Prostitution: A Basic Study by Bassam Imam - HTML preview

PROSTITUTION: A BASIC STUDY

Prostitution involves the act or practice of engaging in sexual intercourse for monetary, article, or other gain. The ‘seller’ is the prostitute the buyer is the ‘client’ or ‘john’.

Prostitutes are overwhelmingly non-willing, most of which are females many are minors. Many male prostitutes are unwilling participants too, children who are prostituted are always unwilling, for the fact that they do not have the intellectual capacity to truly understand what they’re doing, irrespective of the circumstances. Depending on the particular jurisdiction and the client, full penetration need not occur to be classified as prostitution. Many prostitutes must pay their pimps or brothel keepers a certain percentage of their earning, yet there are many cases wherein prostitutes receive no payment whatsoever. More women are seeking the services of men, or other women under the context of prostitution. Male prostitution entails servicing women, other men, or both. The most bizarre form of prostitution involves animals. Animal brothels or ‘erotic zoos’ are legal in a few countries, but thankfully, strong protests by caring people are forcing authorities to enact stronger laws to fight this atrocity.

The relationship between client and prostitutes almost always involves no legal, moral, ethical, or emotional ties; this is overwhelmingly a business transaction. In rare cases, a psychopath will imprison one or more women and use them as sex slaves (free prostitutes). Rarely, husbands will prostitute their wives, and in very poor countries some families prostitute their children.

In some countries, brothel or licensed prostitution is legal, but street or underground prostitution is usually deemed illegal. Punishments for prostitution range from a fine, jail term, a beating or lashing, or a death penalty. In many countries law enforcement and society in general ignore this practice in spite of it being against the law.

A woman who undertakes sexual acts with only one man is usually labelled a mistress, not a prostitute. But depending on the particular context of the relationship, she may be a concubine, a disposable or temporary girlfriend or wife, sweat-heart, or a kept woman.

Prostitution has often been described as the world’s oldest profession. One thing is for certain, it has existed since ancient times. ‘Sacred prostitution’ was practiced by the Sumerians, Babylon, and Canaan. The latter contained a noticeable number of male prostitutes.

In a number of Phoenician cultures, prostitution existed in honour of Ashtar (‘the Star’ or ‘She Womb’), whom they believed to be the Goddess of Love and War. Ishtar’s Priestesses helped men who gave money to her temples through the ‘hallowed’ powers of their bodies, thereby initiating perhaps the beginning of organized prostitution. Ishatar’s Priestesses were caretakers and spiritual sex therapists.

Regarding the Sumerian sexual practices amongst Babylonians, the Greek historian Herodotus (484 BC –425 BC) noted that prostitution was the ‘ugliest custom’ in Babylon. He believed that a greater part of young women lost their virginity in the temples of Ishtar, to unknown men.

Some female researchers staunchly disagree with the idea of ‘holy prostitution’ having ever occurred. They believe these stories to be lies. One such woman, Julia Asante, an American scholar on the subject of the ancient orient and the ‘chieftain’ of the movement, is convinced that sacred whores are simply products of ‘male fantasy’. I don’t think so.

In ancient Greece, prostitution was practiced by both boys and women. Most of the boys in this enterprise were adolescents.

The Greek word for prostitute is porne evolving from the verb pernemi (to sell). Although a minority of female prostitutes were somewhat ‘autonomous’, even during the hay-day of Athenian democracy, only free adult males could be full citizens. Sexual schools emerged in the Greek city states, wherein girls could be purchased from slave markets and schooled in the art of selling their bodies. Slaves sold their bodies to acquire money. Both local and visiting patrons were always available. Many Greek male citizens didn’t get married until about 30 years of age. In their own way, they needed some kind of sexual outlet.

As a beautiful seaside city and nerve center of the Ancient Greek world, Athens was commonly frequented by sailors and merchants who anchored their ships for commerce, respite, and entertainment. For centuries-on-end, brothels and the business of prostitution flourished; customers were readily available, many came from afar. This brought in much money helping Athens to become a ‘cultured’ city.

The Aztec political and religious elite permitted prostitution in establishments they called cihuacalli (house of women). Focused on the Goddess of filth these houses were enclosed structures and areas. The general pattern has persisted; red light districts and other areas designated for prostitution tend to be contained and/or ghettoized.

Not surprisingly, considering there was no high-tech contraception available at the time, many prostitutes were impregnated, giving birth to non-citizens. It wasn’t uncommon for a prostitute to have several children. Unfortunately, the prostitutes were on their own when it came to raising their illegitimate children. Infanticide was a common practice.

In 1912, the Yewden Villa excavations at Hambledon, Buckingham led to the discovery of 97 infants believed to have been the victims of infanticide, murdered by their prostitute mothers. The find further proved that Roman Britain was not immune to infanticide, a practice that was practices elsewhere in the empire. Considering that under Roman law, a child less than 2 years old was the undisputed property of its father with no rights whatsoever. For a prostitute of the day, having babies would have seriously affected her ability to prostitute herself, earn money, and would become a burden unto society. Hence, there was little or no stigma attached to infanticide. Add to this, contraception methods were crude and not very effective.

"Re-finding the remains gave me nightmares for three nights ... It made me feel dreadful. I kept thinking about how the poor little things died. The human part of the tale is awful ... There were equal numbers of girls and boys. Some of the babies were related as they showed a congenital bone defect on their knee bones, which is a very rare gene ... It would account for the same woman or sisters giving birth to the children as a result of the brothel," said Archaeologist Dr Jill Eyers. (Posted September 1, 2011; aftermathnews.com: Roman prostitutes were forced to kill their own children and bury them in mass graves at English ‘brothel’).

Many of the prostitutes in ancient Rome were foreign slaves, captured and appropriated, bought, or were raised by colossal prostitute breeders who acquired orphaned or discarded children. Occasionally, prostitution was a meted punishment for free women who broke the law. Prospective clients were permitted to scrutinize nude men and women for sale behind the scenes. There was no dishonour in a nobleman who purchased a male prostitute. The city of Pompeii, known for having been drowned in molten lava and volcanic ash, was full of brothels.

"Blessed be they as virtuous, who when they feel their virile members swollen with lust, visit a brothel rather than grind at some husband’s private mill - Cato the Younger. (February 20, 2012, Guest Post, by Maggy McNeill via feministe.us: The Many Types of Prostitutes in Rome).

In Ancient Pompeii, the phallus was a natural, common decoration used for good luck, and so were erotic frescoes and graffiti bedecking walls of buildings containing many rooms with stone beds used for prostitution. The Lupanare (wolf's den), one of the renowned brothels of Ancient Pompeii, was a 2-story building that contained 10 rooms and a restroom under the stairs. Each of the rooms had a stone bed with a mattress used by prostitutes and clients. Within the Lupanare were walls displaying erotic images of various positions of sexual intercourse. These images were likely the 'menu' for prospective clients. Furthermore, it got them in the mood for some fun.

But a closer examination of life of Lupanare's prostitutes paints a dreary and gloomy occupation. The workrooms contained no windows the rooms were small and somewhat restrictive, and quite uncomfortable by today's standards. Furthermore, it’s probably that many of the working girls were slaves who were either forced into prostitution, or had no other options for survival. With this in mind, violence was likely commonplace, either by the clients or the brothel keepers.

BELOW ARE DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT KINDS OF PROSTITUTES AND THE RELATED TERMS USED IN ANCIENT ROME:

•  Aelicariea: (baker's girls): Female prostitutes who did their work outside of the temple. They acquired money through sex and small pastries configured in the form of male or female genitalia.
•  Amasiae: Females who prostituted themselves part-time as an act of worship of Venus (the mythical Roman Goddess of love, beauty and fertility).
•  Ambubiae: Female professional singers, most of whom were prostitutes.
•  Amica: Female prostitutes who serviced both genders.
•  Ancillae Ornatrices: Domestic cleaners who aided brothel prostitutes to clean themselves, and to polish their looks, and to appear presentable to patrons.
•  Aquarii (‘water boys’): Male child servants who worked in brothels. Their duties included serving wine and other snacks and tidbits. They also fetched water for washing.
•  Blitidae (blitum girls): Prostitutes named for the blitum (cheap wine) that they sold.
•  Bustuariae: Prostitutes that were trained mourners that worked in cemeteries between funeral services.
•  Camp Followers: Slaves, comfort women who prostituted themselves for the pleasures of the Roman legions.
•  Casuaria: A clubhouse that contained a brothel.
•  Citharistriae: Trained harpists, many of whom did some prostitution work.
•  Copae: Slave or servant girls who did part-time prostitution work.
•  Cymbalistriae: Prostitutes who were also part-time cymbal players.
•  Delicatae: Middle-class prostitutes.
•  Diobolares: Cheap-priced streetwalkers.
•  Diversorium: A boarding house that sublet some of its rooms to working prostitutes.
•  Dorides: Prostitutes who displayed their nude bodies in the doorway of their homes.
•  Famosae: Single or married upper-class women who were prostitutes or had sex for the pleasure of it.
•  Fellatrix: A prostitute specializing in giving fellatio.
•  Forariae: Country girls who prostituted themselves on rural roads.
•  Fornices: The arches beneath large Roman buildings wherein streetwalkers and their clients did their thing.
•  Gallinae (a group of female birds or hens): Thief prostitutes.
•  Leno: A male pimp or brothel keeper.
•  Lena: A female pimp or brothel keeper.
•  Lupae (she-wolves): Wandering streetwalkers who captivated clients by making wolf-cries.
•  Lupanar: The Roman word for brothel.
•  Mimae: Mimes who also worked as part-time prostitutes.
•  Noctiluae (night prostitutes): Prostitutes who worked in the late hours of the night.
•  Nonariae: Prostitutes who were permitted to work from 9:00 P.M. until daybreak.
•  Quadrantariae: Slave girls, those belonging to the lowest class. The cheapest priced prostitutes.
•  Scorta Erratica: Streetwalkers.
•  Scortum: (strumpet): A commonplace term used for a low-class prostitute.
•  Stabula: A large, one-room brothel. All sexual activities were visible to everyone in the room, paving the way for groupsex and orgies.
•  Tabernae: Bakeries that rented out a secluded area to streetwalkers.
•  Tugurium: A temporary, low-rent bungalow used by prostitutes and patrons who wanted to do their thing in seclusion.
•  Turturilla (pigeon house): Large pigeon enclosures wherein some streetwalkers entertained clients. Transvestite prostitutes were common in turturillas.
•  Venerii: Harlot-priestesses of Venus who instructed and coached prostitutes’ sexual techniques.
•  Vestal Virgins: Six specially designated sacred virgins. They resided in the Temple of Vesta. Their virgin status lasted for 30 years. However, some vestal virgins did fornicate, the discovery of which resulted in a severe penalty, even death. Following the death of or the ending of tenure of one virgin, she was promptly replaced with another one, usually between 6 and 10 years of age.
•  Villicus: The cashier at a brothel. He had to be knowledgeable of the business, answering patrons' questions.

Prostitution was a common and rewarding enterprise in the Middle-Ages. Many towns and cities contained a brothel of sorts. Prostitutes worked in designated areas on specific streets in particular neighbourhoods). Furthermore, prostitutes were required to wear distinguished clothing for them to stand out from normal woman. Women’s primary reason for prostituting themselves was for money; she had no other means of making a living or this line of work was an addendum to her other earnings. Nevertheless, prostitution was considered a heinous, sinful act.

BELOW IS A SEGMENT OF REGULATIONS CONCERNING PROSTITUTES DWELLING IN BROTHELS, WHICH WAS PART OF THE NUREMBERG CITY ORDINANCES (CIRCA 1470)

Also, the brothel keeper, man and woman, must provide the women living in their house with chambers, bed linens, and decent food, and they must feed them two meals a day and at every meal two decent dishes; and for such expenses each common woman living in the brothel must give the brothel keeper separately the sum of forty-two pence weekly, whether she uses the food or not. In addition the brothel keeper must make and hold a bath at least once a week in the house for the women living in the house, and this at his expense, not the women's. (February 14, 2013; Midievalists.net: Sex in the Middle-Ages).

Prostitution has been an ever-present part of American history. Starting in the mid-18th century, when American cities began to grow and city life became more impersonal, prostitution and related trades multiplied. There were more men to service, and in the port cities 'sex-starved' sailors were more than willing clients.

In 1753, a Bostonian named Hannah Dilley pled guilty to permitting men to enter her husband's house to service the whores therein. Dilley pled guilty, and was sentenced to stand on a stool located outside of the courthouse holding a sign detailing her offense.

Philadelphia's 'Hell-Town' was notorious for its omnipresent brothels. It was the precursor for the other red light districts that were to crop up throughout America. Benjamin Franklin, one of the Founding Fathers of the United States of America and it 6th President, admitted that had frequented ‘low women’.

Colonial-era brothels generally did not hang out signs, symbols, or advertisements indicating what their enterprise was involved in. Clients discovered the locations of brothels by frequenting taverns or hearsay from brothel or prostitute clients. Raids weren’t common, but police corruption in the form of money, food, or other ‘gifts’ were ever-present.

The largest American 'red light district' is located in New Orleans, Louisiana. It’s the closest thing to a counterpart of the Red Light District in Amsterdam, or the other notorious Red Light Districts in Europe. In the early 1720s there were only several hundred free white men in the entire colony of Louisiana. The Government of France delivered dozens of women to the colony in the hope that men would marry them, and to help prevent them from fornicating with Native American women. A sizeable portion of these 'delivered women' had served time in French prison, for the crime of prostitution. Upon their arrival to the new colony, they realized that working as prostitutes ensured them more freedom, and quite likely more money than getting married.

Mary Ann Hall serviced America’s elite in Washington by providing the best brothel in the capitol during the American Civil War (May 1861 - April 1865). The brothel, 3 stories high and almost the size of a block, was located a few blocks from the capitol on Maryland Avenue. The working girls therein had the reputation of being particularly attractive.

Large numbers of troops often drew in droves of ‘camp followers’ who were available for a certain fee. Prostitutes servicing men of high rank posed as nurses. Today, one of the slang words for prostitutes is ‘Hooker’, believed by many to have originated from hearsay concerning Union General Fighting Joe Hooker. He was believed to have had lustful relationships.

The first wave of Chinese immigrants in the mid-nineteenth century contained a scant number (believed to be a handful or slightly more) of women. Compare this with the more than 4000 Chinese men in San Francisco. Chinese immigrants were discriminated against, worked in dangerous or menial jobs, and were forbidden from marrying or having a romantic relationship with a white woman.

Later, as the population of Chinese immigrant women grew, so did the number of prostitutes. They worked in mining settlements, railroad camps, in Chinatowns, and wherever else their services were needed. The high proportion of perceived or actual number of Chinese women prostitutes further ignited the pre-existing racism of the dominant society. Later, Chinese prostitutes included white men in their services. Unfortunately, during this period cruelty towards Chinese prostitutes was commonplace. There are stories of Chinese prostitutes being forced to have sex with men who had visible signs of sexually transmittable diseases (STDs).

BELOW ARE GENERAL DESCRIPTIONS OF THE DIFFERENT TYPES OF PROSTITUTES:

•  Autonomous Self-Reliant Call Girl: Self-employed (no pimp or agency fees), work in hotels, private establishments, homes, or other locations. Their services are expensive, and these women are in-conspicuous.
•  Escort Agency Call Girl: Work for an agency, are in-conspicuous, their services are expensive, but must give a percentage to the agency. The level of exploitation amongst these agencies is variable.
•  Brothel Worker: Works in a designated location (a whore house). Aside from sex, other services may include massages, saunas, and other forms of entertainment. The prostitute must give a percentage of earnings to the brothel-keeper. She’s more likely to be taken advantage of or abused than the 2 aforementioned prostitute types. Abuse may be moderate, or in cases of covert brothels or sex slaves, severe. The country and neighbourhood wherein the brothel is located can also have a bearing on the level of exploitation and abuse. Fees are usually reasonable.
•  Window Prostitute: Most often located in countries, cities, or neighbourhoods wherein prostitution is legal or wherein the authorities turn a blind eye. The most renowned red light district for window prostitutes is the Red Light District in Amsterdam, Holland. “Almost all of Amsterdam's window rooms are single occupancy, separating workers from each other. Some rooms are connected to a bathroom and kitchen shared by several workers, but the women spend most of their time by themselves in front of the windows. The situation contrasts sharply with brothels, where workers can enjoy a party atmosphere and regular social contact with other providers, staff, and customers.” (November 6, 2013, By Erin Fuchs; businessinsider.com: The 6 Types of Prostitutes and Where They Work).
•  Bar, Casino, or Party Prostitute: The introductory connection is made at designated place. The prostitutes have experience eyeing potential clients. The sexual act is committed elsewhere. Depending on the establishment, the prostitute may have to pay the keeper a commission. This kind of work is potentially dangerous. As is the case, the prostitute leaves the establishment with the client (often-times a stranger), usually to locations unknown. Fees are relatively low to reasonable.
•  Streetwalker: The prostitute may stand on a street corner or walk the streets, dressed in flashy clothing and/or in a seductive manner. The neighbourhood is usually lower-class and crime ridden. This line of work is one notch above being a sex slave. Danger and physical violence by the pimp or client is always an ever-present possibility. Furthermore, streetwalkers are harassed by the police more than any other kind of prostitute.
•  Child Prostitution: An anathema that is present throughout much of the world. Estimates of the number of prostitutes range between a few million to 10 million; it’s probably closer to the latter number. Child prostitution uses children for sexual activities for money or other kind of payment. Note that pre-teen child prostitutes are so small an entrance into any of their orifices can result in severe, possibly lifelong injury, and in some cases even death, not to mention the incredible psychological trauma involved. Children aren’t ready to have sex they’re too innocent and immature. The victimized children may work in brothels, on the streets, in pimp homes, bars, hotels, restaurants, shady, hidden areas within red light districts, or in the case of a poor Third World country in a high tourism area.

"In Pattaya [Thailand], if there were fewer foreign people coming in to buy sex, then the problem would be easier to manage ... They [pedophiles] have an entire worldwide network of people looking for children through human trafficking. And sex tourism makes it harder to stop,” said Palissorn Noja, who runs Pattaya's Anti-Human Trafficking and Child Abuse Centre, told the Huffington Post.(February 6, 2014, By Ludovica Iaccino; ibtimes.co.uk: Top Five Countries With Highest Rates of Child Prostitution).

•  Animal Prostitution: Zoophilia is the sexual attraction to animals, while bestiality is the sexual act with an animal. All bestiality is rape, for the simple reason that the animal doesn’t have the mental or emotional maturity or know-how to understand what’s really happening. Animals don’t understand what’s right or wrong at the same level as do humans.
•  Web Prostitute: These prostitutes wish to meet patrons online in order to evade unnecessary expenses and to ensure a coordinated initial rendezvous. Some are former brothel or agency workers who were fed up with handing over a percentage of their earnings to the agency and/or pimp, and/or to escape abuse in these places. There’s a potential danger to either the prostitute or the client on the first meeting. One or both may be dangerous. Furthermore, a prostitute who receives clients from her website may bypass medical exams screening for STDs. The fees are quite variable.
•  Male Prostitute: Can be straight, homosexual, or bisexual.
•  Transgender Prostitute: A prostitute who in the process of getting a full gender transformation, or a fully changed one.
•  Transvestite Prostitute: A prostitute that chooses to dress in the clothing of the opposite gender, most commonly a male dressed as a woman.

Even where brothels are legal, the abuse of prostitutes still occurs. Nevada’s brothels began to pop up during the 19 century, wherein many male prospectors needed some female comfort. Most customers who visit brothels have surplus money on hand to satisfy their desires. But when the economy dips, business at many of these legal brothels goes down. Less surplus money and the emergence of web prostitutes can have a direct bearing on brothel business. Web prostitutes usually work alone.

Nevada brothel services are expensive. They’re permitted to operate in counties containing less than 400,000 people. The typical Nevada brothel worker may earn $3000 a week some earn less and some a lot more, minus a 50 percent cut to the brothel, and other expenses. Brothels, like other businesses have overhead costs. Nevertheless, the money always comes from the clients. Some of Nevada’s brothels require a minimum charge of $150, others $300. When business goes bad, those girls who can go elsewhere do, others that can’t are stuck where they are. Prostitutes are commonly forced to work long shifts, sometimes 12 -14 hours.

"As business has fallen off, many of the girls have moved from the brothels to illegal prostitution ... They don't always do that in an attempt to be illegal, but in the high-tech world we live in, a lot of girls have their own website, or ads on Craigslist, and a lot of girls are taking some pretty big chances right now,” said George Flint, a lobbyist for the Nevada Brothel Owners Association. (August 28, 2013, By Chris Morris, Special to CNBC.com; cnbc.com: Brothel or bust: Hard times at Nevada's bordellos).

Behind the artificial facade of the happy and cheerful Nevada brothel workers is an upsetting truth, the fact that the women are selling their bodies and for the most part, are working for pimps-of-the-trade. Legal or not, abuse still goes on. Prostitution and Trafficking in Nevada (2007), a book written by Melissa Farley, sheds light on the plight of many Nevada brothel workers.

Farley’s book  was  largely derived from a 2-year investigation, wherein she visited 8 Nevada brothels, interviewing 45 female prostitutes and an undesignated number of brothel owners. The prostitutes she interviewed described working conditions that were slave-like. What can we expect? These women are selling their bodies to, often-times strangers who are there for one purpose only.

One interviewee described the brothels as ‘pussy penitentiaries’, another said that it was like signing a contract to be raped, former prostitute Chong Kim claimed that some brothel owners are terrible, and that they harm the women in their care and are completely protected by the State of Nevada. Furthermore, the prostitutes must present themselves immediately and stand in a line or semi-circle as soon as a client comes, wherein, he will choose the woman that he wants. Keep this in mind rejection of a client by a prostitute is a loss of a customer, which is bad for business. Never mind, the prostitute may be repulsed by the client, or she may have a bad feeling about him. In spite of panic buttons being present in many brothel rooms, prostitutes still claim to have been physically and sexually abused by clients and brothel keepers.

"The physical appearance of these buildings is shocking ... They look like wide trailers with barbed wire around them – little jails ... I saw a grated iron door in one brothel ... The women's food was shoved through the door's steel bars between the kitchen and the brothel area. One pimp starved a woman he considered too fat. She made a friend outside the brothel who would throw food over the fence for her ... Another pimp told Farley matter-of-factly that many of the women working for him had histories of sexual abuse and mental ill-health. ‘Most have been sexually abused as kids. Some are bipolar, some are schizophrenic’." (Original Source: US news; September 7, 2007, By Julie Bindel; theguardian.com: 'It's like you sign a contract to be raped').

Nevada’s brothel prostitutes are required to be tested for STDs weekly, and for HIV monthly. Clients can be disease-free or not, there are no medical examination requirements for them. Regarding the test results, prostitutes must present medical authorization to the local police station, and will be fingerprinted. Many medical insurance providers refuse to cover known prostitutes, former prostitutes may be discriminated against while searching for a job, and they may be shunned by a significant section of society.

Asian prostitutes in Sydney, Australia are coerced into performing fellatio (oral sex) to remain working in the industry, due to a progressively more competitive prostitution industry. Naturally, medical experts fear that this could result in a marked increase in STDs extending into mainstream society. Sydney brothels that have Asian workers offer oral sex without protection as a natural service.

New South Wales (NSW) Health has declared that rates of STDs among the general population are increasing, although at the time there was no proof that rates were increasing among sex workers. However, the Sun-Herald discovered that any increase in STDs among Sydney's Asian prostitutes will be hidden, because self-treatment using medicines brought in from Hong Kong is commonplace. Commonly, the prostitutes’ English isn’t very good, some or many are illegally in Australia, legal-criminal repercussions, loss of employment, and possible retaliatory measures by the brothel keepers are ever-present fears. What’s more, unprotected sex (no condom use) in NSW brothels isn’t against the law. The health and safety guidelines for NSW brothels only require a safe working environment.

Brothel workers believe that 4 out of 5 men who use their services are either married or have a girlfriend. Hence, these men return home and place their oblivious mates in potential harm from STDs.

“It's highly dangerous ... If the girls don't have proper health check-ups, they can give [an infection] to the client and the client can go home and give it to his wife. Men don't realise what they're getting into ... I feel sorry for the unsuspecting wives and girlfriends," warned Lee Cameron, who owns high-end Chats-wood brothel La Petite Aroma, which {supposedly} does not offer unprotected sex. (July 31, 2011, By Cosima Merriner; The Sydney Morning Herald: The threat to health from cheap brothels).

Some experts believe that an outbreak among men who frequent NSW brothels with Asian prostitutes has already occurred. As is indicated in web forums, a man who uses the pseudonym An-Unlucky-Punter claimed to have contracted Chlamydia or gonorrhoea after having unprotected oral sex with Asian prostitutes from 4 different brothels in Sydney in the last month.

Chlamydia is a common STD that can infect both men and women. Although it’s easy to cure, left untreated, it can cause permanent damage on a woman’s reproductive system, and can have serious adverse effects on pregnancy.

Gonorrhoea is another common STD that can infect both men and women. It can cause infections in the genitals, rectum, and thr