Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession " in the English-speaking world. Prostitution occurs in a variety of forms, and its legal status varies from country to country sometimes from region to region within a given country , ranging from being an enforced or unenforced crime, to unregulated, to a regulated profession. It is one branch of the sex industry , along with pornography , stripping , and erotic dancing.
Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution , the act may take place at the client's residence or hotel room referred to as out-call , or at the escort's residence or a hotel room rented for the occasion by the escort in-call. Another form is street prostitution. There are about 42 million prostitutes in the world, living all over the world though most of Central Asia, the Middle East and Africa lacks data, studied countries in that large region rank as top sex tourism destinations.
The position of prostitution and the law varies widely worldwide, reflecting differing opinions. Some view prostitution as a form of exploitation of or violence against women , [7] and children , [8] that helps to create a supply of victims for human trafficking. Others view sex work as a legitimate occupation, whereby a person trades or exchanges sexual acts for money. Amnesty International is one of the notable groups calling for the decriminalization of prostitution.
Prostitute is derived from the Latin prostituta. Some sources cite the verb as a composition of " pro " meaning "up front" or "forward" and " stituere ", defined as "to offer up for sale". A literal translation therefore is: "to put up front for sale" or "to place forward". The Online Etymology Dictionary states, "The notion of 'sex for hire' is not inherent in the etymology, which rather suggests one 'exposed to lust' or sex 'indiscriminately offered.
The word prostitute was then carried down through various languages to the present-day Western society. Most sex worker activists groups reject the word prostitute and since the late s have used the term sex worker instead. However, sex worker can also mean anyone who works within the sex industry or whose work is of a sexual nature and is not limited solely to prostitutes.
