Portal:Sex work

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Introduction

Sex work is "the exchange of sexual services, performances, or products for material compensation. It includes activities of direct physical contact between buyers and sellers as well as indirect sexual stimulation". Sex work only refers to voluntary sexual transactions; thus, the term does not refer to human trafficking and other coerced or nonconsensual sexual transactions such as child prostitution. The transaction must take place between consenting adults of the legal age and mental capacity to consent and must take place without any methods of coercion, other than payment. The term emphasizes the labor and economic implications of this type of work. Furthermore, some prefer the use of the term because it grants more agency to the sellers of these services. (Full article...)

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Prostitution in Thailand is not itself illegal, but public solicitation for prostitution is prohibited if it is carried out "openly and shamelessly" or "causes nuisance to the public". Due to police corruption and an economic reliance on prostitution dating back to the Vietnam War, it remains a significant presence in the country. It results from poverty, low levels of education and a lack of employment in rural areas. Prostitutes mostly come from the northeastern (Isan) region of Thailand, from ethnic minorities or from neighbouring countries, especially Cambodia, Myanmar, and Laos. In 2019, UNAIDS estimated the total population of sex workers in Thailand to be 43,000. (Full article...)

List of selected articles

Selected images

Image 1Prostitutes on display in Yoshiwara during the Meiji Period, Japan (from Prostitution)
Image 2A prostitute in Amsterdam's red-light district talks with a potential customer. (from Prostitution)
Image 3World map of pornography (18+) laws
  Pornography legal
  Pornography legal under some restrictions
  Pornography illegal
  Data unavailable
(from Sex work)
Image 4A political cartoon from 1787 jesting about the notion of taxation affecting prostitutes (from Prostitution)
Image 5The red light district in Amsterdam (from Sex work)
Image 6The Procuress by Dirck van Baburen (1622) (from Prostitution)
Image 7Kisaeng women from outcast or slave families. (from Prostitution)
Image 8News report about three brothels operating in Albuquerque, New Mexico that were raided by police in 1922 (from Prostitution)
Image 9A prostitute and her customer illustrated on an ancient Greek wine cup; the act of prostitution is indicated by the coin purse above the figures. (from Prostitution)
Image 10World map of prostitution laws
  Decriminalization – No criminal penalties for prostitution
  Legalization (regulation) – Prostitution legal and regulated
  Abolitionism – Prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
  Neo-abolitionism (Nordic model) – Illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
  Prohibitionism – Prostitution illegal in all aspects (selling and buying)
  Legality varies with local laws
(from Sex work)
Image 11Brothel scene; Brunswick Monogrammist, 1537; Gemäldegalerie, Berlin (from Prostitution)
Image 12Prostitute c. 1890. (from Prostitution)
Image 13An oiran preparing herself for a client, ukiyo-e print by Suzuki Haronubu (1765) (from Prostitution)
Image 14Tart cards in a British phone box advertising the services of call girls (from Prostitution)
Image 15Sex workers demonstrating for better working conditions at the 2009 Marcha Gay in Mexico City (from Sex work)
Image 16Prostitution Information Centre in Amsterdam (from Prostitution)
Image 17Stickers affixed to a payphone in São Paulo, 2006 (from Prostitution)
Image 18A detail from plate 1 of William Hogarth's (1697–1764) The Harlot's Progress, showing brothel-keeper Elizabeth Needham, on the right, procuring a young woman who has just arrived in London (from Prostitution)
Image 19De Wallen red-light district in Amsterdam (from Prostitution)
Image 20A liberated Chinese girl who had been forced in to sexual slavery by the Japanese military sits on a stretcher and speaks to a British military serviceman. (from Prostitution)
Image 21Fresco from the Pompeii brothel (from Prostitution)
Image 22A sex worker in Berlin in 2001 (from Sex work)
Image 23Statue to honor the sex workers of the world. Installed March 2007 in Amsterdam, Oudekerksplein, in front of the Oude Kerk, in Amsterdam's red-light district De Wallen. Titled Belle, the inscription to the piece says "Respect sex workers all over the world." (from Prostitution)
Image 24An Ancient Greek urn depicts a prostitute and her client. (from Sex work)
Image 25A street prostitute talking to a potential customer in Turin, Italy, 2005 (from Prostitution)
Image 26Women in an early San Francisco bordello in 1870 (from Prostitution)
Image 27
  Legalization – prostitution legal and regulated
  Decriminalization – No criminal penalties for prostitution
  Abolitionism – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
  Neo-abolitionism – illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
  Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal
  Legality varies with local laws
(from Prostitution)

Related portals

Selected general sex worker

Image 1

Miyagi at the 2013 AVN Awards at the Hard Rock Hotel & Casino in Las Vegas

Melody Damayo (born July 3, 1973), known professionally as Mimi Miyagi, is a Filipino-American model, film director, and former pornographic actress.

In 2011, Complex magazine ranked her at #12 in their list of "The Top 50 Hottest Asian Porn Stars of All Time". (Full article...)
Image 2
Francesca Petitjean (born 30 November 1962) is a French professional female bodybuilder who was active in the 1980s and 1990s. From 1998 to 2003, she was featured in a number of adult films. (Full article...)
Image 3

Albrite at the 2015 AVN Expo

Anikka Albrite is an American retired pornographic actress. (Full article...)
Image 4
Kei Mizutani (水谷ケイ, Mizutani Kei) (born May 7, 1974) is a Japanese actress. She has appeared in multiple photo books, movies, and TV series in Japan and her DVD sets are popular in Japan, the United States, and Europe. (Full article...)
Image 5

Morgan in poster for Deadly Weapons (1974)

Chesty Morgan, real name Ilana Wajc and also known as Liliana Wilczkowska and Lillian Stello (born October 15, 1937) is a Polish-born, retired exotic dancer of Jewish descent, who also starred in two films directed by Doris Wishman. Morgan was billed as having a 73 inches (1.9 m) bust measurement. (Full article...)
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Tina Yuzuki (Japanese: 柚木ティナ, Hepburn: Yuzuki Tina), also known as Rio, is a Japanese actress, singer and former AV idol who debuted as an AV actress in 2005, appearing in videos produced by the Max-A and S1 studios. After starring in AVs in various genres during her first year in the industry, she won an industry award as Best New Actress for 2006. Since late 2007, she has used the stage name of Rio. In 2009, she transferred to IdeaPocket and became one of the studio's most prominent actresses. After a career that spanned over a decade and nearly 500 adult films, she retired in January 2016. (Full article...)
Image 7

Barry at the 2003 Adult Entertainment Expo

Cathy Barry is an English glamour model and pornographic actress. Along with her filmmaker husband Phil Barry, she also runs the adult film production and distribution company Pumpkin Media TV. Barry stars in her own DVD series, Cathy's Diaries. (Full article...)
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Powers in 2000

Bridget Powers (born October 11, 1980) is an American pornographic actress with dwarfism. She is often credited as "Bridget the Midget" or with the alternate spelling "Bridget Powerz". Besides her adult work, she has also appeared in many films in either comedic or dramatic roles, such as Big Money Rustlas, Tiptoes, and S.W.A.T. (Full article...)
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Jeremy in 2009

Ronald Jeremy Hyatt (born March 12, 1953) is an American writer and former pornographic actor.

Nicknamed "The Hedgehog", Jeremy was ranked by AVN at No. 1 in their "50 Top Porn Stars of All Time" list. Jeremy has also made a number of non-pornographic media appearances, and director Scott J. Gill filmed a documentary about him and his legacy, Porn Star: The Legend of Ron Jeremy, released in 2001. (Full article...)
Image 10
Abigail Clayton is an American retired pornographic actress active during the Golden Age of Porn. She was inducted into the XRCO Hall of Fame in 2008. (Full article...)
Image 11

Hart in 2002

Jane Esther Hamilton (born October 27, 1956) is an American former pornographic actress and current adult film director who performed under the stage name Veronica Hart during the 1980s. She is sometimes credited as Jane Hamilton, V. Hart, Veronica Heart, Victoria Holt, Randee Styles or just Veronica. Hart is a member of the AVN Hall of Fame.
Director Paul Thomas Anderson has called her "the Meryl Streep of porn." (Full article...)
Image 12
Kyōko Aizome (Japanese: 愛染恭子, Hepburn: Aizome Kyōko, born February 9, 1958) is a Japanese erotic actress, singer, writer, and AV and film director. She has been called "the first hard-core porn actress in Japan". (Full article...)
Image 13

Depiction from a contemporary portrait mosaic in the Basilica of San Vitale, Ravenna

Theodora (/ˌθiːəˈdɔːrə/; Greek: Θεοδώρα; c. 490 – 28 June 548) was a Byzantine empress and wife of emperor Justinian. She was from humble origins and became empress when her husband became emperor in 527. She was one of his chief advisers. Theodora is a saint in the Eastern Orthodox Church and the Oriental Orthodox Church, commemorated on 28 June. (Full article...)
Image 14

Vitale on the right with his former girlfriend Briana Banks at the 2004 AVN Awards

Bobby Vitale, (June 30, 1965 - August 29, 2017) also known as "Jerry Forde", was an American pornographic actor of Mexican/ Irish descent. He entered the adult film industry in 1995 and had performed in over 418 titles. His filmography included films directed by John Leslie. Vitale has directed two adult films. (Full article...)
Image 15
Erin Brown is an American actress. She has starred in over fifty low-budget films as Misty Mundae. (Full article...)
Image 16

Asami in September 2009
Yuma Asami (Japanese: 麻美ゆま, Hepburn: Asami Yuma, born March 24, 1987), is a Japanese actress, singer, and a former adult video (AV) actress and model. Starring in more than 600 adult films between 2005 and 2013, Asami was widely recognized as one of Japan's most famous and acclaimed adult film actresses with her popularity resulting in mainstream media appearances as well. A leading actress of two major Japanese AV studios, Alice Japan and S1 No.1 Style, Asami was known for her youthful looks, large bust, and her natural onscreen charisma which was largely credited in helping her establish herself as Japan's top adult performer. Between 2008 and 2013, she was also a member of the idol group Ebisu Muscats, where she performed with numerous other famous AV actresses like Sola Aoi, Akiho Yoshizawa, Tina Yuzuki (Rio) and Aino Kishi.

Asami's career took a sharp turn in 2013 when she was diagnosed with ovarian cancer. Despite making a full recovery, Asami chose not to return to the AV industry and retired in May 2015. Currently she is an independent singer-songwriter. (Full article...)
Image 17
Teresa Orlowski (born 29 July 1953) is a former German-Polish performer in and a current producer of adult films in Germany. She was one of the biggest European porn stars of the 80s. (Full article...)
Image 18
Carter Stevens (October 17, 1944 – December 30, 2020) was a pornographic film actor, director, grip, gaffer, and film processing lab technician.

Stevens earned a degree in photography from the Rochester Institute of Technology, worked at Eastman Kodak Company and was a shift supervisor at Movielab, the largest independent motion picture processing facility in New York, before going into film-making. He made 8 mm loops, appeared in over 50 adult films between around 1973 and 1993, and directed about 40 films between 1972 and 1996, including a series of films for the Avon Theater chain.^{[citation needed]} (Full article...)
Image 19
Uta Erickson was a Norwegian actress who appeared in many sexploitation films of the late 1960s. (Full article...)
Image 20

ひびはた写真展大阪
Hibiki at a HibiHata photo exhibition in Osaka
Hibiki Ōtsuki (Japanese: 大槻ひびき) is a Japanese AV actress and an idol singer. Active since 2008, Otsuki became one of the AV industry's most well-known and prolific performers with more than 2100 credited AV appearances. Currently represented by the AV agency T-Powers, she is also a member of the idol group T♡Project. (Full article...)
Image 21

Johnny Hazzard (born Frankie Valenti) is an American former pornographic actor, model, and recording artist who performs in gay and bisexual pornographic films for a number of studios, mainly Rascal Video, and has appeared in mainstream film and television productions under his own name.^{[better source needed]}
He began his career in porn in 2003. Most of his porn videos were directed by Chi Chi LaRue. In August 2008, he worked on a controversial bisexual film directed by LaRue titled Shifting Gears, although he only performed in an all-male scene. He was also a music reviewer for the now defunct Frontiers magazine. (Full article...)
Image 22

Sunderland (left) in 2015, with Nina Hartley (right)

Kendra Jane Sunderland (born June 16, 1995) is an American model and pornographic film actress. She became known as "Library Girl" after a webcam video featuring an amateur performance in the Oregon State University student library went viral in 2015. In 2020, she signed a contract with the pornographic production company Brazzers. (Full article...)
Image 23
Tamaki Katori (香取環, 21 October 1938 – 12 October 2015) was a Japanese actress best known for her appearances in "pink film" during the 1960s and early 1970s. Katori was the star of Flesh Market (1962), the first of these softcore pornographic films made in Japan. With over 600 film credits between 1962 and 1972, she was one of the most prolific Japanese adult film actresses of the 1960s, and became known as the "Pink Princess" of the first wave of pink films. (Full article...)
Image 24

Royalle at the 2013 CineKink awards

Candida Royalle (born Candice Marion Vadala; October 15, 1950 – September 7, 2015) was an American producer and director of couples-oriented pornography, pornographic actress, sex educator, and sex-positive feminist. She was a member of the XRCO and the AVN Halls of Fame. (Full article...)
Image 25

Sibylle Rauch in December 2005

Sibylle Rauch (born 14 June 1960) is a German former film actress, nude model and pornographic actress. (Full article...)

Did you know...

... that the posthumously released documentary Clean centered on the life of Sandra Pankhurst, a former sex worker, drag queen, and crime scene cleaner?
... that Lea Ackermann, a German nun of the Missionary Sisters of Our Lady of Africa, fought against forced prostitution and sex tourism in East Africa?
... that a Harvey's franchise known for being a hub for sex work was described by one artist as a "legendary Toronto icon"?