Red-light district

[2] Red-light districts are mentioned in the 1882 minutes of a Woman's Christian Temperance Union meeting in the United States.

[citation needed] Author Paul Wellman suggests that this and other terms associated with the American Old West originated in Dodge City, Kansas, home to a well-known prostitution district during the 19th century, which included the Red Light House saloon.

[5] A widespread folk etymology claims that early railroad workers took red lanterns with them when they visited brothels so their crew could find them in the event of an emergency.

[6] A commonly repeated, though likely spurious, folk etymology stems from sailors coming back from sea to Amsterdam (c. 1650): Women working as prostitutes, deprived of proper hygiene and running fresh water, carrying red lanterns — with their color camouflaging boils, zits, inequalities in the face and on the skin — made clear they were available as women of pleasure.

"[8] Some red-light districts (such as De Wallen, Netherlands, or Reeperbahn, Germany) are places that are officially designated by authorities for legal and regulated prostitution.

De Wallen , Amsterdam 's red-light district, is internationally known and one of the main tourist attractions of the city. It offers legal prostitution and a number of coffee shops that sell marijuana .
An early reference to red-light districts on a January 1901 Judge cover
Legality of prostitution
Decriminalization - No criminal penalties for prostitution
Legalisation – prostitution is legal and regulated
Semi-legal – prostitution is legal, but organized activities such as brothels and pimping are illegal; prostitution is not regulated
Quasi-legal – illegal to buy sex and for 3rd party involvement, legal to sell sex
Prohibitionism – prostitution illegal
Legality varies with local laws