Portal:Prostitution
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
Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies, published from 1757 to 1795, was an annual directory of prostitutes then working in Georgian London. A small pocketbook, it was printed and published in Covent Garden, and sold for two shillings and sixpence. A contemporary report of 1791 estimates its circulation at about 8,000 copies annually.
Each edition contains entries describing the physical appearance and sexual specialities of about 120–190 prostitutes who worked in and around Covent Garden. Through their erotic prose, the list's entries review some of these women in lurid detail. While most compliment their subjects, some are critical of bad habits, and a few women are even treated as pariahs, perhaps having fallen out of favour with the list's authors, who are never revealed. (read more ...)
Wikipedia Featured Article
Selected biography
Belle Cora (1827? –1862), also known as Arabella Ryan, was a successful Madam of the Barbary Coast during the mid-nineteenth century. She rose to public attention in 1855 when her lover, Charles Cora, killed US Marshall William H. Richardson. The fight between Charles and Richardson started at the American Theatre. Richardson's wife complained that Belle Cora, a well-known parlor house owner, and Charles Cora, a frequent gambler were seated in the same balcony as her. She stated that they should be in the general admission pit seats rather than the more expensive areas reserved for more respectable guests. As a result, Richardson went to ask the manager of the theatre to remove the couple, but the manager refused saying that they were regular customers of the first balcony. (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
| “ | [in Kenya]...any woman who is single and has multiple male sex partners is considered to be a prostitute, whether or not money changes hands. | ” |
Anniversaries - November
- 2nd
- 1940: Death of Big Nose Kate (Mary Katherine Horony-Cummings), Hungarian-born prostitute and common-law wife of Old West gunfighter Doc Holliday.
- 3rd
- 2009: Prostitution in Rhode Island was made illegal. Rhode Island was the last state in the US to ban prostitution.
- 5th
- 1975: Birth of Brooke Magnanti (pen-name Belle de Jour), an American born research scientist, blogger and writer, known for her book The Intimate Adventures of a London Call Girl.
- 9th
- 1888: Murder of Mary Jane Kelly, an Irish born London prostitute, widely believed to be the final victim of the notorious unidentified serial killer Jack the Ripper.
- 24th
- 1998: Death of Gerda Munsinger, an East German prostitute and alleged Soviet spy who was the central protagonist of the Munsinger Affair.
- 28th
- 1942: Execution of Toni Jo Henry (née Annie Beatrice McQuiston), an American prostitute, murderer and the only woman ever to be executed in Louisiana's electric chair.
Selected image
Man negotiating with a sex worker in Amsterdam's De Wallen (Red-light district).
Legality Map
Subcategories
- Select [►] to view subcategories
Related portals
Need help?
Do you have a question about Portal:Prostitution to which you can't find the answer?
Consider asking it at the Wikipedia reference desk.
Get involved
For editor resources and to collaborate with other editors on improving Wikipedia's Portal:Prostitution-related articles, see WikiProject Sexology and sexuality/Sex work task force.
Here are some tasks you can do:
- Start a new article. Prostitution is a broad topic, so there will always be plenty of missing articles.
- Clean up existing articles. A lists of articles needing cleanup is available here.
- Expand an existing article. Existing articles are often incomplete and missing information on key aspects of the topic. Stubs can be found in Category:Stub-Class Sex work articles.
- Discuss. Get involved in discussions on prostitution related articles, a current listing is available here
- Improve main article prostitution to featured status.
- Suggest improvements to this portal here
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
Subtopics
Associated Wikimedia
The following Wikimedia Foundation sister projects provide more on this subject:
-
Commons
Free media repository -
Wikibooks
Free textbooks and manuals -
Wikidata
Free knowledge base -
Wikinews
Free-content news -
Wikiquote
Collection of quotations -
Wikisource
Free-content library -
Wikiversity
Free learning tools -
Wiktionary
Dictionary and thesaurus
