Update on ... ... prostitution

A survey of recent developments in a topic of general interest

In January, prostitutes in Zimbabwe raised their prices by 67 per cent and told housewives to give their husbands more money to spend on their services.

In April, a trainee policewoman in Australia, who had been sacked after officers discovered that she had worked as a prostitute and stripper, won an unfair dismissal case.

In April, a Swedish prostitute took a client to court when he failed to turn up for a booking made by telephone. "If a customer does not show up at the appointed time at the dentist, the customer is charged for the visit," she maintained.

In April, prostitutes in Mexico City adopted a new dress code, with "normal blouse and knee-length skirts or seemly trousers" instead of "dental floss bikinis" in a bid to clean up their image.

In June, authorities in Saigon announced the results of a

15-month campaign to root out vice. They include 40 brothel owners arrested and 120 prostitutes undergoing re-education.