Most women interviewed said that they had started to work as prostitutes in circumstances of dire need which for the majority was to support a drug habit. For some women, their decision was shaped by their early experiences of childhood sexual abuse. Most of the women said that their work had a profoundly negative impact on their sense of worth and their personal lives. All of the women interviewed supported the idea of a tolerance zone, where they could work without fear of arrest and prosecution with the main reason given for this support their personal safety. Interviews suggest that the world of street women is made up of three groups: the other women, the clients, and the police. Carried out within the context of an ongoing inquiry into the prostitution laws within Scotland and interviews with 33 women selling sex on the streets across 4 major Scottish cities, this study examined women’s views in the areas of women’s reasons for working as prostitutes, their experience of work, their views on the idea of prostitute tolerance zones and whether prostitution should be legalized within the United Kingdom. References