Prostitution exists because of the subordination of women in most societies. This subordination is reflected in the double standard of sexual behaviour for men and women, and is carried out in the discrepancy between women's and men's earning: women earn an average of 60% (and often less) of what men earn. The specific reasons that prostitutes themselves have given for choosing to work as prostitutes, have included money, excitement, independence, and flexibility. Studies have also revealed a high incidence of child sexual abuse in the life histories of prostitutes (sexual abuse in general: 50% for adult prostitutes, 75-80% for juvenile prostitutes; incest: 25% for adult prostitutes, 50-75% for juvenile prostitutes). The traditional psychoanalytic explanation for the relationship between the childhood sexual abuse and later involvement in prostitution is that the child has come to view sex as a commodity, and that she is masochistic. The connection prostitutes report, however, is that the involvement in prostitution is a way of taking back control of a situation in which, as children, they had no control.
Female prostitutes constitute the largest proportion of all prostitutes but, unlike male prostitutes, they are not usually independent agents, often being controlled, blackmailed, intimidated, and brutally treated by pimps or organized crime. Female prostitution gives rise to a trade in women and children who may be sold to brothels or as concubines. In certain countries prostitution is a crime and may depend on the corruption or the turning of a blind eye by the authorities. In other countries it may be legalized and prostitutes must be registered and submit to regular medical examinations for venereal disease; this registration may make it more difficult for them to return to normal life if they wish to do so.
Prostitution has existed in every society for which there are written records. For a long period in history, women had only three options for economic survival: getting married, becoming a nun (earlier a priestess), or becoming a prostitute (related to being a priestess during certain periods). The invention of the spinning wheel, around the 13th century, enabled a woman working alone to produce enough thread to support herself, for the first time, as a spinster.
Female prostitution was a religious duty in the ancient civilizations of Babylon, Cyprus and among the Phoenicians and in parts of western Asia. It was a means of earning a dowry in certain other ancient cultures. Female prostitution existed in the Greek and Roman civilizations. In the Middle Ages prostitutes were tolerated and efforts made by the Church to rehabilitate them. After the Renaissance, the relative rise in women's status as a result of humanism led to increasing restrictions, which became more organized and better enforced with the creation of the police in the 19th century. Scholars disagree about the origin of prostitution in Thailand, one of the highest rates in the world. Some believe it has its roots in the Buddhist view of women as carnal and physical. Others link it to the development of international trade in Thailand in the 19th century. All agree that the most important modern influence was the Vietnam War.
Prostitution has tended to increase at times in which the role of women was changing. Thus, the industrial revolution in the 19th century was accompanied by a marked increase in prostitution. This was due, in part, to the dislocation of large numbers of women who moved from rural, agricultural communities to urban, industrial cities. When they could not obtain jobs in the new factories, significant numbers of them were forced to turn to prostitution for survival. A second factor was that women who left their families to work in factories were considered to be immoral, and they were subject to a good deal of sexual harassment at work. Once they were stigmatized for leaving home, the barriers to their becoming involved in prostitution were reduced. A similar pattern can be seen in the newly industrializing nations today, especially countries in Africa, Latin America and Southeast Asia.
For most of history, prostitution has been a stigmatized profession, although it has rarely been prohibited. The status of prostitutes seems to have been tied directly to the general status of women: the more women, as a class, have been confined and treated as chattels, the freer prostitute women have been to work without official harassment. As non-prostitute women have achieved increasing independence, on the other hand, the prostitutes have been more restricted and condemned, often confined to segregated districts, or required to wear special clothing, for example.
Female prostitution is a worldwide phenomenon but is most notable in cities, where populations are mobile and where there is severe poverty and unemployment. A woman may then earn money for herself and even for her family through prostitution when her husband cannot get work. Female prostitution is also sometimes a feature of indigenous populations which have not adapted to a new way of life after cultural invasion. Female prostitutes may be the products of broken or deprived homes and may be coerced into prostitution if alone. Many are sold into prostitution by their parents. Although the forms vary somewhat from country to country - in part due to cultural differences, in part due to differences in the law - the institution itself is strikingly similar. In Thailand, a high class prostitute can earn up to £1,500 a month, more than the average rural Thai in a year. Some prostitutes work to help their parents, provide better education for siblings and to earn extra money for their own schooling. A few countries, including Cuba, the USSR and China, have undertaken enormous projects to 'rehabilitate' prostitutes, and thereby to eliminate prostitution. However, women in all of those countries continue to work as prostitutes, especially in the large urban centers, and especially since there has been an increase in tourism from other countries.
In West Germany, there are 2.5 million visits to female prostitutes per day. According to a 1992 report, an average of 20 Burmese girls a day are sold across the border for around 17,000 baht. There are over 1,500 female prostitutes in Ranong alone, with thousands more in Bangkok.
Prostitution is a violation of article 1 of the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, which reads "All human beings are born free and equal in dignity and rights", of article 4: "No one shall be held in slavery or servitude" and of article 5: "No one shall be subject to torture or cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment". The distinction between enforced prostitution and voluntary prostitution is false as is the view that prostitution is an occupation.
Prostitution is a victimless crime that helps preserve the institution of marriage by providing a readily available sexual outlet for men's sexual desires. As sex work, prostitution may be perceived as a valid career choice by women deprived of other opportunities. It may also offer a form of empowerment to women in which they take back control over their lives.