View source for Red-light district

{{short description|Urban area with a high concentration of sex-related businesses}}
{{About|the sex industry term|other uses|Red Light District (disambiguation)}}
[[File:Red-light district of Amsterdam by day. 2012.JPG|thumb|right|300px|[[De Wallen]], [[Amsterdam]]'s red-light district, is internationally known and one of the main tourist attractions of the city. It offers legal [[Prostitution in the Netherlands|prostitution]] and a number of [[Coffeeshop (Netherlands)|coffee shops that sell marijuana]].]]
A '''red-light district''' or '''pleasure district''' is a part of an [[urban area]] where a concentration of [[prostitution]] and [[sex industry|sex-oriented businesses]], such as [[sex shop]]s, [[strip club]]s, and [[adult theater]]s, are found. In most cases, red-light districts are particularly associated with female [[street prostitution]], though in some cities, these areas may coincide with spaces of [[male prostitution]] and gay venues.<ref>{{Cite book|title=Encyclopedia of the City|url=https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacity00cave|url-access=limited|last=Caves|first=R. W.|publisher=Routledge|year=2004|isbn=9780415252256|pages=[https://archive.org/details/encyclopediacity00cave/page/n599 559]}}</ref> Areas in many big cities around the world have acquired an international reputation as red-light districts.<ref name="whatyoushouldknowaboutamsterdam.wordpress.com">{{cite web|url=http://whatyoushouldknowaboutamsterdam.wordpress.com/2009/08/27/history-of-the-red-light-district/ |title=History of the Red light District « What you should know about Amsterdam |publisher=Whatyoushouldknowaboutamsterdam.WordPress .com |date= 2009-08-27|access-date=2012-09-01}}</ref>

==Origins of the term==
[[File:Sex worker statue Oudekerksplein Amsterdam.jpg|thumb|A statue in honor of [[sex worker]]s in [[Amsterdam, Netherlands]]]]
Red-light districts are mentioned in the 1882 minutes of a [[Woman's Christian Temperance Union]] meeting in the United States.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=NN5CAQAAMAAJ|title=Minutes of the Ninth Annual Meeting|pages=332, 333 & 363|publisher=National Woman's Christian Temperance Union|year=1882}}</ref> The ''[[Oxford English Dictionary]]'' records the earliest known appearance of the term "red light district" in print as an 1894 article from the ''[[Sandusky Register]]'', a newspaper in [[Sandusky, Ohio]].{{cn|date=September 2023}}

Author Paul Wellman suggests that this and other terms associated with the [[American Old West]] originated in [[Dodge City, Kansas]], home to a well-known prostitution district during the 19th century, which included the Red Light House saloon.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://archive.org/details/tramplingherd00well|url-access=registration|quote=Paul Wellman Dodge City red light.|last=Wellman|first=Paul Iselin|title=The Trampling Herd: The Story of the Cattle Range in America|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=1988|isbn=0-8032-9723-8|page=[https://archive.org/details/tramplingherd00well/page/195 195]}}</ref> This has not been proven, but the Dodge City use was likely responsible for the term's pervasiveness.<ref>{{cite book|url=https://books.google.com/books?id=yxxHnAq50wsC|last=Barra|first=Allen|title=Inventing Wyatt Earp: His Life and Many Legends|publisher=University of Nebraska Press|year=2009|isbn=978-0803220584}}</ref> A widespread [[folk etymology]] claims that early [[railroad]] workers took red lanterns with them when they visited [[brothel]]s so their crew could find them in the event of an emergency. However, folklorist Barbara Mikkelson regards this as unfounded.<ref>{{cite web |url= http://www.snopes.com/language/colors/redlight.asp|title= Red Light District|author= Barbara Mikkelson|date= July 9, 2007 |work= snopes.com|access-date=October 3, 2010}}</ref>

[[File:JudgeMagazine12Jan1901.jpg|thumb|right|An early reference to red-light districts on a January 1901 ''[[Judge (magazine)|Judge]]'' cover]]

A commonly repeated, though likely spurious, [[folk etymology]] stems from sailors coming back from sea to Amsterdam ({{Circa|1650}}): Women working as prostitutes, deprived of proper hygiene and running fresh water, carrying red lanterns — with their color camouflaging boils, zits, inequalities in the face and on the skin — made clear they were available as women of pleasure.{{cn|date=December 2024}}

One of the many terms used for a red-light district in [[Japanese language|Japanese]] is {{nihongo|''[[akasen]]''|[[:ja:赤線|赤線]]}}, literally meaning "red-line".  Japanese police drew a red line on maps to indicate the boundaries of legal red-light districts. In Japanese, the term {{nihongo|''[[aosen]]''|[[:ja:青線|青線]]}}, literally meaning "blue-line", also exists, indicating an illegal district.

In the United States during the 19th and early 20th centuries, the term "sporting district" became popular for legal red-light districts. Municipal governments typically defined such districts explicitly to contain and regulate prostitution.<ref>{{cite book | title=Prostitution in the United States.| author=Woolston, Howard Brown | year=2009 |orig-date=1921 | publisher=The Century Company | location=New York | isbn=978-0-217-03857-7  | page=[https://archive.org/details/prostitutioninun01wool/page/105 105]&ndash;107 | url=https://archive.org/details/prostitutioninun01wool}}</ref>

==Other uses==

In [[World War I]] (circa 1915), "Brothels displayed blue lamps if they were for officers and red lamps for other ranks."<ref>{{cite web|title=WW1 brothels: Why troops ignored calls to resist 'temptation'|publisher=British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC)|url=https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-england-25762151|date= 2014-02-27|access-date=2024-04-26}}</ref>

==Legal issues==
{{See also|Prostitution law}}
Some red-light districts (such as [[De Wallen]], Netherlands, or [[Reeperbahn]], Germany) are places that are officially designated by authorities for legal and regulated prostitution.<ref name="whatyoushouldknowaboutamsterdam.wordpress.com"/> Often, these red-light districts were formed by authorities to help regulate prostitution and other related activities, such that they were confined to a single area.<ref>{{cite web|title=The Red Light District of Amsterdam |url=https://www.camsterdamn.com/news/amsterdam-red-light-district/ |publisher=CamsterDamn |access-date=February 20, 2013 |url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130520125420/https://www.camsterdamn.com/news/amsterdam-red-light-district/ |archive-date=May 20, 2013}}</ref>

Some red-light districts (such as those in [[The Hague]])<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/relocation-and-settling/to/Camera-surveillance.htm|title=Camera surveillance in red-light districts in The Hague|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20161008030841/http://www.denhaag.nl/en/residents/relocation-and-settling/to/Camera-surveillance.htm |archive-date=2016-10-08 |date=January 24, 2014}}</ref> are under video surveillance. This can help counter illegal forms of prostitution (such as [[child prostitution]]), in these areas that do allow regular prostitution to occur.

[[File:Prostitution laws of the world2.svg|center|thumb|upright=2.5|Legality of prostitution{{legend|#00ffff|Decriminalization - No criminal penalties for prostitution}}
{{legend|#008000|Legalisation – prostitution is legal and regulated}}
{{legend|#336699|Semi-legal – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is ''not'' regulated}}
{{legend|#ff7f00|Quasi-legal – illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex}}
{{legend|#FF0000|Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal}}
{{legend|#585858|Legality varies with local laws}}]]

==Image gallery==
<gallery widths="235px" heights="160px">
File:Red Light District.jpg|The Red Light District in Amsterdam
File:Reeperbahn at dawn.jpg|[[Reeperbahn]] in [[Hamburg]], [[Germany]]
File:Soi Cowboy - Bangkok.jpg|[[Soi Cowboy]], [[Bangkok, Thailand]]
File:RedLightDistrictAmsterdamBloedstraat.jpg|Rooms illuminated by red lights in [[De Wallen]], [[Amsterdam, Netherlands]]
File:Aarschotstraat.jpg|[[Rue d'Aerschot]], [[Brussels, Belgium]]
File:Kabukicho-Sinjyuku-Tokyo.JPG|[[Kabukichō]] Ichiban-gai gate and colorful neon street signs, [[Shinjuku]], [[Tokyo]], [[Japan]]
</gallery>

==See also==
* [[List of red-light districts]]
* [[Prostitution by region]]

==References==
{{Reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Commons category-inline|Red-light districts}}

{{Sex|state=collapsed}}
{{Portal bar|Cities|human sexuality|Prostitution|Sex work|Feminism}}

{{DEFAULTSORT:Red-Light District}}
[[Category:Red-light districts| ]]
[[Category:English-language idioms]]