The findings of this study suggest that prostitution is a social practice that is characterized by both active participation in illicit sexual exchanges and routine subjection to violence. One section of this chapter identifies the roots of sexual regulation in the legal institutionalization of separate-spheres ideology and in the history of American sex law. This section discusses how the identity of the prostitute is shaped in the legal process and is used in the enforcement of prostitution and prostitution procurement or solicitation laws. Another section of this chapter explores the daily life narratives of women involved in prostitution, with attention to the relationship between active participation in prostitution and victimization experiences. This is followed by a section of the chapter that contrasts the regulatory practices of local police officers with participants' knowledge of practices. The chapter concludes with a consideration of how subjection to multiple forms of legal and sexual discipline and exploitation illustrated in the daily life narratives of the study participants might inform a more complex and situational conceptual framework for understanding female crime and punishment. 45 references, 5 notes, and 4 discussion questions