Prostitution. 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, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe those who work as prostitutes. Prostitution occurs in a variety of forms, and its legal status varies from country to country, ranging from being an enforced or unenforced crime, to unregulated, to a regulated profession.
It is one branch of the sex industry, along with pornography, stripping, and erotic dancing. Brothels are establishments specifically dedicated to prostitution. In escort prostitution, the act may take place at the client's residence or hotel room, or at the escort's residence or a hotel room rented for the occasion by the escort. Another form is street prostitution. According to a 2011 report by Fondation Scelles there are about 42 million prostitutes in the world, living all over the world. Estimates place t