Little known facts about this industry
Just like in any other field, there are many facts or curious bits of trivia associated with escorting. It is really no surprise that so many little nuggets exist about prostitution since it’s been a point of contention for people since ancient times.
Escorts and prostitutes have gone through terrible stigma, honorary residence in temples, social acclaim as courtesans and attempts of salvation as fallen angels. Here are some facts that you may not know about escorting:
Prostitution is not the world’s oldest profession
In 2400 B.C., Sumerian scribes put down a list of recognized professions. Many professions existed, including doctor, prostitute, barber, scribe, and cook. Many occupations existed prior to and alongside the profession of an escort. The significance of the Sumerian records is in the confirmation that escorting did, indeed, exist as early as 2400 B.C. In favor of the “oldest profession” view, it can be argued that women created humankind as we know it: once women took to covering their private parts, men who wanted sex were forced to use their brain as they could no longer tell right away whether a woman was willing to copulate.
Prostitution is legal in the United States
Not true in the entire United States, but prostitution is legal in a few counties in the state of Nevada. Various laws and regulations effectively control the provisions legalizing prostitution.
Brothels in Nevada may be equal, but licensing fees are not the same
Owners of brothels located in Lander County must pay a $200 per year licensing fee, regardless of how many escorts work there. However, a brothel in neighboring Nye County must pay between $7,500 to $150,000 for licensing, depending on the number of employees.
Prostitution was legal in Rhode Island from 1980 to 2009
A loophole in the law created in 1980 caused prostitution that occurred indoors, in private, to be legalized. Lawmakers identified a severe problem with prostitution in the west end of Providence. Street walkers were taking over the area, and crimes associated with prostitution were running rampant. Legislators passed a law making it illegal in the state of Rhode Island to sell sex in public. However, by specifically mentioning selling sex in public in the law, they made it legal to sell sex in private. An abundance of brothels sprang up and caused prostitution to become more available than ever before.
Waitresses banned to curb prostitution
In 1751, Holy Roman Empress Maria Theresa created the Chastity Commission in Vienna to reduce prostitution and similar activities, including general fornication and escorting. Punishments were increased to include imprisonment, fines, torture, and whippings. Short dresses and waitresses in billiard rooms and cafes were blamed as causes of fornication. Waitresses were replaced with waiters in cafes.
Researchers know at least 25 types of prostitution
These include prostitution by location (street, brothel, incall, hotel); solicitation (CB radio, newspaper ad, street solicitation, Internet website); and sexual practice (bondage, domination, girlfriend experience, lap dance), etc
It is legal to sell, but illegal to buy sex in some Nordic nations
In Sweden, prostitution is viewed as crime against women. Because of this viewpoint, buyers of sex are considered the guilty ones and the cause of prostitution in Sweden. Prostitution customers are punished with fines or imprisonment for up to 6 months. Laws in Norway punish the purchasers of sex in order to abolish the sex tourism industry and to ban street prostitution. Norwegian authorities are empowered to use wire-tapping devices to gather evidence against customers. Additionally, escorts are offered access to educational opportunities and medical treatment options for drug or alcohol addiction. Iceland, also, bans the purchasing of sex from prostitutes. The theory concludes that by ridding the supply of the demand, the trade of sex for money will cease to exist.
Non-coital acts of sex are legal for purchase in Japan
…but prostitution is illegal. The law defines prostitution as sexual intercourse. Because it specifically mentions intercourse only, other forms of sexual acts may be sold and purchased. The loophole in the law is one of the main reasons the sex tourism industry is booming in Japan. Many reporters say that everything besides sex is available in Japan.
Australia has criminalized, legalized and decriminalized prostitution all at the same time. The different states in the country have differing legal guidelines about the subject. Here are how the states’ laws break down:
New South Wales: Decriminalized prostitution in 1988 with laws prohibiting causing or inducing prostitution; living off the earnings of a prostitute; using facilities used as massage business, sauna baths, steam baths or photography studios for prostitution; and soliciting for prostitution near a home, school, hospital or church.
Northern Territory: Escort agency businesses obtain licenses to operate within the area. Street solicitation and brothels are prohibited.
Queensland: Since 1999 an individual may apply for a brothel license.
South Australia: Prostitution and related activities are prohibited in South Australia.
Tasmania: Only prostitution committed as a sole operator is permitted. Pimping or brothel work is illegal.
Victoria: Brothels are regulated, and prostitution is legal. Private escort workers must be registered with the government and may work at brothels. Street solicitation is illegal.
Western Australia: The “containment policy” regulates brothels in Western Australia. The policy is not a written piece of legislation; it is an informal agreement between brothel owners and police.
State prostitution arrests vary considerably throughout the United States
Over 14,500 prostitution-related arrests were made in California in 2004, while Vermont has only three for the same year. The number of arrests varies due to the level of enforcement of local authorities and the number of prostitutes in a region.
Famous people among opponents of the legalization of prostitution
Unsurprisingly, the rulers believe that killing thousands of people is OK, but sex is a crime. Former President Ronald Reagan opposed legalizing prostitution. “Prostitution has been listed as a non-victim crime. Well, is anyone naive enough to believe that prostitution just depends on willing employees coming in and saying that’s the occupation they want to practice? It doesn’t,” said Reagan. Susan B. Anthony, women’s rights advocate, opposed the legalization of prostitution. She said, “Women here, as everywhere must be able to live honestly and honorably without the aid of men, before it can be possible to save the masses of them from entering into polygamy or prostitution, legal or illegal.” Additionally, U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton opposes the legalization of prostitution. Clinton said, “I do not approve of legalized prostitution or any kind of prostitution. It is something that I personally believe is demeaning to women. I have worked against it, and I have certainly taken a very strong stand against what happens in many parts of the world where young girls and women are forced into prostitution against their wills.”
No woman in America needs to sell her body to make a living — unless, of course, she wants to
Famous supporters of the legalization of prostitution include Ann Landers, the ACLU and The Economist magazine. Ann Landers, esteemed advice columnist, supported legalizing prostitution, because women have a right to do it if they please. She said, “No woman in America needs to sell her body to make a living—unless, of course, she wants to.”
The American Civil Liberties Union endorses the decriminalization of prostitution. “Prostitution laws are also a violation of the right of individual privacy because they impose penal sanctions for the private sexual conduct of consenting adults. Whether a person chooses to engage in sexual activity for purposes of recreation, or in exchange for something of value, is a matter of individual choice, not for governmental interference,” according to the ACLU. In 2001, The Economist took the following position: “In a liberal society, buying sex for money should be regarded as a legitimate commercial transaction, where it takes place between two consenting adults. It might be a transaction with peculiar psychological implications for both parties, but that sort of anxiety is beyond the law’s remit.”
Definition of a prostitute varies
Most people and governments define prostitution as the sale of sex or related intimate activities for money or other items of value. However, in the 13th century, Johannes Teutonicus, a medieval canon lawyer, defined a prostitute as a woman who has sex with more than 23,000 men… or between 40 to 60.
Over 1,000,000 people have worked as prostitutes in the United States
The Prostitutes’ Education Network reported in 2007 that: “It is difficult to estimate the number of persons who currently work, or have ever worked as prostitutes for many reasons including the various definitions of prostitution. National arrest figures [in the United States] range over 100,000. The National Task Force on Prostitution suggests that over one million people in the US have worked as [escorts] in the United States.”
Not just prostitution, but certain sex acts are illegal
Not only is prostitution illegal throughout the most of the United States, but many sex laws prohibit sex outside or marriage, anal sex, cohabitation, and oral sex. Escorts who don’t cross the line into prostitution may happen to commit other crimes