Street prostitution: Encyclopedia II - Street prostitution - Soliciting

Street prostitution - Soliciting

In street prostitution, the prostitute solicits customers while waiting at street corners or walking alongside a street, usually dressed in skimpy, 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 may be drug addicts and are commonly 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.

Adapted from the Wikipedia article "Soliciting", under the G.N U Free Docmentation License. Please also see http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki