Street prostitution
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Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a prostitute 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 room.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
Legality
Street prostitution is often illegal, even in jurisdictions that allow other forms of prostitution.<ref name="homeoffice" />
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.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref>
In some jurisdictions where prostitution itself is legal, such as in the United Kingdom, street prostitution has been made illegal.<ref>S. 1(1) of the Street Offences Act 1959 as amended by section 16 of the Policing and Crime Act 2009</ref>
Some jurisdictions also outlaw kerb crawling, slowly driving around with the intent to procure the services of a prostitute.
In Australia, in New South Wales it is legal to solicit on the streets, except in some areas (such as near schools).<ref>Template:Cite Legislation AU.</ref> The other Australian states and territories prohibit street solicitation,<ref>Template:Cite Legislation AU.</ref> although some of these jurisdictions allow licensed brothels.<ref>Template:Cite Legislation AU.</ref>
Street prostitution is legal in New Zealand.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref> In Germany it is allowed too, but cities can restrict it to certain areas or hours (regulations vary widely from place to place).<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In the United States, street prostitution is illegal in all 50 states; 49 of the states outlaw all forms of prostitution. Nevada 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, a special zone (tippelzone) is designated for legal street prostitution.<ref name="soaaids" /> The zone is often in a business park to avoid inconvenience for residents and can include a sex drive-in (afwerkplek).<ref name="1986-one">(18 August 2008). Onderzoek naar ruimere afwerkplek, Algemeen Dagblad (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)</ref> In most of the zones, the prostitutes need a licence.<ref name="soaaids">Template:Cite web</ref>
Risks and research
Street prostitutes are extremely vulnerable to physical and sexual assaults, as well as to muggings by clients and pimps.<ref name="who">Template:Cite web</ref>
The World Health Organization 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.<ref name="who" />
Melissa Farley'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.<ref name="farley">Template:Cite journal</ref> However, the methodology and neutrality of Farley's studies has been criticised by other academics such as Ronald Weitzer.<ref name=weitzer1>Template:Cite journal Pdf.</ref> Weitzer has also said that Farley's findings are heavily influenced by radical feminist ideology.<ref>Weitzer, R. "Flawed theory and method in studies of prostitution" (above-cited);
- "The articles in question are by Jody Raphael and Deborah Shapiro (2004), Melissa Farley (2004), and Janice Raymond (2004). At least two of the authors (Farley and Raymond) are activists involved in the anti-prostitution campaign. [...] The three articles are only the most recent examples in a long line of writings on the sex industry by authors who adopt an extreme version of radical feminist theory—extreme in the sense that it is absolutist, doctrinaire, and unscientific."</ref><ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
In a 2008 study of Chicago, USA street prostitutes, economists Steven D. Levitt and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh 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.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
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 addicts.<ref name="homeoffice">Template:Cite web</ref>
Impact of COVID-19
During the COVID-19 pandemic, contact professions (which includes prostitution, amongst others) had been banned (temporarily) in some countries. This has resulted in a local reduction of prostitution.<ref>Template:Cite web</ref>
Modern terminology
In recent years there has been a movement to redefine the way that prostitution is talked about. Instead of "prostitution", "sex work", and "sex workers", are the more preferred terminology.<ref>Template:Cite journal</ref> This movement began in the late 1970s and is still an effort currently. Sex work is not specifically associated with prostitution, but rather any type of work that is sexual in nature.
See also
References
External links
- Street prostitution Template:Webarchive by Michael S. Scott, US DOJ Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series, No. 2 (PDF file)