Prostitution (from the Latin word prostituere, which means “to expose publicly”) is the sale of sexual services for money or some other service (employment, problem solving, etc.). Prostitution is often referred to as "the oldest craft in the world."
Briefly about prostitution throughout history
Prostitution is one of the oldest forms of social deviation. The first data on prostitution date back to 1500 BC and refer to the so-called "temple prostitution" in Babylon. . For example, in 594 BC, Solon tried to legalize public prostitution in Athens and opened the first brothel with special rules of conduct. According to some understandings, prostitution originated as a product of religious rituals in temples, as a form of communication with supernatural forces. In the Roman Empire, prostitution was represented to a significant extent.
Prostitution today
In the past, prostitution was a "job" attributed to women, but today more and more men are "engaged" in it. A woman engaged in prostitution is called a prostitute, and a man a prostitute or gigolo. Female prostitutes are often accompanied by "protectors" (pimps) who often take part of their earnings or use violence and blackmail. Prostitution is regularly accompanied by various vices such as alcoholism, drug addiction, and sexual trafficking. Prostitution is regulated differently in different legislations - in many countries it is prohibited by law, while in some countries it is legally regulated as an activity.
Prostitution carries with it many security risks
.1. Health hazards: risky behavior and low awareness of the need to use condoms (both by clients and sex workers) are the main causes of this phenomenon. Some of the most common sexually transmitted infections seen in sex workers are: gonorrhea, chlamydia, fungal infections, and conditions caused by the human papilloma virus and HIV. Especially in the past, and to a lesser extent even today, due to the social stigma related to prostitution, this layer of people often received inadequate health care, which effectively effectively excluded them and alienated them from national health care systems. In addition to the long-term consequences for the attitude towards health institutions, this situation often led to an increased degree of morbidity due to inadequately treated infections.
2. Security threats in terms of trafficking in human beings due to prostitution - There are a large number of women (both men but most of them women) who are drawn into this whole world out of their own will, most often through human trafficking. Those who do not benefit from prostitution as prostitutes who do it voluntarily, but sell their bodies to someone else (usually a pimp) who completely controls her life (by force and threat)
3. Drug addiction and alcoholism as a consequence of prostitution - Drug addiction and alcoholism are related to prostitution in several ways: prostitutes often indulge in drugs or alcohol to be able to "do their job", pimps are often also involved in the so-called drug mafia. "or are users of these substances, users of their services are also often drug addicts or alcoholics and the like. Drug addiction and alcoholism are deviant forms of behavior that leave extremely destructive consequences for the individual, and the consequences are of a health, social and economic nature, but these consequences are also maintained on society as a whole.
4. Endangering security in terms of committing criminal acts due to prostitution as a sociopathological phenomenon - Undermining and enabling sexual intercourse and mediation in prostitution are criminal acts which of course (like any other criminal act) endangers security, but prostitution as such can cause committing other criminal offenses (eg offenses of violence) or misdemeanors (for example, disturbing public order and peace) which further endangers security
The Oregon Alternative Prostitution Counseling Center has been helping many women quit prostitution for ten years. These are the conclusions of their counseling center based on data from the experience of women engaged in or engaged in prostitution:
- 84% of women say that pimps force them into prostitution - 78% of women were raped while being prostitutes: - 48% of women were raped by pimps, on average 16 times a year - 79% of women are raped by men who buy them, on average 33 times a year - 84% of women are victims of violence: - 63% of women are beaten by pimps, on average 58 times a year - 81% of women are beaten by men who buy them, on average 45 times a year - 49% are victims of kidnapping: - 31% were kidnapped by pimps, on average 5 times a year (this happens to women trying to escape) - 47% of women are abducted by men on average 5 times a year - 53% are victims of sexual torture: - 44% are victims of macro torture, on average 49 times a year - 43% are victims of torture by men who buy or kidnap them, on average 5 times a year - 27% of women have injuries as a result of torture: - 27% were wounded by macros on average 3 times a year - 21% are wounded by a man who buys or kidnaps them 4 times a year - 73% of women often think of suicide as a way to escape from everything: - 65% have tried to commit suicide - 38% have attempted suicide several times
In the United States, prostitution is often a continuation of the exploitation that women experienced as children. The average age of women and girls when they start prostitution is 16 years. Another women's organization that fights prostitution is WHISPER. Their data show that 85% of women in prostitution were sexually abused in childhood. 90% of women in prostitution were physically abused in childhood and 98% of women in prostitution were emotionally abused as children. The girls run away from home to escape the violence. They end up as homeless people on the city streets, where they are gathered by pimps who turn them into prostitution. These girls, women, use alcohol and others to dull their emotional pain from all this violence and exploitation. Many become addicted to drugs and alcohol.
Prostitution is widespread and is therefore often accepted as normal.
I never understood what made a woman engage in prostitution. Is it hard to do any other honest job and make money for the basic necessities of life ... The most famous street where we can see prostitution is Red Lantern Street in Amsterdam.