Imagine being a struggling college student or a parent who just lost a job

and needing money. You are almost about to give up altogether, but then you

hear about prostitution. While it may not be the most glamourous job to do, it will

make ends meet. Every year, millions of women and some men engage in acts of

prostitution in order to make money to raise their families or themselves.

Unfortunately, numbers of the women who engage in these activities are arrested

and some spend a good amount of time in jail. There are many reasons why

women and men go into prostitution. There are also 2 different types of

prostitution. Over the years, there have been several laws and controversies

surrounding prostitution. While many people may not agree with prostitution or

find it immoral or wrong, it helps tons of women make ends meet.

Prostitution is the act of accepting money or gifts in exchange for sex or

sexual acts. There are two different types of prostitution. Street prostitution, which

is commonly referred to as hooking, is the most common form of prostitution.

Women or men stand out on the streets and wait for men to come to them for sex.

The women usually go back to the man's house, a hotel, or sometimes just stay in

the man's car. Some of the women that engage in street prostitution have pimps.

A pimp is a man or woman that basically controls the prostitute and takes some of

the money made. The pimp will sometimes advertise the women working for him.

If a women is having a hard time getting a john the pimp may try to persuade the

john that the prostitute is good and will give him a great time. The pimp being

there usually helps. Pimps can also protect the prostitute from hard. The other

kind of prostitution occurs inside. Prostitutes that work inside are more commonly

referred to as call girls. Men wanting call girls call a service and request the
woman of his choice. The men are able to choose from a variety of girls and pick

the one he has an interest of fetish in. (Abbott 112). Call girls usually work in

their home or in fancy hotels. They often make more money than street

prostitutes. Call girls will sometimes work together. Another type of indoor

prostitution is a brothels. Brothers are ranches or homes when the prostitutes live

and do the prostitution acts. Most of them women that work at the brothels are

older women. At brothels, when a man comes to choose a women, all of the

women in the brothel line up so the man can see all of them and choose the one

he wants to be with. Some of the men that go to brothels do so because they are

either lonely and can't find anyone, or they want to find someone to do sexual

things that their wife or girlfriend won't do. Some women are okay with the fact

their husbands go to brothels. They don't want to have to deal with their husband

whining or complaining that they won't do a specific act. Abbott 182). Prostitutes

that work in brothels also get docked some of their money. The women or men

that run the brothels require the women to pay them for certain amenities around

the brothel. Women pay for their food and other necessary things. One of the

plusses of being a brothel prostitute is that the men are required to wear condoms

and if they refuse they are forced to leave, or if they try to start a fight over it, the

men that work for the brothel escort them out and help the woman. Fights also

occur in the brothels between the women. Women who have working in the

brothels for a long time get jealous or envious of the younger, prettier women.

Cliques also form in the brothels with some of the women. many brothels are in

Nevada, where they are legal.

There are several factors that contribute to why men or women go into
prostitution. many women who become prostitutes were sexually abused as a

child. they were either abused sexually, physically, or emotionally. Many usually

turn to drugs which makes things even worse. While some started to engage in

drugs after they started prostituting, many started doing drugs prior to it. Sixty

percent of prostitutes say they were sexually abused between the ages of 3 and

16. Seventy percent of them believe them being abused as a child led to their

decision to be prostitutes. Poverty and gender inequality in the workplace also

lead to prostitution. Some women can not find efficient funds to pay for things like

school, childcare, or clothing so they go to prostitution. When families are too poor

to make ends meet, girls are forced to trade sex for money. This is really common

in countries that don't have many resources. While economics is one reason

women enter prostitution, many prostitutes have a troubled past. In a study of

street and indoor prostitutes, almost all had a history of abuse. in some thai cities,

girls that go into prostitution in order to help out their families make merit

because they are looking after their parents. many feminists support the fact that

cultural factors, and not poverty, lead women or girls into prostitution. Many

women are involved in prostitution just to survive on the streets. Some see it as a

way to be free from war and terrorism. In order to be freed from captures during

war, some women will engage in sex with their captures just to be able to escape.

There have always been laws and controversies surrounding prostitution. In

1910, the Mann Act made it a felony to transport or assist in the transport of a

woman across state or national boundaries for the intent of prostitution of to

coerce any girl or woman to do so. it also led to the closing of some brothels and

red-light districts. Thing became much worse for prostitutes after the brothels
were shut down. By 1915, all states had enacted in anti-prostitution laws. The

draft Act of 1917 outlawed prostitution near military bases, which led to red-light

district closures. As World War II was ending, prostitution flourished near the

military bases. San Francisco prostitute Margo St. james formed the group

COYOTE which stands for Call Of Your Old Tired ethics. She made the group to call

for decriminalization of prostitution. In 1975, brothels became legalized in rural

Nevada.(Clemmitt 1) The next year in 1976, democratic representative Joseph D.

Waggoner was re-elected after he had been arrested in a prostitution sting. Bill

Clinton signed the Trafficking Victims Protection Act in 2000. The act defined what

trafficking is and allowed for the protection of the children being trafficked and it

allowed for prosecution of the of the traffickers. The most recent of controversies

surrounding prostitution involves Governer Eliot Spitzer. Governer Spitzer had

been named a client of a prostitution ring. Madam Deborah Jeana Palfrey ran an

escort business which Eliot Spitzer had been a client of.(Clemmitt 1) . Shortly after

the controversy, governor Spitzer resigned. Ironically, he had always been against

prostitution. After being convincted of racketeering charges that were connected

to her Washington escort service, Jeane Palfrey commited suicide. (Clemmitt 1)

There are several statistics that describe women are in the prostitution

profession. The majority of women experience sexual harassment in which they

would have been able to report in any other job setting. Eight to ninety-five

percent said they want to escape but say they have no other options for survival.

A majority of the women have experience verbal abuse and also social contempt.

Seventy-five percent of women in prostitution have been homeless and some

point in their lifetime before or during they began working as

prostitutes.(Lynderson 105). In a study done,sixty-eight percent of 854 women in

different types of prostitution in 9 countries met the criteria for victims of post

traumatic stress disorder. Most cases of PTSD occur in women in Columbia, one of

the few places prostitution is actually legal. mexico has the least amount of cases

of PTSD occurring in prostitutes. The United States has close to seventy percent of

the cases.(Lobert 1). Sixty to ninety-five percent of prostitutes say they were

sexually assaulted when they were children. Most of which occurred when the

women were very young. Around sixty or seventy percent of women in

prostitution were raped while they were on the job. The average age of entry for

women into prostitution is between the ages of 14 and 16. Forty-two percent of

women in prostitution entered while they were under the age of 18. The majority

of prostitutes engage in some kind of drug use. Many of whom began doing drugs

before they entered. Twenty-eight percent of the prostitutes asked needed child

care for their children while they were on the job. (Lobert 1). A good majority of

the women have been raped more than once, and for some it has happened

several times. the number would be higher if more of the women told someone

what had happened to them. Seventy-eight percent were threatened with a

weapon by the john they were with. When asked what they needed, about half of

the prostitutes asked said they needed legal assistance.(Lobert 1). A good

majority said that they need alcohol and drug counseling. About 30 percent said

that they needed physical protection from their pimp. This is difficult because the

pimps have lots of connections and some will not stop till they find or even

severally hurt the prostitute.

Just like in any other profession, there in gender inequality in prostitution.

Women prostitutes are the majority that are arrested. Male prostitutes are rarely

arrested, and if they are, their sentences are far less than a woman's. The same is

true with the john. When arrests occur in prostitution it is generally the prostitute

that gets arrested. When a john is arrested, although rarely, he pretty much gets

just a slap on the wrist. Not many get jail time. Some prostitutes that are arrested

spend months to several years in prison. Around 90,000 arrests in prostitution

occur every year with the prostitutes themselves, and not their johns, making up

the majority of arrests. (Clemmitt 1) Women that engage in prostitution are looked

at with more criticism and hatred than men. The women are seen to believe that

engaging in prostitution is degrading to them and women everywhere and their

circumstances of why they started do not really matter. With the men, it's just

something they just do.

Prostitution is seen as immoral or wrong to a lot of people. Many people see

it as the woman degrading herself. None of these people that think of it as

degrading can see that the woman doesn't really have any other option to raise

herself or her family. Most of the women have children that they have to find

money in order to support them and prostitution enables them to do that. A lot of

the women also find it very hard to leave prostitution for fear of violence or never

finding another job. Opponents of prostitution do not understand how hard it is for

these women to just up and leave. They think work programs will just be the

answer, but that is never the case. Sometimes the best choice is not always the

right one for someone in a prostitute's situation.

Prostitution has always been in the United States. Since then, there has

been many arguments, controversies, arrests, and even violence. When women
have no other choice they go into prostitution for money and other needs for

survival. There are people all over the country and the world that are against the

idea of prostitution and prostitutes. they just do not understand what these

women go through in order to survive. While it may not be the most glamourous

means to survive, prostitution helps tons of women raise money in order to

provide for their families. Prostitution needs to be seen as less degrading and

possibly even decriminalized. It would help a lot of people out.