The legal status and the principles underlying the laws pertaining to the buying and sell­ing of sexual services vary from place to place (Shaver, 2009). In most countries, includ­ing the United States, prostitution is considered an immoral activity and is illegal under criminal laws, except for some areas in Nevada. (Weitzer, 2007). In Sweden and […]

Rachel Lloyd is an anti-trafficking advocate and founder of GEMS, the nation’s larg­est service provider to commercial sexually exploited and trafficked girls and young women. Pimps sell women to other men for sex, and Lloyd describes how pimping and "the adult men who seduce, kidnap, torture, brainwash then sell girls for sex" have become a […]

Sex workers exist because there is a demand for their services. In the United States, "John" is the label for the men of all backgrounds, ages, races, religions, and socioeco­nomic status who buy sex. One study found that most men buying sex were married or with a partner and ranged in age from 20 to […]

Sex workers have very diverse working conditions and experiences (Weitzer, 2007). Decriminalization and legalization of sex work significantly improves the health and safety of sex workers, but most sex workers across the world operate under the disadvan­tages of criminal legal statutes. Sex workers can develop physical and mental health prob­lems as a result of violence, […]

The 60-year history of modern sex trafficking includes the brothels for U. S. troops that Japanese police officials and businessmen established at the end of World War II. Thousands of Japanese women provided cheap sex for 15-60 U. S. troops a day. The leadership of the U. S. occupation initially condoned the troops’ use of […]

The U. S. Department of Justice’s Child Exploitation and Obscenity Section estimates that in the United States, the median age of entry into the sex industry is between 12 and 14 years of age (Lloyd, 2010). Statistics from the National Incident-Based Reporting System indicate that in the United States, of the total number of juvenile […]

The Internet has transformed the world’s oldest profession. Male and female sex work­ers are increasingly operating independently through individual websites. For example, by 2011 approximately 83% of sex workers in New York City advertised their ser­vices on Facebook (Venkatesh, 2011). The sex worker and customer negotiate through e-mail, which eliminates the need for part of […]

Prostitution has existed throughout history and has been called the oldest profession. However, the importance and meaning of prostitution have varied in different times and societies. Evidence shows that men sold sexual services to other men as far back as the ancient Sumerian and Greek civilizations (Pandey, 2007). During some periods of ancient Greek history, […]

Prostitution is the exchange of sexual services for money. Prostitution is typically thought of in terms of a woman selling sexual services to a man, although transac­tions between two males are also common. Payment for a man’s services to a woman is less common. Sex worker is a term for a person involved in prostitution […]

In contrast with research discussed in the previous "Is Pornography Helpful?" sec­tion, other studies report correlations between Internet pornography use and dimin­ished quality of relationships. One study of heterosexual college students found that higher use of pornography was associated with less sexual and relationship satisfaction (Morgan, 2011). A study of unmarried couples reported that individuals […]