Street prostitution is a form of prostitution in which a sex worker solicits customers from a public place, most commonly a street, while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, but also other public places such as parks, beaches, etc. The street prostitute is often dressed in a provocative manner. The sex act may be performed in the customer's car or in a nearby secluded street location, or at the prostitute's apartment or in a rented room.
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Street prostitution is often illegal even in jurisdictions which allow other forms of prostitution.
Many countries which outlaw street prostitution have "unofficial" tolerance zones, where the practice is tolerated by the authorities, in spite of its illegality.
In some jurisdictions where prostitution itself is not illegal, such as in Canada and the United Kingdom, street prostitution is still illegal. The prohibition applies to both prostitutes and customers, and these two countries also outlaw brothels. In the United Kingdom street prostitution is illegal.[1]
Some jurisdictions also outlaw kerb crawling, slowly driving around with the intent to procure the services of a prostitute.
In Australia, in New South Wales it is not illegal to solicit on the streets, except in some areas (eg, near schools etc). The other Australian states and territories prohibit street solicitation, although some of these jurisdictions allow licensed brothels.
Street prostitution is legal in New Zealand.
In the United States, street prostitution is illegal in all 50 states; 49 of the states outlaw all forms of prostitution; Nevada allows licensed brothels, but only in some rural areas, not in the major metropolitan areas (only 8 counties have active brothels and prostitution outside these brothels is illegal throughout the state).
In six towns in the Netherlands a special zone (tippelzone) is designated for legal street prostitution. The zone is often in a business park, to avoid inconvenience for residents. In some of the zones the prostitutes need a license; in some of these zones no new licenses are granted anymore, there is an "extinction policy".
Street prostitutes are extremely vulnerable to physical and sexual assaults, as well as to muggings, by clients and pimps. Melissa Farley's study of 854 prostitutes in nine countries, including The United States of America, found that 95% of women had been physically assaulted, and 75% had been raped. 89% of the women interviewed stating that they wanted to leave prostitution.
In a 2008 study of Chicago, USA street prostitutes, economists Steven D. Levitt and Sudhir Alladi Venkatesh found that women working without pimps work for an average hourly rate of about $25, and those working with pimps make 50% more. This is roughly four times the wage of other jobs available to them. Condoms are rarely used. Prostitutes are arrested once for every 450 encounters, and every tenth arrest results in jail time. Once every 30 encounters, a prostitute will be forced by a police officer to have sex with him.[2]