Prostitutes, the Internet, and Regulation, Part I

There are prostitutes on the Internet? I'm shocked. Not really. It's an old profession and an old story, even though this month brought news of Cook County, Illinois, Sheriff Tom Dart suing Craigslist for posting its "erotic services" section. That particular section evidently generates a generous portion of Craigslist's annual $80 million income, and Craigslist denies that it knowingly facilitates prostitution. Dart has used information from Craigslist to make several sting arrests and has busted up an organized group involved in teen prostitution. Dart asks for $100,000 as reimbursement for the investigation pursuing Craigslist over the year.

Of interest here from my medievalist's-eye view is that the shadows of the Middle Ages are long regarding the struggles within Western culture on how to handle prostitution. Do you try to outlaw it? Do you tolerate it and regulate it through fines and taxes? Or do you institutionalize it? Medieval towns, countries, and the Christian church tried all three methods with limited success.

The scriptural basis that prostitution was morally wrong comes from Deuteronomy 23: 17: "There shall be no whore of the daughters of Israel." While people today are concerned about the degradation to the spirit and lives of the prostitutes, the spread of STDs, and the connection between prostitution and other crimes (for example, theft and drugs), we still have the connection between prostitution and vice. Medieval folks understood prostitution less as an exchange of sex for money than as promiscuity. A woman could be considered a prostitute if she had been with more than one man. Of course, like the number of angels dancing on the head of pin, the exact number was in dispute over the centuries.

So far as eradicating prostitution goes, Bologna, for example, expelled prostitutes in 1250, Venice in 1266 and again in 1314, and Modena in 1327. It didn't work.

Toleration and regulation of prostitution as a part of the social system -- but on the margins -- was a more popular idea. Prostitution was a somewhat acceptable outlet for male sexuality. The "lesser evil" argument was that it kept men from committing rape or adultery, particularly in situations such as war, where men outnumbered women. The Church argued century after century as to how prostitutes should tithe and whether or not they should accept the money of an unreformed prostitute. Also, prostitutes often had to wear special clothing to announce their trade, which couldn't compete with the finery of wives. In German-speaking lands, for example, prostitutes were known by the color of their clothing: green in Augsburg, yellow in Vienna and Leipzig, and red in Zurich. Some towns had fines for prostitutes, which were de facto licensing fees. Prostitutes throughout Europe were confined to certain parts of the city to live and work, as they were not to contaminate the respectable citizens.

Does that attitude ring any modern bells? Another news article on prostitution this month comes out of North Charleston, South Carolina, where the Sheriff there says that while prostitution is nothing new to the city, more prostitutes are going off the streets and onto the web, where they can reach more people more discreetly. Without additional staff and budget, the police target prostitution mostly when they see an organization behind it.

Institutionalizing prostitution probably seems the strangest remedy to us. There were municipal brothels, often owned or licensed by the local municipal authority. They usually restricted prostitution to certain streets or taverns. In towns that had official brothers, freelancers were fined. In Paris, the prostitutes even had a guild under the patronage of Mary Magdalena. Most of these brothels were shut down by the sixteenth century due to shifts in moral attitudes

And not all prostitutes were women. There were a few gay brothels in Paris, Chartres, and Orleans, although little is known about them. Nor do we have much documentary evidence on the inner lives of the prostitutes. The only court testimony we have from a prostitute in medieval England that describes the life is from a male transvestite. In 1395, John Rykener, who called himself Eleanor, was caught performing a libidinous act in Soper's Lane, London, with a male client, who claims he thought Eleanor was a woman. Eleanor, who worked as an embroideress and a whore, named names for the court. The outcome is unknown.

Prostitution, whether illegal, tolerated and regulated, institutionalized, or on the Internet, is part the fabric of society.

Comments

[J G H]

During the Civil War, the Union army commander in Nashville reacted to high STD rates by establishing a licensing system which included weekly medical checks for prostitutes. STD rates dropped dramatically.

In 19th century the British military in India maintained brothels on their bases. Moral activists back in Britain got them closed. STD rates shot up. Authorities in India re-opened them and STD rates among soldiers declined again.

I understand that there were places in England that also had a license and medical check system during the Victorian Era and it worked.

The legal brothels in Nevada claim a zero STD transmission rate. Registration, medical tests and enforced safe sex rules work.

Legalized brothels, requiring registration, medical checks, training and enforcement of safe sex rules would, by historical example, reduce STD rates. At the same time registration would hinder the trade of sex slaves.

This would not solve all problems. Rapes would still occur, since brothels provide sex under house rules, no power trip for the predator. Street prostitution is a genuine hazard for everyone concerned.

The truth is the rich and powerful can grandstand against prostitution because, as in the case of the DC madam, the client lists are not released. If the blowhards were exposed, we might get to look at prostitution in a reational way which does not penalize those who, sometimes, are more victims than criminals.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

Beautiful. Thank you. Yes, prostitution fills a need and has always been with us. With some rational regulation, for example, against pimps, child prostitution, and STDs, we could deal with it much better than we do now.

[Recessionista]

Another great piece Jane! And Prostitution really IS the world's oldest profession. Look at the murals that survived in Pompeii--you have pictures of brothels from the ancient world.
Of course Prostitution would find it's way to the Internet. It just may have been the original "social network" long before Web 2.0.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks so much. Interesting point about Pompeii.

[Larry H]

Hi guys, just FYI, here in Florida, the "john'" also gets arrested and goes to trial. Probably that way many other states too. That just kind of is the opposite of "only the woman is considered illegal". I personally think it is no one's business, but that is how the law works here.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

It's interesting how our laws differ from state to state. Agreed that it's nobody's business.

[RobinSeattle]

"Though the act is between 2 consensual adults, the WOMAN is the criminal, while the man is free to walk. What is wrong with this picture?"

I agree that is hypocritical, but if the woman doesn't offer her body in exchange for compensation then no prostitution would take place (at least in a heterosexual sense).

Personally, I believe that banning prostitution only serves organized crime and not the public good. The day we legalize pot, we should also do so for prostitution.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

You're right. The picture is very wrong. We're all in this. All of us. And criminializing it serves organized crime.

Historically, people did it for the money, of course. The attitudes from the Church 1,000 years ago focused on sexual promiscuity more than on the exchange of money. (Of course, the Church didn't like profit or usury either.) That seems totally weird to us and we see it as a business deal. It's sad that we haven't progressed in the way we handle it.

[ragz2008]

Yeah, I'm with RobinSeattle!

[valkyrie607]

Did anybody ever watch the excellent sci-fi series, Firefly? One of the main characters was a "companion," or a prostitute. In the universe imagined by the writers (Joss Whedon among them), being a companion is actually quite a respectable trade, with regulations, well-defined rules, lists of people who are banned from being clients, and required annual medical check-ups.

Sounds like the way to go to me.

[jennysez]

I loved Firefly! Anora was an awesome character, and there was a whole episode devoted to helping out an old Companion friend who went "free-lance".

Kudos for the reference!

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

I'll check that out. Agreed. Yeah, prostitution is here to stay. Banning doesn't work. Recognizing the need for it in society, not degrading or criminalizing it, and finding a way to regulate it sound like the way to go to me.

[Bailey Blue]

What are your thoughts on escort review communities such as http://www.naughtyreviews.com/

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for the link. Yeah, the Internet takes prostitution off the streets and lets people contact each other more discreetly. The police probably watch this site, too, as they seem to go after organized rings. What are your thoughts?

[Mike Armstrong]

Prohibition is the connection to vice.
Prohibited prostitution is connected to the spread of STDs.
etc.

The author should read:
http://www.cnn.com/2009/POLITICS/03/24/miron.legalization.drugs/index.html

Then rewrite these erroneous statements:
While people today are concerned about the degradation to the spirit and lives of the prostitutes, the spread of STDs, and the connection between prostitution and other crimes (for example, theft and drugs), we still have the connection between prostitution and vice.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

Cool. Thanks. Will check it out and get back to you.

[TRYKER]

Prostitution exists to serve MEN.
Though the act is between 2 consensual adults, the WOMAN is the criminal, while the man is free to walk. What is wrong with this picture?
It seems the only crime is that the woman GETS PAID for sex work. Now if they give away sex for free uptown and down, that is OK. Hmmm. So, its the pay that's the problem...money going from man to woman? How dare women work for pay? Don't they know they are worthless...they should serve men for nothing?
How is it, in this enlightened age, where we acknowledge men have such uncontrollable desires that someone has to step up to serve them, that those who do step up are made into criminals? What is wrong with this picture?
If 2 people are consenting to a crime, why aren't 2 people arrested? How is it that laws made by men continue to make women into criminals...when they are BOTH doing the same thing?
OK, for centuries and centuries we have this "oldest PROFESSION in the world" made into a crime, but only for women.
If this is a PROFESSION...DUH...then those who WORK in this profession should be paid. DUH
Women do NOT need to accept this absurdity any longer!! Women must stand up and say ENOUGH!!
Prostitution is not a crime, we need to erase this from the books...once and for all.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

Thank you. Agreed. Throughout history it's been the woman's fault, and the women who have been marginalized -- literally, from certain houses, streets, cities, and the religious institutions. Our laws and attitudes are still medieval.

[nolabels]

It seems plausible that your wealth transfer issue has a strong role in people's distaste for prostitution. If stuffy old white men don't like it, they don't have to engage in it. They should let the rest of the world enjoy their lives and pay whomever they want for whatever in peace.

I don't like your premise that we live in an enlightened time though. With our religiousity so insanely high that it determines the intellectual level of our leaders (at the world's peril), I think we have much more enlightening to do.

I have to admit that today's thread on prostitution and yesterday's thread on the legalization of recreational drugs are encouraging though.

[Jane Minogue - Huffpost Blogger]

Thanks for your comments. I don't think we live in a particularly enlightened time. There are some differences, of course, but many of our attitudes both in our religions and our laws seem, and are, medieval -- in many senses of the word. I'm looking for some encouragement, too.