A common argument against prostitution states that selling sex is harmful because it involves selling something deeply personal and emotional. More and more of us, however, believe that sexual encounters need not be deeply personal and emotional in order to be acceptable--we believe in the acceptability of casual sex. In this paper I argue that if casual sex is acceptable, then we have few or n...

Online classified ad sites like Craigslist have become a haven for prostitution-related ads. In this paper, we attempt to quantify the economic impact of Craigslist’s entry on prostitution incidence, and identify potential pathways in which the site affects the sex trade. We look for the relationship using a national panel data for 1,763 U.S. counties from 1999 to 2008. Our results suggests tha...

The United Nations estimates that 79% of teenage girls trafficked globally every year are forced into involuntary prostitution. About 247 000 South African children work in exploitative conditions; about 40 000 South African female teenagers work as prostitutes. This paper investigates lifestyles and routine activities of teenagers at risk of being trafficked for involuntary prostitution. The k...

This article explores whether motherhood may have any restorative effect on prostitution. Section I provides an overview of the crime of prostitution. It analyzes the underlying themes of autonomy, power, authority, and control, and considers whether prostitution is an example of the ultimate loss of these qualities, or an exercise of complete freedom and liberty in autonomy. Section II discuss...

Child prostitution is a significant global problem that has yet to receive appropriate medical and public health attention. Worldwide, an estimated 1 million children are forced into prostitution every year and the total number of prostituted children could be as high as 10 million. Inadequate data exist on the health problems faced by prostituted children, who are at high risk of infectious di...

BACKGROUND Women offenders are a growing population in the criminal justice system; most are mothers. A subset of these women have a history of prostitution. Despite more recent research identifying the needs of women offenders who are mothers, those with and without experience in prostitution are still generally represented in the literature as a homogenous group. METHODS This study examined...

This paper presents the morally controversial phenomenon of prostitution. As the basis for contemplating the prostitution issue the most important is revealing and understanding its primitive ethical root. For understanding its "soul", its essence, also important is comprehending sexual, "elementary thoughts" of mankind, through the relationship between prostitution and religious, social, polit...

BACKGROUND South African policy makers are reviewing legislation of prostitution, concerned that criminalisation hampers HIV prevention. They seek to understand the relationship between transactional sex, prostitution, and the nature of the involved men. METHODS 1645 randomly-selected adult South African men participated in a household study, disclosing whether they had sex with a woman in pr...

The study of the safety of sex workers in the sex industry is complicated by several factors. The industry operates in an illegal environment, and even where prostitution is formally legalised certain sectors of the industry remain illegal. For example, in Victoria brothel prostitution is legal whereas street prostitution is not. Because of these variations in legality, obtaining accurate infor...

Numerous studies examine the causal factors of entrance into prostitution and find economic marginalization, substance addiction, and interpersonal networks are common reasons women enter the trade. However, we know less about the role that age of onset plays in shaping female pathways into prostitution. Here, we build from insights into previous research by analyzing not only entry pathways bu...