Prostitution and Sexually Transmitted

Chapter 11
Infections

Intended Learning Outcomes: At the end of this chapter, the students are expected to:

1. arrange the events of the history of prostitution according to the correct order;
2. examine the causes of prostitution;
3. use the different measures of solving prostitution; and
4. examine the causes and effects of sexually transmitted infections.

11.1 What is Prostitution?

Prostitute is derived from the Latin “prostituta". Some sources cite the verb as a
composition of "pro" meaning "up front" or "forward" and "stituere", defined as "to
offer up for sale". It is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange
for payment. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or,
colloquially, hooking. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute and is a type
of sex worker.

11.2 History of Prostitution

Prostitution has been practiced throughout ancient and modern culture.

Prostitution has been described as "the world's oldest profession," and despite
consistent attempts at regulation, it continues nearly unchanged.
The Ancient Near East was home to many
shrines, temples or "houses of heaven," which were
dedicated to various deities. These shrines and temples
were documented by the Greek historian Herodotus in
The Histories, where sacred prostitution was a common
practice. Sacred prostitution, temple prostitution, cult
prostitution, and religious prostitution are general terms
for a rite consisting of paid intercourse performed in the
context of religious worship, possibly as a form of
fertility rite or divine marriage (hieros gamos). Scholars
prefer the terms "sacred sex" or "sacred sexual rites" in
cases where payment for services is not involved.
Sumerian records dating back to ca. 2400 BCE are the earliest recorded mention
of prostitution as an occupation. These describe a temple-brothel operated by Sumerian
priests in the city of Uruk. This kakum or temple was dedicated to the goddess Ishtar
and was the home to three grades of women. The first grade of women were only
permitted to perform sexual rituals in the temple, the second group had access to the
grounds and catered to visitors, and the third and lowest class lived on the temple
grounds. The third class was also free to find customers in the streets.
In the region of Canaan, a significant portion of temple prostitutes were male. This was
also widely practiced in Sardinia and in some of the Phoenician cultures, usually in honor
of the goddess Ashtart. Presumably under the influence of the Phoenician, this practice
was developed in other ports of the Mediterranean Sea, such as Erice (Sicily), Locri
Epizephiri, Croton, Rossano Vaglio and Sicca Veneria.

❖ Biblical Reference
Prostitution was commonplace in ancient Israel. There are several references to
prostitution in the Hebrew Bible. The Biblical story of Judah and Tamar (Genesis 38:14-
26) provides a depiction of prostitution being practiced in that time period. In this story
the prostitute waits at the side of a highway for travelers. She covers her face in order to
identify herself as a prostitute. Instead of being paid in money she asks for a kid goat.
This would have been the equivalent of a high price,
showing that only the wealthy owner of numerous
herds could have afforded to pay for a single sexual
encounter. Under this system if the traveler does
not have his cattle with him, he must give valuables
to the woman as a deposit until a kid goat is
delivered to her.

In a later Biblical story, found in the Book of Joshua, a prostitute in Jericho

named Rahab assisted Israelite spies by providing them with information regarding the
current socio-cultural and military situation. While in the Book of Revelation, the Whore
of Babylon is named "Babylon the Great, the Mother of Prostitutes and Abominations of
the Earth". Note that the word "whore" could also be translated as "Idolatress". The first
Babylonian prostitute was in a place called Hinchinopolises, which arose from the
appraised Hinchin family. At the time Hinchinapolis was the center of attraction for all
travelers who came to rest in the company of the family's women, who perfected the
art of satisfaction. Some ancient scrolls could tell us that the meaning of Hinchin came
from the Hebrew Hinam, meaning free, because the males of the family would offer
themselves for free.

11.3 Types of Prostitution

DIRECT FORMS OF PROSTITUTION

1. Street: Clients solicited on the street,
park or other public places. Serviced in
side streets, vehicles, or short stay
premises.
2. Brothel: Premises explicitly dedicated
to providing sex. Better security than
street. Often licensed by authorities.
3. Escort: Client contacts sex worker by
phone or via hotel staff. Most covert
form of sex work. Relatively expensive because of low client turnover. Service
provided at client’s home or hotel room.

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 4. Private: Client contacts sex worker by phone. Similar to escorts except services
provided in sex worker’s premises. A variant in London and other big cities is
‘flat’ prostitution—high cost services in rented, serviced, inner city units.
5. Window or doorway: Brothels with sex workers on public display. Windows
preferred in cold climates, doorways in warmer places.
6. Club, pub, bar, karaoke bar, dance hall: Clients solicited in alcohol vending
venues and serviced on site or elsewhere.
7. Other all-male venues: Clients solicited in all-male venues such as barbershops,
bathhouses, saunas, and mining camps. Serviced on site or elsewhere.
8. Door knock or hotel: Unattached males are approached in their hotel rooms or
boarding houses.
9. Transport (ship, truck, train): Sex workers may board vehicles to service the
crew or passengers or pick up clients at stations and terminals.
10. CB radio: Sex workers drive along highways using CB radio to exchange (jargon)
messages with potential truck driver clients. Serviced at truck stops or parking
areas.
11. Other methods of solicitation:
Through various media including
noticeboard and newspaper
advertisements, ‘sex worker
catalogues’ with mobile phone
numbers, the internet via virtual
brothels, etc. Services are
delivered mostly in brothels and
other indoor venues.

INDIRECT FORMS OF PROSTITUTION

1. Bondage and discipline: sexual fantasy through role play. May involve the
inflicting of pain, but genital contact is not routine.
2. Lap dancing: A recent development involving erotic dancing at close quarters
without sexual contact.
3. Massage parlor: Premises ostensibly dedicated to providing massage, but a
range of sexual services may be provided. In South East Asia similar
arrangements may apply in barbershops.
4. Travelling entertainers: Actors, dancers and others involved in entertainment
may also provide sexual services.
5. Beer girls: Young women hired by major companies to promote and sell
products in bars and clubs. Sexual services sold to supplement income.
6. Street vendors and traders: Ostensibly marketing rural produce or other goods
but supplementing income with sexual services.
7. Opportunistic: A person approached in a social venue may occasionally choose
to charge for sexual favours if the client appears wealthy enough.
8. Femme libre: Women, usually single or divorced, who exchange sexual services
for gifts. The gifts are then converted to cash.
9. Individual arrangements: The single mother who may have sex with her landlord
in place of rent. Older sex workers who only deal with a small number of regular
clients, by appointment. ‘Kept’ women or men. Concubines. The number of
possible arrangements is vast.
10. Swingers clubs: Some swingers or couples sex clubs employ (undisclosed) sex
workers if there is a shortage of female guests.

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 11. Geisha: Women engaged primarily to provide social company, but sex may
ensue.
12. ‘Sex for drugs’: Women providing fellatio for crack cocaine in crack houses.
Young homosexual men in Western countries may provide opportunistic sexual
services paid with drugs.
13. Beachboys, bumsters, and gigolos: Men and boys engaged by women ostensibly
for social purposes but sex is often involved. Some beachboys are under aged
and many also service male clients.
14. Survival sex: A matter of degree, where starvation or other serious deprivation is
imminent, particularly for dependants. Food or security may be the currency,
rather than money.

11.4 Causes of Prostitution

There are many reasons why people go into prostitution. Some possible reasons are:
1. Working for money
- Despite the sexual drive, the main reason for prostitution in all groups is
money.

2. Being physically abused as a child

- In one study that was done, 87 prostitutes were interviewed. Out of
those 87, it was found that 60% of them had been physically abused as a
child.

3. Being sexually abused as a child

- the article mentions that childhood sexual
abuse causes people to change how they
see the world. It also causes them to
change how they see themselves. It
typically leads to low self-esteem, anxiety,
depression, and substance abuse.
According to Berg and Kramer, childhood
sexual abuse increases the likelihood of re-
victimization in adulthood which leads to
becoming involved in sex jobs. The study
showed that those who had been sexually
abused as a child were significantly more
likely to become involved in prostitution.

4. Being involved in drugs

- Out of the 87 prostitutes that were interviewed in the study, 67% percent
of them said they grew up in a home where at least one of their parents
used drugs or alcohol. 5% of them said that they had been given illegal
drugs, 23% percent said they had been given alcohol, and 16% said they
had been given both all before the age of 11. Due to starting drug use at
a younger age, they become addicted. In order to support their
addictions, they have to make money. So sometimes prostitution was an

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 easy way to do that. In some situations, the customers have been known
to just give the prostitute the actual drugs in exchange for sex.

5. Prostitution is not always a choice though. Sometimes people go into

prostitution due to being forced.

11.5 Prostitution in the Philippines

Prostitution in the Philippines is illegal, although

somewhat tolerated, with law enforcement being rare
with regards to sex workers. Penalties range up to life
imprisonment for those involved in trafficking, which is
covered by the Anti-Trafficking in Persons Act of 2003.
Prostitution is available through bars, karaoke bars
(also known as KTVs), massage parlors, brothels (also
known as casa), street walkers, and escort services.
The "Young Adult Fertility and Sexuality Study" conducted in 2002 by the
University of the Philippines' Population Institute and Demographic Research and
Development Foundation found that 19% of young males had paid for sex and 11% had
received payment for sexual favors. In 2013, it was estimated that there were up to
500,000 prostitutes in the Philippines, from a population of roughly 97.5 million. Citing a
2005 study, Senator Pia S. Cayetano asserted in her “Anti-Prostitution Act” (Senate Bill
No. 2341 s.2010), that the number of people being exploited in prostitution in the
Philippines could be as high as 800,000. The bill was reintroduced in 2013 as Senate Bill
No. 3382, and in 2015 as Senate Bill No. 2621.

❖ Prostitution in various Regions

Prostitution caters to both local customers
and foreigners. Media attention tends to focus on
those areas catering to sex tourism, primarily
through bars staffed by bargirls. Cities where
there is a high incidence of prostitution are
Olongapo City, Angeles, Legazpi City in Albay,
Pasay City and Subic Bay in Zambales, with the
customers usually foreign businessmen from East
Asian and Western nations.
Prostitution in Olongapo City and Angeles was highly prominent during the
time of the U.S. military in Subic Bay Naval Base and Clark Air Base, respectively.
When Mount Pinatubo, a volcano, erupted in 1991, it destroyed most of Clark Air
Base and the United States closed it down in 1992.
Some of the associated prostitution trade closed with it, but when the mayor
of Manila, Alfredo Lim, closed down the sex industry area of Ermita in Manila during
his first term starting in 1992, many of the businesses moved to Angeles, finding a
new customer base among sex tourists.

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Other tourist areas such as Cebu have also developed a high-profile prostitution
industry.

❖ REASONS
There is no one single reason for the widespread prevalence of prostitution
in the Philippines. Poverty is but one reason, as cultural factors and the attitude of
people toward money and the social acceptance of prostitution play a major role.
1. Poverty
According to the Philippine Statistics Authority, the Philippines had a
poverty incidence of 26.3% in 2015. While this figure has been decreasing over
the past few years, this still is one of the reasons why girls and their families turn
to prostitution to enable the family to maintain a certain level of lifestyle. A large
number of girls who come to Angeles tend to be provincial, especially from
Samar, Leyte and Visayas, having seen their friends live a better life because of
their job in the prostitution industry.

2. U.S. Naval and Air Force bases

Prostitution started around Clark Air Base in Angeles since the early
1960s, when the base assumed importance because of the Vietnam war. During
the 1970s, the main street of Olongapo City had no less than 30 girlie bars
catering to the wants of U.S. Navy troops visiting Subic Naval base. The city
acquired the pseudonym "Sin City".
The American authorities supported the testing of the prostitutes for STIs
by the local health authorities. Without the licenses issued with these
examinations, the prostitutes were prevented from working. Angeles and
Olongapo health authorities passed on photographs of sex workers who had
failed STI tests to the U.S. bases.
The closure of the U.S. bases in these two places did not change the
scenario much — it only changed the clientele. Fields Avenue near Clark
(Angeles) continued to grow as a center of the sex tourism industry, under the
umbrella of "entertainment" and "hospitality industry". The girlie bars at
Olongapo were closed down in a major drive by the then governor Jane Gordon;
they merely shifted, however, to the neighbouring town of Barrio Baretto which
contains a series of at least 40 bars which act as prostitution centers.

3. Single mothers
Some women join the prostitution industry after they become single
unwed mothers. The reasons for this vary — unpopularity of artificial
contraception in the Philippines, inadequate sex education, delays in
implementing birth control legislation and a machismo attitude among many
Filipino males. More than half of the children born every year in Philippines are
illegitimate, and the percentage of illegitimate children is rising at the rate of
nearly 2% annually.

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11.6 Measures to Solve Prostitution

The following are examples of measures to prevent and combat prostitution (XIth
National Assembly, 2003):
1. Broadcasting and education on prostitution prevention and combat
These include measures to ensure that all agencies, organizations, individuals
and families comply with the legislation on, and actively participate in, prostitution
prevention and combat. The contents include:
- Propagating and educating on the cultural and ethical traditions, healthy
lifestyles;
- harms of prostitution;
- undertakings, policies, measures, models, experiences and law provisions
regarding prostitution prevention and combat.

2. Information and broadcast agencies’ responsibilities

They could work out appropriate contents and forms and coordinate with
agencies, and organizations in the broadcast/information dissemination to raise the
awareness of officials, public employees, and all citizens about prostitution
prevention and combat.

3. Schools and other educational institutions’ responsibilities

They could:
a. Disseminate information and educate on prostitution prevention and
combat. The contents must be suitable to each type of school, educational
level, age and gender of pupils, students, learners as well as customs and
practices of different ethnicities.
b. Coordinate with families, agencies, organizations and LGUs in closely
managing pupils, students and learners; organize healthy recreation
activities to prevent and stop acts of violating the legislation on prostitution
prevention and combat; mobilize and encourage pupils, students and
learners to actively participate in the information dissemination and
education on prostitution prevention and combat.

4. Families’ responsibilities
Families could:
a. educate their members on healthy lifestyle, promote fine traditions and build
cultured families;
b. coordinate with agencies, organizations and LGUs in educating and managing
family members who commit acts of violating the legislation on prostitution
prevention and combat, create conditions for them to integrate into the
community.

5. Service business establishments’ responsibilities

a. Hotels, rest houses, restaurants, establishments dealing in dancing halls,
karaoke, massage and sauna, and establishments dealing in services easy to
be abused for prostitution activities shall have to:
- Sign written labor contracts with laborers; make labor registration with
local labor management agencies;
- Refrain from employing laborers aged under 18 years for jobs which may
adversely affect their physical, spiritual and personality development.

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 - Organize regular health check-ups for laborers according to law
provisions;
- Pledge to abide by the law provisions on prostitution prevention and
combat and bear responsibility before law for prostitution evils occurring
in their establishments.

b. Establishments dealing in dancing halls, karaoke, massage and/or sauna and

establishments dealing in services easy to be abused for prostitution
activities may operate only after they satisfy all criteria and conditions
stipulated by the government.

6. Socio-economic measures in prostitution prevention and combat

a. Training and creating jobs for income generation, poverty alleviation and
hunger reduction are important socio-economic measures aiming to prevent
prostitution from emerging and developing.
b. Organizing medical treatment, education, job training and creation to help
prostitutes integrate into the community.
c. The State adopts policies and measures to encourage and support
organizations and individuals to organize medical treatment, education, job
training and creation, helping prostitutes integrate into the community.

11.7 What are Sexually Transmitted Infections (STIs)?

Sexually transmitted infections (STIs) are also called sexually transmitted

diseases (STDs). STIs are usually spread by having vaginal, oral, or anal sex. More than
1 million STIs are acquired every day. In 2020, WHO estimated 374 million new
infections with one of four STIs: chlamydia (129 million), gonorrhoea (82 million),
syphilis (7.1 million) and trichomoniasis (156 million) (WHO, n.d.). Women often have
more serious health problems from STIs than men, including infertility.
An STI is an infection passed from one
person to another person through sexual
contact. An infection is when a bacteria,
virus, or parasite enters and grows in or on
your body. STIs are also called sexually
transmitted diseases, or STDs. Some STIs can
be cured and some STIs cannot be cured. For
those STIs that cannot be cured, there are
medicines to manage the symptoms (Office
on Women’s Health, 2019).

❖ Common types of STIs

These include the following:
1. Chlamydia
2. Gonorrhoea
3. Trichomoniasis
4. Genital warts

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 5. Genital herpes
6. Pubic lice
7. Scabies
8. Syphilis
9. Human papillomavirus (HPV) (National Health Service, 2021)
10. Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV)/Acquired Immune Deficiency
Syndrome (AIDS)

11.8 Causes and Effects of STIs

❖ Causes of STIs
There are three major causes of STDs/STIs:
a. Bacteria, including chlamydia, gonorrhea, and syphilis
b. Viruses, including HIV/AIDS, herpes simplex virus, human papillomavirus,
hepatitis B virus, cytomegalovirus (CMV), and Zika
c. Parasites, such as trichomonas vaginalis, or insects such as crab lice or
scabies mites
Any STI can be spread through sexual activity including sexual intercourse,
and some STIs also are spread through oral sex and other sexual activity. Ejaculation
does not have to occur for an STI to pass from person to person.
In addition, sharing contaminated needles, such as those used to inject
drugs, or using contaminated body piercing or tattooing equipment also can
transmit some infections, such as HIV, hepatitis B, and hepatitis C. A few infections
can be sexually transmitted but are also spread through nonsexual, close contact.
Some of these infections, like CMV, are not considered STIs even though they can be
transmitted through sexual contact.
Regardless of how a person is exposed, once a person is infected by an STI,
he or she can spread the infection to other people through oral, vaginal, or anal sex,
even if he or she has no symptoms (Medline Plus, 2015).

❖ Effects of STIs
STIs have direct impact on sexual and reproductive health through
stigmatization, infertility, cancers and pregnancy complications and can increase the
risk of HIV (WHO, n.d.). Aside, other complications may include the following:
- Pelvic pain
- Pregnancy complications
- Eye inflammation
- Arthritis
- Pelvic inflammatory disease
- Infertility
- Heart disease
- Certain cancers, such as HPV-associated cervical and rectal cancers (Mayo
Clinic, n.d.)

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