Prostitution in the United States#21st century

{{Further|Sexuality in the United States}}

{{see also|Prostitution in Harlem Renaissance}}

Some of the women in the American Revolution who followed the Continental Army served the soldiers and officers as sexual partners. Prostitutes were a worrisome presence to army leadership, particularly because of the possible spread of venereal diseases (in modern terms, sexually transmitted infection or STI).

In the 19th century, parlor house brothels catered to upper class clientele, while bawdy houses catered to the lower class. At concert saloons, men could eat, listen to music, watch a fight, or pay women for sex. Over 200 brothels existed in lower Manhattan. Prostitution was illegal under the vagrancy laws, but was not well-enforced by police and city officials, who were bribed by brothel owners and madams. Attempts to regulate prostitution were struck down on the grounds that regulation would be counter to the public good.

While official acts of regulation were being struck down, there were those of a more religious perspective who took this act of reforming prostitution into their own hands. The Magdalen Society was an organization in the 1800s that had sought to take prostitutes of the streets and turn them into respectable women. Motivated by the concern that Philadelphia was falling into social disorder, the society founded an asylum to take women off of the streets.{{Cite journal |last=Chambers |first=L. V. |date=2006-12-01 |title=Sex among the Rabble: An Intimate History of Gender and Power in the Age of Revolution, Philadelphia, 1730-1830 |url=http://dx.doi.org/10.2307/4486443 |journal=Journal of American History |volume=93 |issue=3 |pages=851 |doi=10.2307/4486443 |jstor=4486443 |issn=0021-8723}} 138 women sought refuge here in the years between 1807 and 1820, and were placed with religious families who taught them how to read convert them into a respectable woman. Most of the women who entered the asylum only stayed for two and a half months, using the open doors as a temporary place to live off the street. The biggest success story of the society was that of Elizabeth Ogden, a woman who was deemed reformed and opened a school for children.{{Cite journal |last=Teeters |first=Negley K. |date=1956 |title=The Early Days of the Magdalen Society of Philadelphia |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/30015894 |journal=Social Service Review |volume=30 |issue=2 |pages=158–167 |doi=10.1086/640013 |jstor=30015894 |s2cid=143611378 |issn=0037-7961}}

The gold rush profits of the 1840s to 1900 attracted gambling, crime, saloons, and prostitution to the mining towns of the wild west. A brothel-keeper, Julia Bulette, who was active in the mining town of Virginia City, Nevada, was murdered in 1867. Thirty years before, in 1836, the New York City courtesan Helen Jewett was murdered by one of her customers, gaining prostitution considerable attention. The Lorette Ordinance of 1857 prohibited prostitution on the first floor of buildings in New Orleans.{{Cite web |title=Prostitution: Historical Timeline |url=http://prostitution.procon.org/view.resource.php?resourceID=000117 |access-date=January 20, 2013 |publisher=ProCon.org}} Nevertheless, prostitution continued to grow rapidly in the U.S., becoming a $6.3 million business in 1858, more than the shipping and brewing industries combined.

Some army officers, however, encouraged the presence of prostitutes during the Civil War to keep troop morale high. On August 20, 1863, the U.S. military commander Brig. General Robert S. Granger legalized prostitution in Nashville, Tennessee, in order to curb venereal disease among Union soldiers. The move was successful and venereal disease rates fell from forty percent to just four percent due to a stringent program of health checks which required all prostitutes to register and be examined by a board certified physician every two weeks for which they were charged five dollars registration fee plus 50 cents each time.{{Cite web |last=Serratore |first=Angela |date=July 8, 2013 |title=The Curious Case of Nashville's Frail Sisterhood |url=https://www.smithsonianmag.com/history/the-curious-case-of-nashvilles-frail-sisterhood-7766757/ |access-date=April 17, 2018 |website=Smithsonian |language=en}}

File:Child brothel worker - C Street NW Washington DC - April 1912.jpgBy the U.S. Civil War, Washington's Pennsylvania Avenue had become a disreputable slum known as Murder Bay, home to an extensive criminal underclass and numerous brothels. So many prostitutes took up residence there to serve the needs of General Joseph Hooker's Army of the Potomac that the area became known as "Hooker's Division." (It is a popular legend that the slang term "hooker" originated from this period. However, "hooker" was associated with prostitutes well before General Hooker's rise to popularity.https://www.worldwidewords.org/qa/qa-hoo4.htm) Two blocks between Pennsylvania and Missouri Avenues became home to such expensive brothels that it was known as "Marble Alley."{{Cite book |last=Lowry |first=Thomas P. |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/954284910 |title=Story the Soldiers Wouldn't Tell : Sex in the Civil War. |date=2014 |publisher=Stackpole Books |isbn=978-0-8117-4163-7 |pages=61–65 |oclc=954284910}}

In 1873, Anthony Comstock created the New York Society for the Suppression of Vice, an institution dedicated to supervising the morality of the public. Comstock successfully influenced the United States Congress to pass the Comstock Law, which made illegal the delivery or transport of "obscene, lewd, or lascivious" material and birth control information. In 1875, Congress passed the Page Act of 1875 that made it illegal to transport women into the nation to be used as prostitutes.{{Cite book |last=Peffer |first=George Anthony |url=http://worldcat.org/oclc/1031379724 |title=Forbidden families : emigration experiences of Chinese women under the Page law, 1875-1882 |pages=28–46, 28 |oclc=1031379724}}

In 1881, the Bird Cage Theatre opened in Tombstone, Arizona. It included a brothel in the basement and 14 cribs suspended from the ceiling, called cages. Local men such as Doc Holliday, Bat Masterson, Diamond Jim Brady, and George Hearst frequented the establishment.{{citation needed|reason=The implication that these historical figures went to a brothel requires fact-checking.|date=September 2024}}

In the late 19th century, newspapers reported that 65,000 white slaves existed. Around 1890, the term "red-light district" was first recorded in the United States. From 1890 to 1982, the Dumas Brothel in Montana was America's longest-running house of prostitution.

File:BasinStreetUptheLine.JPG brothels in New Orleans, ca. 1908.]]

New Orleans city alderman Sidney Story wrote an ordinance in 1897 to regulate and limit prostitution to one small area of the city, "The District", where all prostitutes in New Orleans must live and work. The District, which was nicknamed Storyville, became the best known area for prostitution in the nation. Storyville at its peak had some 1,500 prostitutes and 200 brothels.

Japanese girls and women worked as Karayuki-san prostitutes in the west coast of the United States and provided sexual services to Chinese men, white men and Japanese men in America in the 19th and early 20th centuries since most Chinese immigrants at the time were male so the Chinese men were forced to use Japanese prostitutes for relations with women.{{cite AV media|url=https://meijiat150.arts.ubc.ca/episode-61-dr-kazuhiro-oharazeki-setsunan/ |title=Episode 61 – Dr. Kazuhiro Oharazeki (Setsunan) |website=meijiat150.arts.ubc.ca |access-date=2024-07-06}}{{cite web | url=https://meijiat150.podbean.com/e/episode-61-dr-kazuhiro-oharazeki-setsunan/ | title=Episode 61 - Dr. Kazuhiro Oharazeki (Setsunan) | the Meiji at 150 Podcast }} Japanese prostitutes worked in the American west and also as barmaids.{{cite journal |last1=Oharazeki |first1=Kazuhiro |title=Listening to the Voices of 'Other' Women in Japanese North America: Japanese Prostitutes and Barmaids in the American West, 1887-1920. |journal=Journal of American Ethnic History |date=2013 |volume=32 |issue=4 |pages=5–40 |url=https://www.jstor.org/stable/10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.4.0005 |publisher=University of Illinois Press, Immigration & Ethnic History Society|doi=10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.4.0005 |jstor=10.5406/jamerethnhist.32.4.0005 }} The Issei Japanese American Bunshiro Tazuma said "At the age of 18… I started… work as a dishwasher at a hotel in Spokane. Later I became a [railroad?] cook and went to North Dakota, South Dakota, Idaho, Oregon, Washington, and even as far as to Minnesota and Alaska… To my surprise I found at least two to six Japanese prostitutes in every town where I went between Seattle and

St. Paul, a range of two thousand miles. Even when I went to Alaska to… a salmon cannery in 1908, I was surprised to see from two to five or six in such towns as Ketchikan, Juneau, Wrangell, Sitka, and Skagway.”{{cite news |last= Yamaguchi |first=David |date=April 2, 2018 |title= Karayuki-san in the West|url=https://napost.com/2018/karayuki-san-in-the-west/ |work=The North American Post}}

{{Anchor|20th Century}}

{{Anchor|Legal measures}}

File:Vice squad interrogation in Calumet City 1912 ichicdn n059451.jpg

In 1908, the government founded the Bureau of Investigation (BOI, from 1935, the FBI) to investigate "white slavery" by interviewing brothel employees to discover if they had been kidnapped. Out of 1,106 prostitutes interviewed in one city, six said they were victims of white slavery. The White-Slave Traffic Act (Mann Act) of 1910 prohibited so-called white slavery. It also banned the interstate transportation of women for "immoral purposes". Its primary stated intent was to address prostitution and perceived immorality. The Supreme Court later included consensual debauchery, adultery, and polygamy under "immoral purposes". Prior to World War I, there were few laws criminalizing prostitutes or the act of prostitution.{{Cite journal |last=Grant |first=Melissa Gira |date=February 18, 2013 |title=When Prostitution Wasn't a Crime: The Fascinating History of Sex Work in America |url=http://www.alternet.org/news-amp-politics/when-prostitution-wasnt-crime-fascinating-history-sex-work-america |journal=AlterNet |access-date=November 5, 2015}}

{{Anchor|American Plan|}}

During World War I, the U.S. government developed a public health program called the American Plan which authorized the military to arrest any woman within five miles of a military cantonment. If found infected, a woman could be sentenced to a hospital or a "farm colony" until cured. By the end of the war 15,520 prostitutes had been imprisoned, the majority never being medically hospitalized.{{Cite book |last=Rosen |first=Ruth |url=https://archive.org/details/lostsisterhoodpr00rose |title=The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1900-1918 |publisher=JHU Press |year=1983 |isbn=9780801826658 |page=[https://archive.org/details/lostsisterhoodpr00rose/page/35 35] |author-link=Ruth Rosen |url-access=registration}}

In 1918, the Chamberlain–Kahn Act which implemented the American Plan,{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=0nhEAgAAQBAJ&pg=PA36 |title=The United States in the First World War: An Encyclopedia |publisher=Routledge |year=2013 |isbn=9781135684464 |editor-last=Venzon |editor-first=Anne Cipriano |page=36}} gave the government the power to quarantine any woman suspected of having venereal disease. A medical examination was required, and if it revealed to be VD, this discovery could constitute proof of prostitution. The purpose of this law was to prevent the spread of venereal diseases among U.S. soldiers.{{Cite book |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=rZ0nDwAAQBAJ |title=Cather Studies |publisher=University of Nebraska Press |year=2017 |isbn=9780803296992 |editor-last=Moseley |editor-first=Ann |volume=11: Willa Cather at the Modernist Crux |page=175 |editor-last2=Murphy |editor-first2=John J. |editor-last3=Thacker |editor-first3=Robert}} During World War I, Storyville, a district in New Orleans where prostitution was permitted, was shut down to prevent VD transmission to soldiers in nearby army and navy camps.{{Cite web |title=Storyville District - Stop 7 of 10 on the tour The Birthplace of Jazz: A Walking Tour Through New Orleans's Musical Past |url=http://neworleanshistorical.org/items/show/1307 |website=New Orleans Historical |language=en}}

On January 25, 1917, an anti-prostitution drive in San Francisco attracted huge crowds to public meetings. At one meeting attended by 7,000 people, 20,000 were kept out for lack of room. In a conference with Reverend Paul Smith, an outspoken foe of prostitution, 300 prostitutes made a plea for toleration, explaining they had been forced into the practice by poverty. When Smith asked if they would take other work at $8 to $10 a week, the ladies laughed derisively, which lost them public sympathy. The police closed about 200 houses of prostitution shortly thereafter.{{Cite web |title=San Francisco History - The Barbary Coast, Chapter 12. The End of The Barbary Coast |url=http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/hbtbc12.htm |archive-url=https://archive.today/20060518155832/http://www.sfgenealogy.com/sf/history/hbtbc12.htm |archive-date=May 18, 2006 |url-status=dead}}

The National Venereal Disease Control Act, which became effective July 1, 1938, authorized the appropriation of federal funds to assist the states in combating venereal diseases. Appropriations under this act were doubled after the United States entered the war.

The May Act, which became law in June 1941, intended to prevent prostitution on restricted zones around military bases. It was invoked chiefly during wartime. See World War II U.S. Military Sex Education.

Mortensen vs. United States, in 1944, ruled that prostitutes could travel across state lines, if the purpose of travel was not for prostitution.{{Cite web |title=Mortensen v. United States, 322 U.S. 369 (1944) |url=https://supreme.justia.com/cases/federal/us/322/369/ |access-date=April 17, 2018 |website=Justia Law |language=en}}

{{Anchor|Later decades}}

Conditions for sex trade workers changed considerably in the 1960s. The combined oral contraceptive pill was first approved in 1960 for contraceptive use in the United States. "The Pill" helped prostitutes prevent pregnancy.

In 1967, New York City eliminated license requirements for massage parlors. Many massage parlors became brothels.{{Cite news |date=July 10, 1977 |title=4 Groups Are Key Landlords For Midtown Sex Industry |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/1977/07/10/archives/4-groups-are-key-landlords-for-midtown-sex-industry-rent-double-the.html |access-date=April 17, 2018}} In 1970, Nevada began regulation of houses of prostitution. In 1971, the Mustang Ranch became Nevada's first licensed brothel, eventually leading to the legalization of brothel prostitution in 10 of 17 counties within the state. In time, Mustang Ranch became Nevada's largest brothel, with more revenue than all other legal Nevada brothels combined. By World War II, prostitutes had increasingly gone underground as call girls.

In 1971, the New York madam Xaviera Hollander wrote The Happy Hooker: My Own Story, a book that was notable for its frankness at the time, and considered a landmark of positive writing about sex. An early forerunner (1920s-1930s) of Xaviera Hollander's, both as a madam and author, was Polly Adler, whose bestselling book, A House Is Not a Home, was eventually adapted as a film also entitled A House is Not a Home. Carol Leigh, a prostitute's rights activist known as the "Scarlot Harlot," coined the term "Sex worker" in 1978. That same year, the Broadway musical The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas opened. It was based on the real-life Texas Chicken Ranch brothel. The play was the basis for the 1982 film starring Dolly Parton and Burt Reynolds.

COYOTE, formed in 1973, was the first sex workers' rights group in the country. Other sex workers movements later formed, such as FLOP, HIRE, and PUMA.{{Cite web |last=Bingham |first=Nicole |date=1998 |title=Nevada Sex Trade: a Gamble for the Workers |url=http://digitalcommons.law.yale.edu/cgi/viewcontent.cgi?article=1137&context=yjlf |access-date=April 17, 2018 |publisher=Yale Journal of Law & Feminism}}

File:Heidifleiss.jpg became one of America's best known madams in the 1990s.]]

In 1997, "Hollywood Madam" Heidi Fleiss was convicted in connection with her prostitution ring with charges including pandering and tax evasion. Her ring had numerous wealthy clients. Her original three-year sentence prompted widespread outrage at her harsh punishment, while her customers had not been punished. Earlier, in the 1980s, a member of Philadelphia's social elite, Sydney Biddle Barrows was revealed as a madam in New York City. She became known as the Mayflower Madam.

In 1990, U.S. Representative Barney Frank (D-MA) admitted to paying for sex in 1989. The House of Representatives voted to reprimand him.{{Cite news |title=TV Movie Led to Prostitute's Disclosures |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/longterm/tours/scandal/gobie2.htm |first=Bill |last=Dedman |date=27 August 1989 }}

{{Anchor|21st Century}}

Ted Haggard, former leader of the National Association of Evangelicals, resigned in 2006 after he was accused of soliciting homosexual sex and methamphetamine.{{Cite news |date=November 2, 2006 |title=Amid allegations, Haggard steps aside |work=Rocky Mountain News |url=http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0,1299,DRMN_15_5112770,00.html |url-status=dead |access-date=December 7, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20080327023422/http://www.rockymountainnews.com/drmn/local/article/0%2C1299%2CDRMN_15_5112770%2C00.html |archive-date=March 27, 2008}}

Randall L. Tobias, former Director of U.S. Foreign Assistance and U.S. Agency for International Development Administrator, resigned in 2007 after being accused of patronizing a Washington escort service.{{Cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |date=April 28, 2007 |title=Rice Deputy Quits After Query Over Escort Service |newspaper=The Washington Post |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-dyn/content/article/2007/04/27/AR2007042702497.html?hpid=topnews |access-date=December 7, 2009}}

In 2007, U.S. Senator from Louisiana David Vitter acknowledged past transgressions after his name was listed as a client of "D.C. Madam" Deborah Jeane Palfrey's prostitution service in Washington.{{Cite news |date=July 17, 2007 |title=Scandal-linked senator breaks a week of silence |publisher=CNNPolitics.com |url=http://www.cnn.com/2007/POLITICS/07/16/vitter/index.html |access-date=December 7, 2009}}

Eliot Spitzer resigned as governor of New York in 2008 amid threats of impeachment after news reports alleged he was a client of an international prostitution ring.{{Cite news |date=March 12, 2008 |title='Deeply sorry,' Spitzer to step down by Monday |publisher=CNNPolitics.com |url=http://www.cnn.com/2008/POLITICS/03/12/spitzer/index.html |access-date=December 7, 2009}}

In 2009, Rhode Island signed a bill into law making prostitution a misdemeanor. Prior to this law, between 1980 and 2009, Rhode Island was the only U.S. state where prostitution was decriminalized, as long as it was done indoors.{{Cite news |last=Arditi |first=Lynn |date=October 3, 2009 |title=Bill Signing Finally Outlaws Prostitution |work=Providence Journal |url=http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/11/governor-carcieri-signed-into.html |url-status=dead |access-date=October 3, 2009 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20111007072124/http://newsblog.projo.com/2009/11/governor-carcieri-signed-into.html |archive-date=October 7, 2011}} (See Prostitution in Rhode Island).

In 2014, due to the stagnant economy in Puerto Rico, the government considered legalizing prostitution.{{Cite news |date=April 23, 2014 |title=Puerto Rico to legalize marijuana and prostitution |publisher=hightimes.com |url=http://www.hightimes.com/read/puerto-rico-legalize-marijuana-and-prostitution |url-status=dead |access-date=December 11, 2014 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20150416013609/http://www.hightimes.com/read/puerto-rico-legalize-marijuana-and-prostitution |archive-date=April 16, 2015}}{{Cite news |date=Apr 27, 2014 |title=Prostitution Proponents in Puerto Rico |publisher=gardianlv.com |url=http://guardianlv.com/2014/04/prostitution-proponents-in-puerto-rico/ |access-date=December 11, 2014}} In 2018, economist Robin Hanson suggested that the legalization of prostitution may solve the problem of inceldom, an ideology responsible for numerous outbreaks of violence and mass killings throughout the United States.{{Cite web |date=2018-05-04 |title=We're talking about "sex robots" now. We've been here before. |url=https://www.vox.com/2018/5/4/17314260/incel-sex-robots-sexual-redistribution-ross-douthat-history}}{{Cite news |last=Douthat |first=Ross |date=2018-05-02 |title=Opinion {{!}} The Redistribution of Sex |language=en-US |work=The New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/02/opinion/incels-sex-robots-redistribution.html |access-date=2021-09-13 |issn=0362-4331}}{{Cite web |title=Overcoming Bias : Two Types of Envy |url=https://www.overcomingbias.com/2018/04/two-types-of-envy.html |access-date=2021-09-13 |website=www.overcomingbias.com}}

On April 11, 2018, the United States Congress passed the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act, commonly known as FOSTA-SESTA, which imposed severe penalties on online platforms that facilitated illicit sex work. The effectiveness of the bill has come into question as it has purportedly endangered sex workers and has been ineffective in catching and stopping sex traffickers.{{Cite web |date=May 14, 2018 |title=Police Realizing That SESTA/FOSTA Made Their Jobs Harder; Sex Traffickers Realizing It's Made Their Job Easier |url=https://www.techdirt.com/articles/20180509/13450339810/police-realizing-that-sesta-fosta-made-their-jobs-harder-sex-traffickers-realizing-made-their-job-easier.shtml}} Prior to the Act being signed, the Department of Justice seized the website Backpage and charged its founders with money laundering and promotion of prostitution, contributing to major destabilization in the lives of people who trade sex.

On June 16, 2021, Texas governor Greg Abbott signed HB1540, a law which makes paying for sex in the state of Texas a state jail felony punishable up to two years in prison for a first-time offense, in addition to enhanced penalties for recruitment from child care or treatment facilities. Texas is the first state in the United States to make the buying of sex a felony. This law represents a shift from the traditional approach, targeting buyers of sexual services rather than sellers. State representative Senfronia Thompson (D-Houston), the author of the bill, said "We know the demand is the driving force behind human sex trafficking. If we can curb or stamp out the demand end of it, then we can save the lives of numerous persons." The law went into effect on September 1, 2021.{{Cite web |title=Texas is the first state to make buying sex a felony. Will this help trafficking victims? |url=https://www.nbcnews.com/news/us-news/texas-first-state-make-buying-sex-felony-will-help-trafficking-n1276617 |access-date=2021-08-14 |website=NBC News |date=August 12, 2021 |language=en}}

On June 26, 2023, the state of Maine enacted a law that would partially decriminalize the act of prostitution, following the Nordic model; it is currently in effect. The law eliminates Maine’s Class E misdemeanor of engaging in prostitution, while elevating the crime of soliciting sex from a child or person with a mental disability from a misdemeanor to a felony punishable by up to five years in prison and a $5,000 fine.{{cite web|last=Kobin|first=Billy|title=Janet Mills signs off on law partially decriminalizing prostitution in Maine|url=https://www.bangordailynews.com/2023/06/26/politics/janet-mills-signs-law-partially-decriminalizing-maine-prostitution-xoasq1i29i/|website=Bangor Daily News|date=2023-06-26|access-date=2023-06-26}}

{{Main article|Child prostitution}}

The prostitution of children in the United States is a serious concern.{{Cite AV media |url=http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/human-trafficking-modern-day-slavery |title=Human Trafficking: Modern Day Slavery |date=April 17, 2013 |last=Dankosky |first=John |publisher=Connecticut Public Radio |access-date=August 21, 2013 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130921053742/http://www.yourpublicmedia.org/content/wnpr/human-trafficking-modern-day-slavery |archive-date=September 21, 2013 |url-status=dead}}{{Cite news |last=Strauss |first=Eric M. |date=July 14, 2008 |title=Domestic Sex Trafficking in the U.S. |work=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/story?id=5326721&page=1 |access-date=September 6, 2013}} The FBI and National Center for Missing & Exploited Children have estimated that "more than 100,000" children are forced into prostitution every year, though there is limited empirical data to support this.{{Cite news |last=Kessler |first=Glenn |date=2017-04-21 |title=The fishy claim that ‘100,000 children’ in the United States are in the sex trade |url=https://www.washingtonpost.com/news/fact-checker/wp/2015/09/02/the-fishy-claim-that-100000-children-in-the-united-states-are-in-the-sex-trade/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |work=The Washington Post |language=en-US |issn=0190-8286}}{{Cite news |last=Fang |first=Marina |date=9 July 2013 |title=100,000 Children Are Forced Into Prostitution Each Year |url=http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/09/2270371/100000-children-are-forced-into-prostitution-each-year/ |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20130711001801/http://thinkprogress.org/justice/2013/07/09/2270371/100000-children-are-forced-into-prostitution-each-year/ |archive-date=2013-07-11 |work=ThinkProgress}}{{sfn|Regehr|Roberts|Wolbert Burgess|2012|p=230}}

Some prostitution laws have lead to child prostitution victims being criminalized. In 2007, NYMag writer Jessica Lustig wrote that while the Trafficking Victims Protection Act of 2000 protected immigrant child prostitutes, New York law enforcement arrested prosecuted American-born child prostitutes as criminals.{{cite web |last1=Lustig |first1=Jessica |title=Child Hookers and the Law: Tale of a 13-Year-Old Prostitute -- New York Magazine - Nymag |url=https://nymag.com/news/features/30018/ |website=New York Magazine |language=en |date=29 March 2007}} In 2008, New York passed a Safe Harbour For Exploited Children act establishing protections for sexually exploited minors.{{Cite web |title=Assembly Passes 'Safe Harbour' Legislation |url=https://nyassembly.gov/Press/20080619/ |access-date=2025-04-27 |website=nyassembly.gov}}

Although informal, red light districts can be found in some areas of the country. Since prostitution is illegal everywhere except for a few counties in Nevada, there are no formal brothels in most parts of the country, but massage parlors offering prostitution may be found along with street prostitution. Typically, these areas will also have other adult-oriented businesses, often due to zoning, such as strip clubs, sex shops, adult movie theaters, adult video arcades, peep shows, sex shows, and sex clubs.

Street prostitution is illegal throughout the United States. Street prostitution tends to be clustered in certain areas known for solicitation. For instance, statistics on official arrests from the Chicago Police Department from August 19, 2005, to May 1, 2007, suggest that prostitution activity is highly concentrated: nearly half of all prostitution arrests occur in a tiny one-third of one percent of all blocks in the entire city of Chicago.{{Cite web |last=Booth |first=Chicago |title=Capital Ideas: Selected Papers on Chicago Price Theory - April 2009 - Trading Tricks |url=http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/apr09/4.aspx |access-date=March 7, 2013 |publisher=Chicagobooth.edu |archive-date=March 22, 2016 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20160322164821/http://www.chicagobooth.edu/capideas/apr09/4.aspx |url-status=dead }} Street prostitutes who exchange sex for drugs are sometimes known as "strawberries".{{Cite magazine |date=1989-03-06 |title=Los Angeles: Strawberry Suspect |url=http://content.time.com/time/magazine/article/0,9171,957152,00.html |magazine=Time |language=en-US |issn=0040-781X |access-date=2020-09-14}}

A study of violence against women engaged in street prostitution by clinical psychologist and anti-prostitution activist Melissa Farley found that 68% reported having been raped and 82% reported having been physically assaulted.{{Cite journal |last1=Farley |first1=Melissa |last2=Kelly |first2=Vanessa |year=2008 |title=Prostitution |journal=Women & Criminal Justice |volume=11 |issue=4 |pages=29–64 |doi=10.1300/J012v11n04_04 |issn=0897-4454 |s2cid=219610839}}

A variation of street prostitution is that which occurs at truck stops along Interstate highways in rural areas. Called "lot lizards", these prostitutes solicit at truck stop parking lots and may have used CB radios to communicate.

In today's society there is a hierarchy amongst prostitutes and an even greater distinction between indoor workers and outdoor workers. The indoor prostitutes occupy the top tier to include independent call girls, and workers in brothels and massage parlors. The outdoor street walkers occupy the lowest level and are more likely to experience abuse.{{Cite journal |last=Weitzer |first=Ronald |date=June 2005 |title=New directions in research on prostitution |url=http://link.springer.com/10.1007/s10611-005-1735-6 |journal=Crime, Law and Social Change |language=en |volume=43 |issue=4–5 |pages=211–235 |doi=10.1007/s10611-005-1735-6 |s2cid=145443565 |issn=0925-4994}}

250 prostitutes, including 150 outdoor workers and 125 indoor workers, were interviewed for a study about victimization. Weitzer, R (2005) noted that indoor workers experienced less harm compared to outdoor workers:

The outdoor prostitutes or streetwalkers are the most recognized sex workers, but they make up a small number of workers. Cunningham & Kendall (2011) report that only 20% of prostitutes work on the streets. The indoor workers have more freedom to choose their clients and set boundaries that contribute to their safety.{{Cite journal |last1=Cunningham |first1=Scott |last2=Kendall |first2=Todd D. |date=May 2011 |title=Prostitution 2.0: The changing face of sex work |url=https://linkinghub.elsevier.com/retrieve/pii/S0094119010000896 |journal=Journal of Urban Economics |language=en |volume=69 |issue=3 |pages=273–287 |doi=10.1016/j.jue.2010.12.001}}

In spite of its illegality, escort prostitution exists throughout the United States from both independent prostitutes and those employed through escort agencies. Both freelancers and agencies may advertise under the term "bodywork" in the back of alternative newspapers, although some of these bodywork professionals are straightforward massage professionals.

Typically, an agency will charge its escorts either a flat fee for each client connection or a percentage of the prearranged rate. In San Francisco, it is usual for typical heterosexual-market agencies to negotiate for as little as $100 up to a full 50% of a woman's reported earnings (not counting any gratuity received). Most transactions occur in cash, and optional tipping of escorts by clients in most major U.S. cities is customary but not compulsory. Credit card processing offered by larger scale agencies is often available for a service charge.{{Cite web |title=Philadelphia female escorts service in New Jersey |url=https://www.executivechoiceescorts.com/expense.html |access-date=April 17, 2018 |website=Escorts Philadelphia}}

Escorts and escort agencies have historically advertised through classified ads, yellow pages advertising, or word-of-mouth, but in more recent years, much of the advertising and soliciting of indoor prostitution has shifted to internet sites. Sites may represent individual escorts, agencies, or may run ads for many escorts. There are also a number of sites in which customers can discuss and post reviews of the sexual services offered by prostitutes and other sex workers. Many sites allow potential buyers to search for sex workers by physical characteristics and types of services offered.

Internet advertising of sexual services is offered not only by specialty sites, but in many cases by more mainstream advertising sites. Craigslist for many years featured an "adult services" section of this kind. After several years of pressure from law enforcement and anti-prostitution groups, Craigslist closed this section in 2010, first for its U.S. pages, then some months later internationally. In March 2018 the personals section of Craigslist was closed down. In 2017, the "Adult" section of Backpage was closed down.{{Cite web |last=Hamilton |first=Matt |date=January 10, 2017 |title=Backpage shuts down adult section, citing government pressure and unlawful censorship campaign |url=https://www.latimes.com/local/lanow/la-me-ln-backpage-shutdown-20170109-story.html |access-date=March 1, 2017 |website=Los Angeles Times}} Currently, internet advertising is the most important resource for anyone interested in prostitution. There are websites catering to different clientele, from upscale escorts to budget low end.

With the exception of some rural counties of Nevada, brothels are illegal in the United States.{{Cite web |last=Bindel |first=Julie |date=7 September 2007 |title='It's like you sign a contract to be raped' |url=https://www.theguardian.com/world/2007/sep/07/usa.gender |website=The Guardian |language=en}} Along with these legal brothels in Nevada, commercial sex also occurs. Due to the topic regarding legal prostitution, the rights of these establishments are neglected. Both participants in establishments such as brothels, are subjected to background checks, cleanliness checks, and working licenses at the government's request.{{Cite journal |last1=Wakefield |first1=Chris |last2=Brents |first2=Barbara G. |date=February 2020 |title=The Influence of Legal Brothels on Illegal Sexual Service Purchasing Habits: The U.S. Context |url=http://journals.sagepub.com/doi/10.1177/0306624X19866306 |journal=International Journal of Offender Therapy and Comparative Criminology |language=en |volume=64 |issue=2–3 |pages=249–264 |doi=10.1177/0306624X19866306 |issn=0306-624X |pmid=31387419 |s2cid=199467626}} Aside from this, many massage parlors, saunas, spas, and similar otherwise-legal establishments serve as fronts for prostitution, especially in larger cities. They tend to be located in cities or along major highways.{{Cite web |last=Lieberman |first=Hallie |date=28 October 2019 |title=Massage Parlours with 'Happy Endings' Give These Sex Workers a Decent Living |url=https://www.vice.com/en_uk/article/ywak3j/massage-parlours-with-happy-endings-give-these-sex-workers-a-decent-living |access-date=3 December 2019 |website=Vice |language=en}}

{{Further|Prostitution and the law|Prostitution by country}}

[[File:NevadaProstitutionCountiesMap.svg|thumb|Legality of brothel prostitution in Nevada by county

{{legend|#008000|Prostitution permitted, at least one active brothel}}

{{legend|#ffff00|Prostitution permitted, no active brothels}}

{{legend|#ff0000|Prostitution not permitted at all}}

]]

Nevada is the only U.S. jurisdiction to allow some legal prostitution. Currently six of Nevada's seventeen counties have active brothels (all being rural counties); as of February 2018, there are 21 brothels in Nevada.{{Cite web |title=Nevada Brothel List |url=https://nevadabrothellist.wixsite.com/list |access-date=1 May 2018}} Prostitution outside the licensed brothels is illegal throughout Nevada. Prostitution is illegal in the major metropolitan areas of Las Vegas, Reno, and Carson City, where most of the population lives; more than 90% of Nevada citizens live in a county where prostitution is illegal.

In addition, it is decriminalized to sell sex, but illegal to buy sex in Maine.

Prostitution in Rhode Island was outlawed in 2009. On November 3, governor Donald Carcieri signed into law a bill which makes the buying and selling of sexual services a crime.

Prostitution was legal in Rhode Island between 1980 and 2009 because there was no specific statute to define the act and outlaw it, although associated activities such as street solicitation, running a brothel and pimping were illegal.

Louisiana is the only state where convicted prostitutes are required to register as sex offenders. The State's crime against nature by solicitation law is used when a person is accused of engaging in oral or anal sex in exchange for money. Only prostitutes prosecuted under this law are required to be registered. This has led to a lawsuit filed by the Center for Constitutional Rights.{{Cite news |last=Koppel |first=Nathan |date=February 16, 2011 |title=Louisiana's 'Crime Against Nature' Sex Law Draws Legal Fire |work=The Wall Street Journal |url=https://blogs.wsj.com/law/2011/02/16/louisianas-crime-against-nature-sex-law-draws-legal-fire/}}

The federal government also prosecutes some prostitution offenses. One man who forced women to be prostitutes received a 40-year sentence in federal court.{{Cite web |date=2011-03-24 |title=Sex Trafficking Ring Leader Sentenced to 40 Years in Prison - OPA - Department of Justice |url=https://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2011/March/11-crt-373.html |website=justice.gov}} Another was prosecuted for income tax evasion.{{Cite news |last=Pankratz |first=Howard |date=September 16, 2010 |title=Owner of Denver Players prostitution service pleads guilty to tax evasion |work=Denver Post |url=http://www.denverpost.com/news/ci_16093663}} Another man pleaded guilty to federal charges of harboring a 15-year-old girl and having her work as a prostitute.{{Cite web |title=FBI — Brooklyn Man Pleads to Guilty to Forcing Underage Girls Into Prostitution in New York |url=https://www.fbi.gov/newyork/press-releases/2011/brooklyn-man-pleads-to-guilty-to-forcing-underage-girls-into-prostitution-in-new-york |access-date=March 7, 2013 |publisher=Fbi.gov}} Another federal defendant got life imprisonment for sex trafficking of a child by force.{{Cite web |title=FBI — Tea Man Sentenced to Life Imprisonment Plus 10 Years for Sex Trafficking of a Child by Force and Solicitation to Murder a Federal Witness |url=http://minneapolis.fbi.gov/dojpressrel/pressrel11/mp041511a.htm |access-date=March 7, 2013 |publisher=Minneapolis.fbi.gov}}

The ban on prostitution in the US has been criticized from a variety of viewpoints.{{Cite web |last=Lopez |first=German |date=18 August 2015 |title=The case for decriminalizing prostitution |url=https://www.vox.com/2015/8/18/9166669/why-legalize-prostitution |website=Vox}}

In 2020, some elected officials introduced bills to legalize prostitution in the state, but those have not received widespread support.{{Cite web |last=New York State Senate |date=June 10, 2019 |title=senate Bill S6419 |url=https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2019/s6419 |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=www.nysenate.gov}} The State did however repeal an anti-loitering law that critics argued discouraged street prostitution and targeted transgender people.{{Cite web |date=February 2, 2021 |title=Governor Cuomo Signs Legislation Repealing the 'Walking While Trans' Ban |url=https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-signs-legislation-repealing-walking-while-trans-ban |access-date=February 8, 2021 |website=www.governor.ny.gov |archive-date=February 5, 2021 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20210205153739/https://www.governor.ny.gov/news/governor-cuomo-signs-legislation-repealing-walking-while-trans-ban |url-status=dead }}{{Cite news |last1=McKinley |first1=Jesse |last2=Ferré-Sadurní |first2=Luis |date=February 3, 2021 |title=N.Y. Repeals Law That Critics Say Criminalized 'Walking While Trans' |work=New York Times |url=https://www.nytimes.com/2021/02/03/nyregion/walking-while-trans-ban.html |access-date=February 8, 2021}}

Local district attorneys have significant discretion over how to enforce existing prostitutions offenses. In New York City, District Attorneys often dismiss cases after community service is complete.{{Cite news |last=Campanile |first=Carl |date=2019-04-08 |title=Brooklyn DA Eric Gonzalez wants to decriminalize prostitution |language=en-US |work=New York Post |url=https://nypost.com/2019/04/08/brooklyn-da-eric-gonzalez-wants-to-decriminalize-prostitution/ |access-date=2021-04-04}} In January 2021, the Brooklyn DA office stated that it will dismiss over a 1,000 warrants based of prostitution in the past 50 years, and erase prostitution in the crime history of over 25,000 people who were convicted of prostitution.{{Cite news |date=January 29, 2021 |title=Brooklyn DA to Dismiss More than 1,000 Prostitution Warrants Dating Back Decades |work=NBC New York |url=https://www.nbcnewyork.com/news/local/brooklyn-da-to-dismiss-more-than-1000-prostitution-warrants-dating-back-decades/2855508/ |access-date=February 8, 2021 |quote=The Brooklyn district attorney's office has dismissed or will soon dismiss more than 1,000 prostitution-related warrants from the last 50 years, and is calling on legislators to expunge another 25,000-plus convictions.}} Despite this, the issue often comes up in District Attorney elections, such as most recently in Manhattan, where prominent attorneys for the city, notably P. A. Potter the assistant DA for the borough, included an amnesty for sex workers as part of his successful campaign.{{Cite web |title=Promises to Shrink the Jail Population Come Into Focus in Manhattan DA Race |url=https://www.ny1.com/nyc/all-boroughs/news/2021/02/04/promises-to-shrink-the-jail-population-come-into-focus-in-crowded-manhattan-district-attorney-race |access-date=2021-04-04 |website=www.ny1.com |language=en}} Some New York District Attorneys have stated their support for the Nordic Model, however this came with backlash from sex worker advocates who oppose the prosecution of buyers.{{Cite news |last=Tracy |first=Matt |date=May 24, 2020 |title=Sex work advocates blast Queens DA's plan to prosecute buyers |work=AM New York |url=https://www.amny.com/politics/sex-work-advocates-blast-queens-das-plan-to-prosecute-buyers/ |access-date=February 8, 2021}}

One 1990 study estimated the annual prevalence of full-time equivalent prostitutes in the United States to be 23 per 100,000 population based on a capture–recapture study of prostitutes found in Colorado Springs, CO, police and sexually transmitted diseases clinic records between 1970 and 1988.{{Cite journal |last1=Brewer |first1=Devon D. |last2=Potterat |first2=John J. |last3=Garrett |first3=Sharon B. |last4=Muth |first4=Stephen Q. |last5=Roberts, Jr. |first5=John M. |last6=Kasprzyk |first6=Danuta |last7=Montano |first7=Daniel E. |last8=Darrow |first8=William W. |date=October 24, 2000 |title=Prostitution and the sex discrepancy in reported number of sexual partners |journal=Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America |volume=97 |issue=22 |pages=12385–12388 |doi=10.1073/pnas.210392097 |pmc=17351 |pmid=11027304 |doi-access=free}}

A continuation of the Colorado Springs study{{Cite journal |last1=Potterat |first1=J. J. |last2=Brewer |first2=D. D. |last3=Muth |first3=S. Q. |last4=Rothenberg |first4=R. B. |last5=Woodhouse |first5=D. E. |last6=Muth |first6=J. B. |last7=Stites |first7=H. K |last8=Brody |first8=S. |date=April 15, 2004 |title=Mortality in a Long-term Open Cohort of Prostitute Women |journal=American Journal of Epidemiology |volume=159 |issue=8 |pages=778–785 |doi=10.1093/aje/kwh110 |pmid=15051587 |doi-access=free}} found a death rate among active prostitutes of 459 per 100,000 person-years, which is 5.9 times that for the (age and race adjusted) general population. Many people view prostitution as a victimless crime, as usually both sides are in agreement. However, many statistics show that it is very physically dangerous. The death rate per 100,000 of prostitutes in the U.S. is nearly double that of Alaskan fishermen.{{Cite web |title=Prostitution in the United States |url=https://www.hg.org/legal-articles/prostitution-in-the-united-states-30997 |access-date=2019-10-10 |website=HG.org}}

Among voluntary substance abuse program participants, 41.4% of women and 11.2% of men reported selling prostitution services during the last year (March 2008).{{Cite journal |last1=Burnette |first1=ML |last2=Lucas |first2=E |last3=Ilgen |first3=M |last4=Frayne |first4=Susan M. |last5=Mayo |first5=J |last6=Weitlauf |first6=JC |title=Prevalence and Health Correlates of Prostitution Among Patients Entering Treatment for Substance Use Disorders |url=http://healthpolicy.stanford.edu/publications/prevalence_and_health_correlates_of_prostitution_among_patients_entering_treatment_for_substance_use_disorders/ |journal=Archives of General Psychiatry |date=March 2008 |volume=65 |issue=3 |pages=337–34|doi=10.1001/archpsyc.65.3.337 |pmid=18316680 }}4 In Newark, New Jersey, one report claims 57 percent of prostitutes are reportedly HIV-positive, and in Atlanta, 12 percent of prostitutes are possibly HIV-positive.{{Cite web |date=September 22, 2000 |title=Prostitution: Not a Victimless Career Choice - Womens eNews |url=http://womensenews.org/2000/09/prostitution-not-victimless-career-choice |website=womensenews.org}}

A 2004 TNS poll reported 15 percent of all men have paid for sex and 30 percent of single men over age 30 have paid for sex.{{Cite news |last1=Langer |first1=Gary |last2=Arnedt |first2=Cheryl |last3=Sussman |first3=Dalia |date=October 21, 2004 |title=Primetime Live Poll: American Sex Survey |publisher=ABC News |url=https://abcnews.go.com/Primetime/News/story?id=156921&page=1 |access-date=March 28, 2007}} Over 200 men answered ads placed in Chicago area sex service classifieds for in depth interviews. Of these self-admitted "johns", 83% view buying sex as a form of addiction, 57% suspect that the women they paid were abused as children, and 40% said they are usually intoxicated when they purchase sex.{{Cite news |last=Heinzmann |first=David |date=May 6, 2008 |title=Some men say using prostitutes is an addiction |work=Chicago Tribune |url=https://www.chicagotribune.com/2008/05/06/some-men-say-using-prostitutes-is-an-addiction/ |access-date=January 6, 2016}}

The prostitution trade in the United States is estimated to generate $14 billion a year.{{Cite web |title=Prostitution Statistics – Facts about Prostitution and Latest News |url=http://www.havocscope.com/activities/prostitution/ |website=havocscope.com|date=March 25, 2010 }} A 2012 report by Fondation Scelles indicated that there were an estimated 1 million prostitutes in the U.S.{{Cite news |last=Lubin |first=Gus |date=January 17, 2012 |title=There Are 42 Million Prostitutes In The World, And Here's Where They Live |work=Business Insider |url=http://www.businessinsider.com/there-are-42-million-prostitutes-in-the-world-and-heres-where-they-live-2012-1?IR=T |access-date=January 4, 2016}}

John schools are programs whose mission is the rehabilitation of purchasers of prostitution.{{Cite web |last1=Shively |first1=Michael |last2=Jalbert |first2=Sarah Kuck |last3=Kling |first3=Ryan |last4=Rhodes |first4=William |last5=Finn |first5=Peter |last6=Flygare |first6=Chris |last7=Tierney |first7=Laura |last8=Hunt |first8=Dana |last9=Squires |first9=David |date=March 2008 |title=Final Report on the Evaluation of the First Offender Prostitution Program |url=https://www.ojp.gov/pdffiles1/nij/grants/221894.pdf |pages=12}} A mandated program that is used as treatment for men who have been detained for soliciting sex from prostitutes. This program consists of several therapy sessions and informational meeting regarding legal actions, the dangers, and lasting outcomes that may take place as a result of soliciting sex from a prostitute. In the first 12 years of the ongoing program, now denominated the "First Offender Prostitution Program", the recidivism rate of offenders was reduced from 8% to less than 5%. Since 1995, similar programs have been implemented in more than 40 communities in the US, including Washington, D.C.; West Palm Beach, Florida; Buffalo and Brooklyn, New York; and Los Angeles, California. An audit in 2009 of the first john school in San Francisco, California by the budget analysts of the City faulted the program with poorly defined objectives and absence of a method to determine its efficacy. Despite being touted as a national model for which taxpayers pay nothing, the audit stated that the program did not fully cover its expenses in each of the preceding 5 years, which resulted in a deficit of $270,000.{{Cite web |date=2009-09-20 |title=Audit faults S.F. D.A.'s prostitution program |url=http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2009/09/19/BAT519OMJL.DTL |website=SFGate}}

{{Main|Sex trafficking in the United States}}

Sex trafficking includes the transportation of persons by means of coercion, deception and/or force into exploitative and slavery-like conditions,{{Cite web |title=Sex Trafficking |url=https://humantraffickinghotline.org/type-trafficking/sex-trafficking |access-date=31 May 2018 |website=National Human Trafficking Hotline |language=en}} and is commonly associated with organized crime.{{Cite journal |last=Makisaka |first=Megumi |date=December 2009 |title=Human Trafficking: A Brief Overview |url=http://siteresources.worldbank.org/EXTSOCIALDEVELOPMENT/Resources/244362-1239390842422/6012763-1239905793229/Human_Trafficking.pdf |journal=Social Development Notes |series=World Bank |volume=122}}{{Cite journal |last=Goodey |first=Jo |year=2004 |title=Sex Trafficking in Women from Central and East European Countries: Promoting a 'Victim-Centred' and 'Woman-Centred' Approach to Criminal Justice Intervention |journal=Feminist Review |series=Post-Communism: Women's Lives in Transition |volume=76 |pages=26–45 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400141 |s2cid=144210661}}

It has been estimated that two-thirds of trafficking victims in the United States are US citizens. Most victims who are foreign-born come into the US legally, on various visas.{{Cite news |last1=Jorgensen |first1=Sarah |last2=Sandoval |first2=Polo |date=27 January 2019 |title=Experts: Trump's tape-bound women trafficking claim is misleading |work=CNN |url=https://www.cnn.com/2019/01/27/us/human-trafficking-fact-check/index.html |access-date=3 September 2019}} State Department estimated that between 15,000 and 50,000 women and girls are trafficked each year into the United States.

The measures against trafficking of women focus on harsher criminal legislation and punishments, and improving international police cooperation. There are vast media campaigns which are designed to be informative to the public, as well as policy makers and potential victims.{{Cite journal |last=Andrijasevic |first=Rutvica |year=2007 |title=Beautiful Dead Bodies: Gender, Migration and Representation in Anti-Trafficking Campaigns |url=http://www.palgrave-journals.com/fr/journal/v86/n1/full/9400355a.html |journal=Feminist Review |series=Palgrave Journals |volume=86 |pages=24–44 |doi=10.1057/palgrave.fr.9400355 |doi-access=free}}{{Cite journal |last=Shifman |first=Pamela |date=May 2003 |title=Trafficking and Women's Human Rights in a Globalised World |journal=Gender and Development |series=Women Reinventing Globalisation |volume=11 |issue=1 |pages=125–132 |doi=10.1080/741954262 |jstor=4030704 |s2cid=153852259}}

• Prostitution in American Samoa
• Prostitution in California
• Prostitution in Guam
• Prostitution in Hawaii
• Prostitution in Nevada
• Prostitution in Rhode Island
• Trafficking of Korean women in the United States
• Contemporary slavery in the United States
• Human trafficking in the United States
• Sexuality in the United States
• Sex Worker's Rights Movement
• Male prostitution#United States

{{Reflist|30em}}

{{Refbegin|2}}

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• Butler, Anne M. Daughters of joy, sisters of misery: prostitutes in the American West, 1865-90 (University of Illinois Press, 1987).
• Clement, Elizabeth Alice. Love for Sale: Courting, Treating, and Prostitution in New York City, 1900-1945 (U of North Carolina Press, 2006). [https://www.questia.com/library/120073118/love-for-sale-courting-treating-and-prostitution online] {{Webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180206190253/https://www.questia.com/library/120073118/love-for-sale-courting-treating-and-prostitution |date=February 6, 2018 }}
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• Pivar, David J. Purity and Hygiene: Women, Prostitution, and the "American Plan," 1900-1930 (Greenwood Press, 2002).
• Ringdal, Nils Johan. Love for sale: A world history of prostitution (Grove/Atlantic, Inc., 2007).
• Rosen, Ruth. The Lost Sisterhood: Prostitution in America, 1900-1918 (Johns Hopkins U. Press, 1983).
• Spude, Catherine Holder. Saloons, Prostitutes, and Temperance in Alaska Territory (U of Oklahoma Press, 2015).
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• West, Elliott. "Scarlet West: The oldest profession in the trans-Mississippi West." Montana: The Magazine of Western History 31.2 (1981): 16–27.
• {{Cite book |last1=Regehr |first1=Cheryl |url=https://books.google.com/books?id=8BCdMBhtwUMC&q=child+prostitutes+in+america+100%2C000&pg=PA230 |title=Victimology: Theories and Applications |last2=Roberts |first2=Albert R. |last3=Wolbert Burgess |first3=Ann |publisher=Jones & Bartlett Publishers |year=2012 |isbn=978-1449665333 }}

{{Refend}}

• {{Commons category-inline}}

{{Prostitution in the United States|state=collapsed}}

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{{Social Policy in the United States|state=autocollapse}}

{{Sex}}

{{Portal bar|United States|human sexuality|Prostitution|Sex work|Feminism}}

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Prostitution In The United States}}

Category:Crime in the United States