Social Problems — Prostitution — Sociology

📖 Definition & nature

Prostitution = offering or selling one's body for sexual services in exchange for money
Though the definition is broadening in modern discourse, the term is still popularly associated with women
It is regarded as immoral, and when it spreads widely it is treated as a symbol of moral decay in society
Context note (as raised in the lecture): one rationale offered for permitting polygamy in early Islamic society was to give war-widowed women a lawful means of support so they would not be pushed into such work — a point often misunderstood

Often called the world's oldest profession
In medieval Europe it was legal, and brothels (the premises where it takes place) were even taxed
Red-light area — a district associated with the trade (Pakistan example: Lahore's Heera Mandi)
- One widely cited origin of the term: during post-US Civil War reconstruction, prostitution camps were set up beside railroad construction sites; a worker inside a camp hung a red lantern outside so he could be found in an emergency — the red light became the marker of an occupied camp

A controversial functionalist reading (classically associated with Kingsley Davis, 1937) — useful to state and then critique.

Income (a latent function) — provides earnings for women who have no other source of income
A substitute for the sexually unsatisfied — an outlet for those dissatisfied in their sexual lives
An option for the unmarried — for those without the means to marry or support a family, a low-cost way to meet a basic need
- Note: alongside food, clothing and shelter, the lecture (citing Muhammad Qutb, Islam: The Misunderstood Religion) treats sex as a fourth basic human need — one that is socially taboo** to discuss openly
Keeps the divorce rate lower (per this view) — a sexually incompatible husband has an outside outlet, so marriages are less likely to break down
⚠️ Critique: this reasoning normalises exploitation and ignores the coercion and harm involved — present it as the functionalist argument, not an endorsement

Prostitution is a result of social (and gender) inequality — men sit atop the power structure and coerce women held in a subordinate position
It overwhelmingly involves poor women — lacking resources and opportunity, they see it as the only easy source of income
Feminism blames patriarchy — men treat women as sex objects, using their bodies to satisfy their own needs

The path is chosen and defined — a person may frame prostitution as an "easy path," whereas honest hard work (e.g. domestic cleaning) is an alternative
Society's label traps them — a woman who wants to return to mainstream life is given such stigma and labels that she cannot re-enter, so she stays in the trade (an application of labelling theory)

Financial problems
- A woman from a poor background, buried under heavy debt she cannot repay, may turn to it when no other path is left
Family obligations
- Chronic illness, or the death of the family's earning member, can force a woman into it out of sheer necessity
Drug addiction
- An addicted husband may coerce or sell his wife for sexual services to fund his addiction (the film Udta Punjab is cited on how destructive addiction is)
After forced rape
- A rape survivor — through no fault of her own — is often rejected by society for marriage and treated as "impure," and with no acceptance left may be pushed toward it
Deceit by a lover
- Young girls who elope are frequently used and abandoned by their partners; unable to return home, some end up in the trade
Kidnapping / trafficking (organized crime)
- Girls kidnapped young are groomed into an organised prostitution racket — a serious organised crime (cross-ref: Child Abuse & trafficking)

Define prostitution; note why it is seen as a marker of moral decay
History & terminology — oldest profession, legal/taxed in medieval Europe, brothel, red-light area (Heera Mandi) + origin of the term
Match each perspective to its framing — functionalism (Davis's latent functions), conflict (inequality + feminism/patriarchy), interactionism (the stigma trap)
List all 6 determinants specific to Pakistan, with an example each
Note the overlap with trafficking and child abuse for cross-referencing in essays