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Understanding Brothels and Human Trafficking

This quiz explores the themes of brothels, human trafficking, and the socio-economic factors surrounding prostitution. It aims to enhance understanding of these sensitive topics.

1 A brothel, also known as a bordello, cathouse, whorehouse, sporting house and various other euphemisms, is an establishment specifically dedicated to ________, providing the prostitutes a place to meet and to have sexual intercourse with clients.

2 The legendary ________ operated from 1971 through 1999, when it was forfeited to the federal government following a series of convictions for tax fraud, racketeering, and other crimes.

3 [14] It is estimated that two thirds of women trafficked for prostitution worldwide annually come from ________, three-quarters of whom have never worked as prostitutes before.

4 [19] The major sources of trafficked persons include Thailand, China, Nigeria, ________, Bulgaria, Belarus, Moldova, and Ukraine.

5 Internationally, the most common destinations for victims of human trafficking are Thailand, Japan, Israel, ________, the Netherlands, Germany, Italy, Turkey and the US, according to a report by the UNODC.

6 In some cases, prostitutes are bought and sold by their keepers, reducing them to a state of ________.

7 Currently eight out of ________'s 16 counties have active brothels (these are all rural counties).

8 Currently, Western Europe is confronted with a serious problem of sexual exploitation for the purpose of prostitution of illegal immigrants from ________.

9 Today, ________ is well known for its red-light district and is a destination for sex tourism.

10 ________ has one of the most liberal prostitution policies in the world, and, as such, it attracts sex tourists from many European countries and from the US.

💡 Interesting Facts

  • between 1778 and 1801, Manor House, 21 Soho Square, London, (pictured) was a high-class magic brothel called The White House, described by Henry Mayhew as a "notorious place of ill-fame".
  • before becoming King of the United Kingdom, Edward VII was a frequent visitor to the luxurious Belle Époque brothel Le Chabanais in Paris and had himself built a special "love seat" there.
  • loans made by Seattle brothel-owner Lou Graham saved some of the city's most prestigious families from bankruptcy after the Panic of 1893.
  • renowned brothel-keeper Elizabeth Needham, depicted in William Hogarth's A Harlot's Progress (pictured), was pelted so severely in the pillory that she died 3 days later.
  • the Lester Apartments in Seattle, originally intended to be the world's largest brothel, were destroyed when a B-50 Superfortress crashed into it in 1951.
  • Irene Jordan of the South Fort George suburb of Prince George, British Columbia had owned a popular brothel that later became the first City Hall of Prince George.
  • Matild Manukyan, a wealthy Turkish businesswoman of Armenian origin, made her fortune as a brothel owner.
  • taekwondo practitioner Logan Campbell has opened a brothel to fund his bid to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics.
  • madame Anna Wilson, the "Queen of the Underworld" in early Omaha, Nebraska, bequeathed her 25-room brothel mansion to the city to use as an emergency hospital upon her death.
  • ukiyo-e artist Keisai Eisen was famous for his bijin prints of beautiful women (pictured) and claimed to have owned a brothel.
  • Duxton Hill in Singapore used to be a notorious slum area with brothels, opium and gambling dens, but now belongs to a conservation area known as Tanjong Pagar.
  • Marthe Richard was a former prostitute and spy who worked to make brothels illegal in France.
  • 18th century brothel-keeper Jane Douglas sold condoms in silken bags to her customers.