This guide addresses the problem of street prostitution, focusing on female prostitutes and male clients. It begins by describing the problem and reviewing factors that contribute to it.
It then identifies a series of questions to help you analyze your local problem. Finally, it reviews responses to the problem, and what is known about them from evaluative research and practice. Street prostitution is only one of a number of sexual activity-related problems the police must address.
This guide is limited to addressing the particular harms street prostitution creates. Related problems not directly addressed in this guide include. Some of these related problems are covered in other guides in this series, all of which are listed at the end of this guide. For the most up-to-date listing of current and future guides, see www.
There are widely different perspectives on prostitution. Some view the prostitutes as primarily responsible for the problem; some view the clients as responsible, and the prostitutes as victims. Community morals and beliefs about how the law should regulate morality will affect how any particular community addresses street prostitution.
This guide does not adopt any particular moral perspective: It is intended to objectively inform you and other policymakers about the effectiveness and consequences of various approaches to controlling street prostitution. Before discussing response options, a general overview of the problem is provided. Prostitutes do not risk legal penalties. The public strongly supports this policy, with an 80 percent approval rate Eckberg Street prostitution varies across the individual prostitutes involved and their commitment to prostitution, the market size, the community's tolerance levels, the degree to which prostitutes are organized, and the relationship of prostitution to drug use and trafficking.
