Red-light districts are areas associated with the sex industry and sex-oriented businesses (e.g. sex shops and strip clubs). In some of these places prostitution may legally take place. Other red-light districts are known for their illegal prostitution scene (in countries where prostitution is illegal). In red light districts where prostitution is illegal prostitutes or clients may be arrested or fined if caught by the police (the enforcement of anti-prostitution laws varies by country or place).
Following is a partial list of well known red-light districts around the world, both current and historical.
Africa
Kenya
Prostitution is illegal.
- Nairobi
- Koinange Street
Morocco
Prostitution is illegal.
- Casablanca
- Bousbir
- Fez
- Moullay Abdullah
- Marrakesh
- Bab el Khemis
- Rabat
- Oukassa
South Africa
Prostitution is illegal.
- Durban
- Point Road
Tunisia
Prostitution in regulated.
- Tunis
- Sidi Abdallah Guech
Asia
Cambodia
Prostitution is illegal, but tolerated.
- Phnom Penh
- Svay Pak
China
Prostitution is illegal.
- Beijing
- Dashilan
- Shanghai
- Simalu
Hong Kong
Prostitution itself is not illegal but operating a brothel is illegal.
- Wan Chai
India
Prostitution is not illegal when performed by a person acting alone in private but public solicitation, brothels and pimping are a brothel (however in practice prostitution is tolerated and regulated).
- Allahabad
- Meergunj
- Jaipur
- Tilawala
- Kolkata
- Sonagachi
- Mumbai
- Kamathipura
- Muzaffarpur
- Chaturbhuj Sthan
- Nagpur
- Itwari
- New Delhi
- Garstin Bastion Road
- Pune
- Budhwar Peth
Indonesia
Prostitution is illegal in non-regulated areas. Prostitution is legal in some locations (including pimping and maintaining a brothel).
- Surabaya
- Gang Dolly (closed in 2014)
- Jakarta
- Kalijodo (demolished on 29 February 2016, now a public park)
- Kramat Tunggak (closed in 1999)
Iraq
- Baghdad
- Kamaliyah (Arabic: الكمالية‎)
Japan
Prostitution is illegal but narrowly defined. Many sexual acts for pay that would be considered to be prostitution in other countries are legal.
- Osaka
- Kujo
- Tobita Shinchi
- Tokyo
- Kabukicho
- Roppongi
South Korea
Prostitution is illegal, but in practice it is tolerated and regulated.
- Daegu
- Jagalmadang
- Paju
- Yong Ju Gol
- Seoul
- Cheongnyangni 588
- Mia-ri
- Yeongdeungpo
Malaysia
Prostitution is illegal.
- Kuala Lumpur
- Chow Kit
Pakistan
Prostitution is illegal, but in practice it is somewhat tolerated although not regulated.
- Hyderabad
- Serey Ghat
- Lahore
- Heera Mandi
Philippines
Prostitution is illegal, but widespread and generally tolerated.
- Angeles City
- Olongapo City
Singapore
Prostitution itself is not illegal; however, public solicitation, living on the earnings of a prostitute, and maintaining a brothel are illegal.
- Geylang
Thailand
Prostitution is not strictly illegal in Thailand, though solicitation and public nuisance laws are in effect. In practice it is tolerated and partly regulated.
- Bangkok
- Patpong
- The western Sukhumvit Road area (notably including Nana Plaza and Soi Cowboy; formerly included the now-defunct Clinton Plaza)
- Phuket
- Soi Bang-La â€" Patong Beach
- Pattaya
- Boyztown
- Sunee Plaza
- Walking Street
Europe
Austria
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
- Vienna
- Gürtel
Belgium
Prostitution is legal, though brothels are not. Enforcement of the law can be lax.
- Antwerp
- Schipperskwartier including Villa Tinto
- Brussels
-
- Rue d'Aerschot and surrounds
- Alhambra Quarter
- Avenue Louise
- Charleroi
- "Charleroi Triangle" (closed 2011)
- Area around ministère des Finances
- Faubourg de Bruxelles and the N5, Gosselie
- Deinze
- Kortrijksesteenweg (N43).
- Ghent
-
- Schepenenvijverstraat/Pieter Vanderdoncktdoorgang (including Glazen Straatje)
- Belgradostraat
- Liege
- Rue du Champion/Rue de l’Agneau (windows closed in 2009, street prostitution still occurs)
- Ostend
- Docklands
- Seraing
- Rue Marnix
- A purpose built "Eros Centre" is planned
- Sint-Truiden
- Luikersteenweg (know locally as "Chaussée d'Amour")
Denmark
Prostitution is legal, but running brothels and pimping are illegal.
- Copenhagen
- Halmtorvet
- Istedgade
Germany
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
- Aachen
- Antoniusstraße
- Augsburg
- Hasengasse
- Berlin
- Oranienburger Straße
- Bochum
- Im Winkel
- Bonn
- Immenburgstraße
- Braunschweig
- Bruchstraße
- Bremen
- Helenenstraße
- Bremerhaven
- Lessingstraße
- Cologne
- Hornstraße
- Dortmund
- Linienstraße
- Duisburg
- Vulkanstraße
- Düsseldorf
- Hinter dem Bahndamm
- Essen
- Stahlstraße
- Frankfurt
- Bahnhofsviertel
- Hagen
- Düppenbeckerstraße
- Hamburg
- St. Pauli: area around Reeperbahn
- Hannover
- Am Steintor
- Karlsruhe
- Brunnenstraße
- Mannheim
- Lupinenstraße
- Minden
- Rampenloch
- Nuremberg
- Frauentormauer
- Oberhausen
- Flaßhofstraße
- Stuttgart
- Leonhardsviertel
Netherlands
Prostitution and associated activities are legal and common. A total of 12 cities in the Netherlands have red light districts with window prostitution.
- Amsterdam
- De Wallen
- Singel
- de Pijp
- Eindhoven
- Baekelandplein
- Alkmaar
- Achterdam
Spain
Brothels are illegal (since 1956), but "clubs" and "wiskerias" are fronts for prostitution and are tolerated.
- Barcelona
- Barrio Chino, Carrer de Sant Ramon
Switzerland
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
- Zurich
- Langstrasse
- Geneva
- Les Pâquis
- Lausanne
- Sevelin[1]
- Ticino
- Lugano
United Kingdom
England
Prostitution is not illegal when performed by a person acting alone in private but public solicitation, brothels and pimping are. The Policing and Crime Act 2009 makes it illegal to pay for sex with a prostitute who has been “subjected to force†and this is a strict liability offence (clients can be prosecuted even if they didn’t know the prostitute was forced).
- Leeds
- Holbeck - Under a scheme started in October 2014, initiated by West Yorkshire Police and Leeds City Council, sex workers may trade without fear of arrest on an industrial estate in Leeds' Holbeck district; providing they obey various rules, including only working between 7PM and 7AM and only working within the area.
- Leicester
- South Highfields (defunct)
- London
- Gropecunt Lane (possible medieval; defunct)
- King's Cross
- Piccadilly Circus (defunct)
- Shepherd Market
- Soho
- Middlesbrough
- Over the Border / St Hilda's
- Nottingham
- Forest Road
- Mapperley Road
- Reading
- Oxford Road / Western Elms Avenue
- Shrewsbury
- Grope Lane (medieval; defunct)
- Stoke-on-Trent
- Cobridge
- Swindon
- Manchester Road/Gorse Hill
- Wolverhampton
- All Saints/Parkfield/ Horseley Fields/West Park
Northern Ireland
- Belfast
- Albert Memorial Clock, Belfast (defunct)
- Amelia Street (defunct)
- Linenhall Street
Scotland
- Edinburgh
- Defunct: Leith/Coburg Street/Salamander Street (all defunct)
- Edinburgh does have brothels, but not a red light district.
- Glasgow
- Blythswood Square (defunct)
North America
Canada
Prostitution is legal, though many associated activities (brothels, advertising, street walking) are not.
- Montreal
- Red-Light District
Mexico
Prostitution is legal and regulated.
- Nuevo Laredo
- Zona de Tolerancia
- Tijuana
- Zona Norte
- Tuxtla Gutiérrez
- Zona Galáctica
United States
Prostitution laws vary by state and territory, however it is illegal except for some rural counties of Nevada. Strip clubs are legal in most areas, including fully nude strip clubs. Many massage shops offer "happy endings", which is an illegal form of prostitution.
-
- Atlantic City, New Jersey - "The Altantic City Boardwalk" near the casinos
- Houston, Texas - "The Bissonnet Track"
- New Orleans, Louisiana
- Storyville (historical)
- Baltimore, Maryland
- The Block: The 400 block of East Baltimore St, almost exclusively consists of adult entertainment businesses.
- New York City, New York
- "The Deuce" near Times Square. Comprised West 42nd Street between 7th and 8th Avenues. (defunct/culturally significant/historical)
- Hunts Point, Bronx: Historically known for prostitution and was subject of the film Hookers at the Point
- Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
- Kensington: Known for street prostitution; infamous for The Kensington Strangler who was captured in 2011
- Northern Liberties (largely historical, mostly defunct)
- Boston, Massachusetts
- The Combat Zone (largely historical, mostly defunct)
- Omaha, Nebraska
- Sporting District (historical)
- Las Vegas, Nevada
- Las Vegas Strip
- Reno, Nevada (Downtown Reno)
- Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
- Liberty Avenue (historical)
- San Antonio, Texas
- Sporting District (historical)
- Los Angeles, California
- Sunset Boulevard (historical)
- San Diego, California
- Stingaree (historical)
- San Francisco, California
- Tenderloin (historical)
- Washington, D.C.
- 14th Street (Washington, D.C.) (historical)
Oceania
Australia
Prostitution laws vary by state, either being legal or decriminalized.
- Adelaide
- Hindley Street
- Brisbane
- The Valley
- Melbourne
- King St
- St Kilda
- Sydney
- Kings Cross
- Darlinghurst/East Sydney
New Zealand
Prostitution and associated activities are legal.
- Auckland
- Papatoetoe, specifically Hunter's Corner
- Christchurch
- Manchester Street
- Wellington
- Vivian Street
See also
- Prostitution by country
- Prostitution and the law
References
