卖淫,从事性活动的做法,通常与配偶以外的人或朋友,以换取立即支付金钱或其他贵重物品。妓女可能的性和可能参与异性恋或同性恋活动,但历史上大多数卖淫一直被女性与男性客户。卖淫是一个非常古老的和普遍现象;也普遍谴责的妓女,但相对冷漠向客户端。妓女通常分开。在古罗马,他们要求穿与众不同的衣服;根据希伯来法律只有外国女性可能是妓女;在二次世界大战前的日本,他们被要求住在城市的特殊部分。在中世纪的欧洲卖淫被法律许可和监管,而是由16世纪的流行性病和post-Reformation道德导致关闭妓院。国际合作结束的交通为目的的女性卖淫始于1899年。 In 1921 the League of Nations established the Committee on the Traffic in Women and Children, and in 1949 the UN General Assembly adopted a convention for the suppression of prostitution. In the U.S. prostitution was first curtailed by the Mann Act (1910), and by 1915 most states had banned brothels (Nevada being a notable exception). Prostitution is nevertheless tolerated in most U.S. and European cities. In the Netherlands many prostitutes have become members of a professional service union, and in Scandinavia government regulations emphasize hygienic aspects, requiring frequent medical examination and providing free mandatory hospitalization for anyone found to be infected with venereal disease. Prostitutes are very often poor and lack other skills to support themselves; in many traditional societies there are few other available money-earning occupations for women without family support. In developing African and Asian countries, prostitution has been largely responsible for the spread of艾滋病和成千上万的儿童的孤立。
