeper of 18th-century London, who has been identified as the bawd greeting Moll Hackabout in the first plate of William Hogarth's series of ...
* Dora Noyce (madam) *
Deborah Jeane Palfrey Deborah Jeane Palfrey (March 18, 1956 – May 1, 2008), dubbed the D. C. Madam by the news media, operated Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort agency in Washington, D. C. Although she maintained that the company's services were legal, s ...
*
Justine Paris Justine Paris, real name Bienfait (1705September 1773), was a French courtesan and madam. She hosted several of the most famous brothels in mid-18th-century Paris and was one of the most known and successful of her trade. She and her brothel are p ...
(madam) * Grace Peixotto * Lovisa von Plat * Jurjentje Aukes Rauwerda *
Lindi St Clair Marian June Akin (born 11 August 1952), formerly known professionally as Lindi St Clair or Lindi St Claire, is a British author, leader of the Corrective Party, and campaigner for prostitutes' rights. Originally a prostitute, but now retired an ...
(madam) * Fillmore Slim *
Iceberg Slim Robert Beck (born Robert Lee Maupin or Robert Moppins Jr.; August 4, 1918 – April 30, 1992), better known as Iceberg Slim, was a former American pimp who later became a writer. Beck's novels were adapted into films. Early life Robert Ma ...
*
Sally Stanford Sally Stanford (May 5, 1903 – February 1, 1982) was an American madam, restaurateur, council member and the mayor of Sausalito, California. Born Mabel Janice Busby, in Oregon in 1903, Stanford moved to San Francisco in 1924. From 1940 to 1949, ...
*
Al Swearengen Ellis Alfred Swearengen (July 8, 1845 – November 15, 1904) was an American pimp and entertainment entrepreneur who ran the Gem Theater, a notorious brothel, in Deadwood, South Dakota, for 22 years during the late 19th century. Personal life Sw ...
*
Anna Wilson (madam) Anna Wilson (May 27, 1835 – October 27, 1911) was 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. Wilson was responsib ...


See also

* ''
American Pimp ''American Pimp'' is a 1999 documentary that examines the pimp subculture in the United States. It was directed by the Hughes Brothers, the filmmakers behind ''Menace II Society'' and ''Dead Presidents''. The documentary consists of first ...
'', a 1999 documentary by the
Hughes brothers Albert Hughes and Allen Hughes (born April 1, 1972), known together professionally as the Hughes brothers, are American film directors and producers. The pair, who are twins, are known for co-directing visceral, and often violent, movies, inclu ...
consisting of first-person interviews with people involved in the pimping lifestyle in the US *
Brothel A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub par ...
*
Webcam model A webcam model (colloquially, camgirl, camboy, or cammodel) is a video performer who streams on the Internet with a live webcam broadcast. A webcam model often performs erotic acts online, such as stripping, masturbation, or sex acts in exchan ...
: avoids the perceived need of "protection" in the form of a pimp


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{{Authority control Prostitution Organized crime activity