The persistence and historic manifestations of prostitution throughout the world are briefly discussed, followed by an analysis of the social and political factors influencing women to become prostitutes. Since prostitution generally involves consenting parties, its criminality, compared with acts that involve unwelcome injury to victims, is difficult to rationalize, except on the basis of its being traditionally offensive to dominant religious ethics. Psychological studies indicate that prostitutes generally have not experienced adequate family love in their early years, resulting in sexual fixations with respect to the father or the adoption of actual or fantasized promiscuous role models of the mother. Data indicate that urban areas do have a higher percentage of Part I crime compared with suburban, rural, and small towns; blacks, who tend to inhabit the socially and economically disorganized segments of urban areas, have a higher crime rate than whites. Most Part I crimes involve offenders and victims of the same race, with the exception of robbery, where offenders tend to be black and victims white. Tabular data and 23 references are provided.