The World Health Organization has reported dramatic increases in the prostitution of women and girls in virtually every country, and a United Nations report has found that violence against women is a growing problem globally. The rise in the international trafficking of females is largely attributed to a booming sex tourism industry in Asia, Europe, and South America and to Third World poverty, the economic depression of the former Eastern Bloc, and weak or inconsistent laws that effectively encourage prostitution in many countries. The concurrent growth in the prostitution of children is seen primarily as a response to the AIDS epidemic and the belief that younger and virginal prostitutes are free of infection. In reality, however, children are the most susceptible to AIDS exposure. Several anti-prostitution efforts have been initiated in recent years to curtail the practice, but most have not made a serious dent in the sex trade industry. The dynamics of the prostitution of women and girls and ramifications of the sex trade industry and AIDS transmission are discussed. Prostitution is defined, and consideration is paid to the extent of female prostitution, types of prostitutes, theories and motivations surrounding prostitution, and the relationship between female prostitution and AIDS. Prostitution is examined in relation to drug use, crime, victimization, teenage involvement, runaway and throwaway girls, pimps, child sexual abuse, the relationship between female prostitution and pornography, child pornography, customers of female prostitutes, male prostitutes, and decriminalization and legalization of prostitution. References, notes, tables, and figures