According to Columbia Electronic Encyclopedia, prostitution is the granting of sexual access for payment. Each year 15,000,000 U.S. citizens engage in sex for hire (prostitution) according to USApoll.com, and the National Task Force on Prostitution suggests that over one million people in the U.S. have worked as prostitutes in the United States, or about 1% of American women. With this percentage of Americans involved in prostitution, it is a pertinent subject in our society. I wanted to explore prostitution in today's society because of the ongoing controversy against it. I was surprised to learn that today houses of prostitution are illegal in all states but Nevada, I thought prostitution was illegal throughout the U.S. I am very interested in learning the history of prostitution, where it came from and why. The most interesting part of prostitution to me, though, is the age group it is centered around. I hope writing this paper allows me to explore many new issues for myself.
             One of the first issues that I wanted to explore was the reason that most women get started in the prostitution industry. I wondered if they wanted to go into this work and what circumstances put them where they currently are. A 1998 study done by the British Medical Association in South Africa, Thailand, Turkey, the United States, and Zambia found that about two thirds of prostitutes suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder. Of those studied, 92% said they wanted to quit the business. Most prostitutes have histories of childhood abuse, including sexual abuse, as well as homelessness, rape, other forms of assault, alcoholism, and drug misuse.
             Next I wanted to know how prostitution got started, why it is predominately female, and where the opposition to it came from. Gender roles began during the colonial period for Americans. Although the colonists brought over their ideals from Europe, these were changed slightly by their new circumstances...