A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub parlours, studios, or by some other description. Sex work in a brothel is considered safer than street prostitution.
De Wallen or De Walletjes is the largest and best known red-light district in Amsterdam. It consists of a network of alleys containing approximately 300 one-room cabins rented by prostitutes who offer their sexual services from behind a window or glass door, typically illuminated with red lights and blacklight. Window prostitution is the most visible and typical kind of red-light district sex work in Amsterdam.
Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal and regulated. Operating a brothel is also legal. De Wallen, the largest and best-known Red-light district in Amsterdam, is a destination for international sex tourism. From 1 January 2022, a customer will be punished if they purchase a sexual service from a sex worker of whom they know or have serious reason to suspect that there is coercion, exploitation or human trafficking.
Julia Brown was an American madam and prostitute active in mid-nineteenth century New York City. Brown has been described as "the best-known prostitute in antebellum America". Brown was known for playing the piano in her brothel and for being a guest at functions hosted by the best families in New York. She also had season ticket to two theaters, paid for pews in various churches and contributed generously to local bible societies. She became a popular subject of tourist guidebooks, and her name appears often in diaries from the period.
The Red Thread was an advocacy-support group for prostitutes in the Netherlands. It was formed in 1985 and declared bankrupt in 2012. The name The Red Thread was inspired by Nathaniel Hawthorne's novel The Scarlet Letter, in which a 'sinful' woman has to put a red letter A on her clothing.
Procuring or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp or a madam or a brothel keeper, is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The procurer may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing, and possibly monopolizing, a location where the prostitute may solicit clients. Like prostitution, the legality of certain actions of a madam or a pimp vary from one region to the next.
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring diseases. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, or more inclusively, a sex worker.
Cornelis Troost was an 18th-century actor and painter from Amsterdam.
Fernande Grudet, also known as Madame Claude, was a French brothel keeper. In the 1960s, she was the head of a French network of call girls who worked especially for dignitaries and civil servants.
Prostitution in Suriname is illegal but widespread and the laws are rarely enforced. Human trafficking and Child prostitution are problems in the country. Prostitutes are known locally as "motyo". UNAIDS estimate there to be 2,228 prostitutes in the country.
Prostitution in ancient Rome was legal and licensed. In ancient Rome, even Roman men of the highest social status were free to engage prostitutes of either sex without incurring moral disapproval, as long as they demonstrated self-control and moderation in the frequency and enjoyment of sex. Brothels were considered a popular place of entertainment for Roman men, and it was undoubtedly a part of the culture of ancient Rome. At the same time, the prostitutes themselves were considered shameful: most were either slaves or former slaves, or if free by birth relegated to the infames, people utterly lacking in social standing and deprived of most protections accorded to citizens under Roman law, a status they shared with actors and gladiators, all of whom, however, exerted sexual allure. Some large brothels in the 4th century, when Rome was becoming officially Christianized, seem to have been counted as tourist attractions and were possibly state-owned. There were two types of sexual slavery: patronage and prostitution. Prostitutes had to pay a tax, where patronages did not, though it was deemed more acceptable to be the latter.
Window prostitution is a form of prostitution that is fairly common in the Netherlands and surrounding countries. The prostitute rents a window plus workspace off a window operator for a certain period of time, often per day or part of a day. The prostitute is also independent and recruits her own customers and also negotiates the price and the services to be provided.
Marguerite Gourdan, née Marguerite Alexandrine Ernestine Stock was a French brothel owner and procurer in 18th-century Paris. Her brothel was the most exclusive in Paris during that age, and Gourdan was arguably the most famous of her profession.
Sara Simonsdotter, called Tjocka Sara, was a Swedish brothel owner and procurer in 17th-century Stockholm. Her brothel had clientele among the royal court and became the centre of a scandal when it was revealed in 1618.
Jurjentje Aukes Rauwerda, later Jurrentje Weinthal, was a Dutch prostitute and procurer. She was famous among members of her profession in the contemporary Netherlands, and ran the largest brothel in Amsterdam, the Maison Weinthal.
Lovisa von Plat, also known under the names Platskan and Moster von Platen was a Swedish brothel owner and procurer, active in Stockholm for about forty years until her death. She belonged to the elite of her trade and became a known figure of her time, mentioned in memoirs, diaries and literature.
Marie Jonas de la Motte was a Dutch art model, prostitute and procurer. She is known as the model of the artist Dirck Bleker. A prostitute from at least 1652, she was a procurer and the madam of a brothel from 1665 onward.
Justine Paris, real name Bienfait, was a French courtesan and madam. She hosted several of the most famous brothels in mid-18th-century Paris and was one of the most known and successful of her trade. She and her brothel are portrayed in the memoirs of Casanova. She has been suggested to be the role model for the title character in Juliette by the Marquis de Sade.
Hendrik Pierson was a Dutch Lutheran minister and member of the Réveil religious revival movement. He was president of the Ottho Gerhard Heldringstichting, an asylum for reformed prostitutes, from 1877 to 1914. He was one of the leaders of the campaign to abolish state regulation of prostitution, and in 1898 became president of the International Abolitionist Federation..
The authorities of medieval Paris attempted to confine prostitution to a particular district. Louis IX (1226–1270) designated nine streets in the Beaubourg Quartier where it would be permitted. In the early part of the 19th century, state-controlled legal brothels started to appear in several French cities. By law, they had to be run by a woman and their external appearance had to be discreet. The maisons were required to light a red lantern when they were open (from which is derived the term red-light district and the prostitutes were only permitted to leave the maisons on certain days and only if accompanied by its head. By 1810, Paris alone had 180 officially approved brothels.
