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Street prostitution is a form of
sex work
Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to volunt ...
in which a
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 ...
solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, benches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a provocative manner. The sex act may be performed in the customer's car, in a nearby secluded street location, or at the prostitute's residence or in a rented
motel
A motel, also known as a motor hotel, motor inn or motor lodge, is a hotel designed for motorists, usually having each room entered directly from the parking area for motor vehicles rather than through a central lobby. Entering dictionaries ...
room.
Legality
Street prostitution is often illegal, even in jurisdictions that allow other forms of
prostitution
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, 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, n ...
.
It is estimated that only 10-20 percent of sex workers are working on the streets; however, it is also estimated that 90 percent of the arrests of prostitutes are of street workers.
In some jurisdictions where prostitution itself is legal, such as in
the United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland, commonly known as the United Kingdom (UK) or Britain, is a country in Europe, off the north-western coast of the continental mainland. It comprises England, Scotland, Wales and North ...
, street prostitution has been made illegal.
Some jurisdictions also outlaw
kerb crawling
Clients of prostitutes or sex workers are sometimes known as ''johns'' or ''tricks'' in North America and ''punters'' in Britain and Ireland. In common parlance among prostitutes as well as with others, the act of negotiating and then engaging with ...
, slowly driving around with the intent to procure the services of a prostitute.
In
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 ...
, in
New South Wales
)
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, map_caption = Location of New South Wales in AustraliaCoordinates:
, subdivision_type = Country
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, established_title = Before federation
, es ...
it is legal to solicit on the streets, except in some areas (such as near schools). The other
Australian
Australian(s) may refer to:
Australia
* Australia, a country
* Australians, citizens of the Commonwealth of Australia
** European Australians
** Anglo-Celtic Australians, Australians descended principally from British colonists
** Aboriginal Au ...
states and territories prohibit street solicitation, although some of these jurisdictions allow licensed brothels.
Street prostitution is legal in
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 ...
. In
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 ...
it is allowed too, but cities can restrict it to certain areas or hours (regulations vary widely from place to place).
In the
United States
The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...
, street prostitution is illegal in all 50 states; 49 of the states outlaw all forms of prostitution.
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 ...
allows licensed brothels, but only in some rural areas, not in the major metropolitan areas (only eight counties have active brothels and prostitution outside these brothels is illegal throughout the state).
In four towns in the
Netherlands
)
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, subdivision_name = Kingdom of the Netherlands
, established_title = Before independence
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, a special zone (''tippelzone'') is designated for legal street prostitution.
The zone is often in a
business park
A business park or office park is a designated area of land in which many office buildings are grouped together. These types of developments are often located in suburban areas where land and building costs are more affordable, and are typically ...
to avoid inconvenience for residents and can include a
sex drive-in
A sex drive-in or sex box is a car garage (or similarly shielded location) that is designed to allow prostitution to take place using cars, and can be found in a few countries in Europe. Generally the facilities are created by local authoritie ...
(afwerkplek).
[(18 August 2008)]
Onderzoek naar ruimere afwerkplek
''Algemeen Dagblad
The ''Algemeen Dagblad'' () or ''AD'' () (English: "General Daily Paper") is a Dutch daily newspaper based in Rotterdam, Netherlands.
History and profile
''Algemeen Dagblad'' was founded in 1946. The paper is published in tabloid format and is ...
'' (in Dutch) (article states prostitutes are reporting that the stalls in the Utrecht facility are too small for some luxury cars and SUVs, as the facility has remained mostly unchanged since its construction in 1986) In most of the zones, the prostitutes need a
licence
A license (or licence) is an official permission or permit to do, use, or own something (as well as the document of that permission or permit).
A license is granted by a party (licensor) to another party (licensee) as an element of an agreeme ...
.
Risks and research
Street prostitutes are extremely vulnerable to physical and sexual assaults, as well as to muggings by clients and
pimp
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker 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 ...
s.
The
World Health Organization
The World Health Organization (WHO) is a specialized agency of the United Nations responsible for international public health. The WHO Constitution states its main objective as "the attainment by all peoples of the highest possible level of h ...
reported that a study in Bangladesh found that between 50% and 60% of street-based prostitutes had been raped by men in uniform, and between 40% and 50% had been raped by local clients.
Melissa Farley
Melissa Farley (born 1942) is an American clinical psychologist, researcher: "''Dr. Melissa Farley, a psychologist and researcher at the Kaiser-Permanente Medical Center in San Francisco who directed the study with colleagues from Turkey and Af ...
's study of 854 prostitutes in nine countries—Canada, Colombia, Germany, Mexico, South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, and Zambia—found that 95% of prostitutes had been physically assaulted, and 75% had been raped. 89% of the women interviewed stated that they wanted to leave prostitution.
However, the methodology and neutrality of Farley's studies has been criticised by other academics such as
Ronald Weitzer
Ronald Weitzer (born 1952) is a sociologist specializing in criminology and a professor at George Washington University, known for his publications on police- minority relations and on the sex industry.
Research and views
Prostitution and se ...
.
[Pdf.]
/ref> Weitzer has also said that Farley's findings are heavily influenced by radical feminist
Radical feminism is a perspective within feminism that calls for a Political radicalism, radical re-ordering of society in which male supremacy is eliminated in all social and economic contexts, while recognizing that women's experiences are al ...
ideology.
In a 2008 study of Chicago, USA
(''City in a Garden''); I Will
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, map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago
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, subdivision_type = Country
, subdivision_name ...
street prostitutes, economists Steven D. Levitt and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh
Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh (born 1966) is an American sociologist and urban ethnographer. He is William B. Ransford Professor of Sociology & African-American Studies at Columbia University, a position he has held continuously since 1999. In his ...
found that women working without pimps work for an average hourly rate of about $25, and those working with pimps make 50% more. This is roughly four times the wage of other jobs available to them. Prostitutes are arrested once for every 450 encounters and every 10th arrest results in jail time.
In 2004, a study in the UK showed that up to 95% of women in street prostitution were problematic drug users, including around 78% heroin users and rising numbers of crack cocaine
Crack cocaine, commonly known simply as crack, and also known as rock, is a free base form of the stimulant cocaine that can be smoked. Crack offers a short, intense high to smokers. The ''Manual of Adolescent Substance Abuse Treatment'' calls ...
addicts.
Impact of COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic
The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...
, contact professions (which includes prostitution, amongst others) had been banned (temporarily) in some countries. This has resulted in a local reduction of prostitution.
See also
* Solicitation
Solicitation is the act of offering, or attempting to purchase, goods and/or services. Legal status may be specific to the time or place where it occurs. The crime of "solicitation to commit a crime" occurs when a person encourages, "solicits, r ...
References
External links
''Street prostitution''
by Michael S. Scott, US DOJ Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series, No. 2 (PDF
Portable Document Format (PDF), standardized as ISO 32000, is a file format developed by Adobe in 1992 to present documents, including text formatting and images, in a manner independent of application software, hardware, and operating systems. ...
file)
{{Prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in Sex work, 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, n ...
Prostitution