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Definition: prostitution from Merriam-Webster's Collegiate(R) Dictionary

pronunciationpronunciation

(1553) 1 : the act or practice of engaging in promiscuous sexual relations esp. for money 2 : the state of being prostituted :debasement

Prostitution

From Encyclopedia of Criminal Justice Ethics
The ethical issues surrounding prostitution are as varied as the profession itself. Prostitution is considered a consensual crime, one in which neither party is acting against his or her own free will; however, there is a strenuous debate over this point, especially in light of the involvement of human trafficking, coercion, and children in prostitution. Prostitution encompasses a wide range of acts and individuals. For the most part, prostitution is defined as the exchange of some sexual act for money, goods, or services and has been referenced since the origins of written history. Prostitutes can be from any socioeconomic background, any gender, and can be children or adults. Prostitutes exist in a tenuous relationship with the criminal justice system, as their profession gives them reason to avoid or distrust law enforcement, especially if they have been the victim of a crime during the course of their work. Because of the mostly illegal and underregulated nature of prostitution, …
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Full text Article Prostitution

From Encyclopedia of Women's Health
Though estimates vary significantly due to the illicit nature and social stigma of prostitution, research suggests that more than one million people, or 1% of the population, currently “work the streets and parlors” of the United States as prostitutes. Prostitution, often referred to as the oldest…
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Full text Article PROSTITUTION

From Dictionary of Policing
Prostitution is a social institution shaping and regulating the exchange of sex for money or other economic benefits. It is a term that indicates not only the way that sex is sold but also the wider social, political, ideological and economic conditions that structure the ways the exchange takes…
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Full text Article Prostitution

From World of Criminal Justice, Gale
A prostitute, poses in her downtown apartment in...
Prostitution is offering or agreeing to engage in a sexual act, or actually engaging in a sexual act, with another for a fee. In some jurisdictions the crime of prostitution applies only to the prostitute, while other jurisdictions define the offense to include the client as well as the prostitute. …
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Full text Article prostitution

From Collins Dictionary of Sociology
(common usage) a practice involving sexual services for payment or other reward. (legalistic usage) a sex-specific offence; although in England and Wales prostitution has technically been regarded as behaviour open to both women and men, in practice only women have been legally defined as common…
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Full text Article Prostitution

From World of Sociology, Gale
Prostitutes are socially marginalized, often...
Prostitution, the exchange of sexual acts for money , is called the world’s oldest profession, for it continues despite widespread laws which prohibit it. Prostitution occurs in cities as well as small towns, in just about all nations of the world. In fact, prostitution is just one segment of the…
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Full text Article PROSTITUTION

From The Reader's Companion to American History
Prostitution was a European import to North America, for the concept was foreign to Native American culture. Compared to England, the American colonies had few prostitutes, and most of them were confined primarily to the waterfront neighborhoods of seaports. During the eighteenth century, Boston and…
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Full text Article prostitution

From The Columbia Encyclopedia
act of granting sexual access for payment. Although most commonly conducted by females for males, it may be performed by females or males for either females or males. In ancient times and in some primitive societies, prostitution often had religious connotations—sexual intercourse with temple…
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Full text Article prostitution

From Encyclopedia of Women and American Politics
Prostitution is the buying and selling of sexual services in exchange for money, goods, or other forms of compensation. Prostitution is illegal in the United States (with the exception of a few counties in Nevada) and in most countries around the world. Even so, there are more forms of prostitution…
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Full text Article Prostitution

From Encyclopedia of American Studies
Prostitution is generally defined as sex for hire, and prostitutes are understood to be those people (usually women) who engage in sexual acts for monetary gain. But controversy surrounds this topic, and these simplistic definitions have been the subject of vigorous debate. Some argue that…
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Full text Article Prostitution

From The Encyclopedia of Criminology and Criminal Justice
This entry provides a thorough overview of the various types of act that fall under the umbrella term “prostitution”; it describes various forms of solicitation and the individuals engaged in these exchanges; and it offers descriptive statistics. The criminal justice response to prostitution is…
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