List of red-light districts
Red-light districts are associated with the sex industry and sex-oriented businesses (e.g. sex shops and strip clubs). In some of these places prostitution may legally take place. Other red light districts are known for their illegal prostitution scene (in countries where prostitution is illegal). In red light districts where prostitution is illegal prostitutes or clients may be arrested or fined if caught by the police (the enforcement of anti-prostitution laws varies by country or place).
Following is a partial list of well known red-light districts around the world, both current and historical.
Africa
Kenya
Prostitution is illegal.[1]
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South Africa
Prostitution is illegal.[3]
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Asia
Cambodia
Prostitution is illegal, but tolerated.
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China
Prostitution is illegal.[6]
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India
Operating a brothel, pimping and soliciting in a public place are illegal (however in practice prostitution is tolerated and regulated).
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Indonesia
Prostitution is illegal in non-regulated area. Prostitution is legal in some localization (including pimping and maintaining a brothel).
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Iraq
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Japan
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Prostitution is illegal but narrowly defined. Many sexual acts for pay that would be considered to be prostitution in other countries are legal.[20]
South Korea
Prostitution is illegal, but in practice it is tolerated and regulated.
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Malaysia
Prostitution is illegal.
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Pakistan
Prostitution is illegal, but in practice it is somewhat tolerated although not regulated.
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Philippines
Prostitution is illegal, but widespread and generally tolerated.[30]
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Singapore
Prostitution itself is not illegal; however, public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute, and maintaining a brothel are illegal.[33]
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Thailand
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Prostitution is not strictly illegal in Thailand, though solicitation and public nuisance laws are in effect. In practice it is tolerated and partly regulated.
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- Bangkok
- Patpong[35]
- The western Sukhumvit Road area (notably including Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy; formerly included the now-defunct Clinton Plaza)[36][37]
- Phuket
- Pattaya[39]
Europe
Austria
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
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Belgium
Prostitution is legal, though brothels are not.[44] Enforcement of the law can be lax.
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Denmark
Prostitution is legal, but running brothels and pimping are illegal.
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Germany
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
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- Aachen
- Antoniusstraße[48]
- Augsburg
- Hasengasse[48]
- Berlin
- Bochum
- Im Winkel[48]
- Bonn
- Immenburgstraße[48]
- Braunschweig
- Bruchstraße[48]
- Bremen
- Helenenstraße[48]
- Bremerhaven
- Lessingstraße[48]
- Cologne
- Hornstraße[48]
- Dortmund
- Linienstraße[48]
- Duisburg
- Vulkanstraße[48]
- Düsseldorf
- Hinter dem Bahndamm[48]
- Essen
- Stahlstraße[48]
- Frankfurt
- Hagen
- Düppenbeckerstraße[48]
- Hamburg
- St. Pauli: area around Reeperbahn[51]
- Hannover
- Am Steintor[48]
- Karlsruhe
- Brunnenstraße[48]
- Mannheim
- Lupinenstraße[48]
- Minden
- Rampenloch[48]
- Nuremberg
- Frauentormauer[48]
- Oberhausen
- Flaßhofstraße[52]
Netherlands
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Prostitution and associated activities are legal and common. A total of 12 cities in the Netherlands have red light districts with window prostitution.[citation needed]
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Spain
Brothels are illegal (since 1956), but "clubs" and "wiskerias" are fronts for prostitution and are tolerated.
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- Barcelona
- Barrio Chino,[56][57] Carrer de Sant Ramon
Switzerland
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
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United Kingdom
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England
Prostitution is not illegal when performed by a person acting alone in private but public solicitation, brothels and pimping are. The Policing and Crime Act 2009 makes it illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who has been “subjected to force” and this is a strict liability offence (clients can be prosecuted even if they didn’t know the prostitute was forced).[61][62]
- Leicester
- South Highfields (defunct)[63]
- London
- Gropecunt Lane (possible medieval; defunct)[64]
- King's Cross[65]
- Piccadilly Circus (defunct)[66]
- Soho[67]
- Middlesbrough
- Nottingham
- Reading
- Oxford Road / Western Elms Avenue[71]
- Shrewsbury
- Grope Lane (medieval; defunct)[72]
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Swindon
- Manchester Road/Gorse Hill[75]
- Wolverhampton
- All Saints/Parkfield/ Horseley Fields/West Park[76]
Northern Ireland
- Belfast
- Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast (defunct)[77][78]
- Amelia Street (defunct)[78]
- Linenhall Street[79]
Scotland
- Edinburgh
- Defunct: Leith/Coburg Street/Salamander Street (all defunct)[80]
- Edinburgh does have brothels, but not a red light district.
- Glasgow
- Blythswood Square (defunct)[80]
North America
Canada
Prostitution is legal, though many associated activities (brothels, advertising, street walking) are not.
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Mexico
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
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United States
Prostitution laws vary by state and territory, however it is illegal except for some rural counties of Nevada.
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- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Storyville (historical)[84]
- New York City, New York
- "The Deuce" near Times Square. Comprised West 42nd Street between 6th and 8th Avenues. (defunct/culturally significant/historical)[85][86]
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Northern Liberties (largely historical, mostly defunct)[87][88]
- Boston, Massachusetts
- The Combat Zone (largely historical, mostly defunct)[89][90]
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Sporting District[91] (historical)
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Liberty Avenue (historical)[92]
- San Antonio, Texas
- Sporting District[93] (historical)
- San Diego, California
- San Francisco, California
- Tenderloin (historical)[95]
- Washington, D.C.
- 14th Street (Washington, D.C.) (historical)
Oceania
Australia
Prostitution laws vary by state, either being legal or decriminalized.
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New Zealand
Prostitution and associated activities are legal.
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- Auckland
- Papatoetoe, specifically Hunter's Corner[101]
- Christchurch
- Manchester Street[101]
- Wellington
See also
References
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- ↑ Two Arrested for Immoral Traffic - The new India Express
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- ↑ Brisbane's prostitute safety zones, ABC, 3 March 2003.
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- ↑ 100.0 100.1 A decade and a half of struggle : the prostitutes' movement, Australian Institute of Criminology, 1991.
- ↑ 101.0 101.1 101.2 Prostitution Law Reform, New Zealand Prostitutes Collective.
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