Street prostitution

Street prostitution is a common scenario for prostitution. Due to the hazards of being a street prostitute, it is a very dangerous and potentially deadly job. Many sex workers routinely face violence at the hands of customers or police.

Soliciting

In street prostitution, the prostitute solicits customers while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, sometimes dressed in suggestive clothing. Often the prostitute (commonly called a "hooker" or "street hooker" to distinguish them from other sex workers) appears to mind his or her own business and waits for the customer to initiate contact. The act is performed in the customer's car or in a nearby alley or rented room (motels that service prostitutes commonly rent rooms by the half or full hour). This type of sex work offers the most freedom while it can sometimes be the least respected and most dangerous form of prostitution.

Street prostitutes are often drug addicts and are sometimes subjected to violence by their customers. It is notable that in affluent countries (USA, Western Europe) the correlation between street prostitution and illegal drug use is high. In contrast, prostitutes in the developing world are primarily motivated by the need for subsistence earnings for themselves or dependents. Street prostitutes present easy prey for serial killers because they routinely enter an unknown man's car, try to not bring attention to themselves or their clients, and often go missing for days and weeks before anyone notices. The most famous example of this type of serial killings is that of Jack the Ripper.

Differences from other forms of prostitution

Most "street hookers" work outside due to the fact that they control how they meet and where they service their clients, and because they are able to negotiate their own prices. They have the freedom to choose their dates, as opposed to receiving clients they have no prior knowledge of in a hotel room. The notion of all street workers having pimps is very outdated. Many hookers work outside because they do not have to give a cut of their money to anyone, and they have the freedom to choose their own corners and hours. Brothel workers and call girls commonly end up as street prostitutes if they want to make extra money that is 100% theirs or if, less commonly, get disfigured by a customer, have so much of a drug addiction that the brothel/agency do not want to handle them anymore, or did not save any money and got too old (and consequently unattractive) to work in a brothel or for an escort service. Sometimes, attractive street prostitutes are run-away teenage girls, but they may either quickly move on to brothels or escort services or be returned to their parents by the authorities. In smaller cities transsexual and transgendered women often work as street prostitutes because they can choose not to offer complete service, thereby hiding their identity more effectively. Street prostitution is easy and sometimes more profitable than other types of sex work in a society which is generally hostile to transsexuals and young sex workers.

Prison education

Some street prostitutes may be too uneducated to get or keep traditional employment, while others might be university graduates or students. The current trend in sentencing prostitutes in the United States is to try to educate them while they are in prison. This is an acceptable option for prostitutes who work because they feel they have no other alternatives, rather than girls who work because they choose to. They are then able to learn about other options open to them, although the prison education system is faulty. Unfortunately, because they are in prison, they will then have a criminal record and thus have a difficult time getting anything but low paying jobs to start, which is much less than the women would make on the street, thereby not really giving reluctant hookers the option of a new life.

Pimps

Street prostitutes may sometimes have a pimp, in the way that anyone working in the sex industry may work for someone. Pimps justify taking a proportion of the prostitute's earnings by claiming they protect prostitutes from dangerous clients. The relationship between pimp and prostitute is often abusive. Violence and threats are usually involved, as well as conning and lying. In reality prostitutes are often at more risk from the pimps themselves. Pimps often target vulnerable young women who have run away from home, initially offering themselves as lovers or father-figures, thus satisfying the need of the girls to be accepted. After introducing their victims to prostitution, they often encourage drug addiction, or drug selling to maintain their victim's dependency and use beatings and insults to assert their control. Pimps are also commonly low-echelon drug dealers. However, many sex workers in the sex workers movement are challenging the above traditionally held notions of pimps. While some pimps are abusive--just as some relationships are abusive--others are not. Many street workers (and other types of sex workers who have pimps) argue that they should have the right to structure their work just as anybody else does--some prefer to work independently, while others see advantages in working for someone, that is, giving them a cut of the profits in exchange for the convenience of having someone else schedule and procure dates, and yes, often provide protection.

Street prostitution worldwide

Street Prostitution is common all over the world. Sex workers are trafficked to developed countries in Western Europe, Japan and the U.S., but the majority of street prostitutes are native-born. One New York study indicated 87% are homeless or unstably housed. Drug use is prevalent. Some countries have decriminalized street prostitution; usually in restricted areas known as tolerance zones. Examples include the Netherlands, Germany,and Brazil.The UK is contemplating tolerance zones around Liverpool with a view to extending it nationwide in the future. In countries where street prostitution is regulated, the women can access periodic medical check ups, and safe sex education and supplies. Brazil and Germany have legislated pension benefits for sex workers, including street prostitutes. However, a large percentage of prostitutes do not enlist in these state-sponsored services; presumably to maintain independence and higher income by avoiding tax and pension contributions. Street prostitution is a viable alternative for many young poor women who otherwise wouldn't be able to make a decent living, because of the lack of opportunities. High-earning potential at the beginning of a sex-work career does not translate into financial security in middle--or old--age. Mexico City's municipal government and Mayor Andrés Manuel López Obrador, recognizing the dire situation faced by street prostitutes after a lifetime spent serving the sexual needs of men, announced in June 2005 the establishment of the Xochiquetzal Home for elderly prostitutes.

In the United States, New York City is the place that immortalized the image of street prostituation in the American psyche. In New York City, mainly Times Square and its surronding areas there is a dearth of prostitues when compared to the plethora seen in past years. However, prostitues still can be found if one is an experienced john. Many prostitues still do their "strolls" in the area a few blocks away from the heart of Times Square. They are dressed less conspicously and in some instances wait to be soilicated by the men. Often times the prostitues will give subtle signs about their profession such as winking at a potential client. One time hot bed areas for prostitution like 29th street and 11th Ave and the even more notorious 44th street and 8th ave do not have the overabundance of prostuites they once had. Finding a street walker used to be a "sure thing" in the Times Square area and while to some extent it still is, it is now hit or miss. Today the prime hours to look for street walkers in the Times Square area are between 12:30- 3:30. Outside of this area of Manhattan street walkers are present but are not nearly as prevelent. Prostiutes can be found in the Meat Packing district (which is pushing to be more "upscale" and "posh" thus causing a decilne in street walkers similar to that found in Times Sqaure) Hells Kitchen (which is a stones throw away from Times Square), the streets around central park on the lower west side (this location is very tenuous) and outside of cheap and less reputable hotels in midtown.

External links

• Street prostitution by Michael S. Scott, US DOJ Problem-Oriented Guides for Police Series, No. 2 (PDF file)
• StreetWomen.org Website documenting lives of women involved in street prostitution.