The word grisette (sometimes spelled grizette) has referred to a French working-class woman from the late 17th century and remained in common use through the Belle Époque era, albeit with some modifications to its meaning. It derives from gris (French for grey), and refers to the cheap grey fabric of the dresses these women originally wore. The 1694 edition of the Dictionnaire de l'Académie française described a grisette as simply "a woman of lowly condition". By the 1835 edition of the dictionary, her status had risen somewhat. She was described as a young working woman who is coquettish and flirtatious.

The sexual connotations which had long accompanied the word are made explicit in Webster's Third New International Dictionary (1976) which lists one of its meanings as a young woman who combines part-time prostitution with another occupation.

Peter William Coonan (born Peter William Sutcliffe; 2 June 1946) is an English serial killer who was dubbed the "Yorkshire Ripper" by the press. In 1981 Sutcliffe was convicted of murdering 13 women and attempting to murder seven others.

Sutcliffe initially attacked women and girls in residential areas but seems to have moved to red light districts because he was attracted by the vulnerability of prostitutes. Sutcliffe had allegedly regularly used the services of prostitutes in Leeds and Bradford. When interviewed by authorities, he claimed that the voice of God had sent him on a mission to kill prostitutes. Sutcliffe carried out murders over five years, during which time some members of the public were especially shocked by the murders of women who were not prostitutes. (read more...)

• ... that the Dumas Brothel (pictured), believed to be haunted, was the longest-operating brothel in the United States?
• ... that Gloucester, Massachusetts Mayor John S. Parsons led raids on the city's brothels while the City Marshal was otherwise engaged?
• ... that Dhalia won her Citra Award for Best Leading Actress for playing a prostitute despite having been sent to Islamic schools since youth?
• ... that Shackles was the first Indonesian novel to portray a prostitute sympathetically?

• 1st
  • 1957: The Prostitution Prevention Law, which outlawed Prostitution in Japan, came into force.
• 4th
  • 1888: Murder of Emma Elizabeth Smith. Her killing was the first of the Whitechapel murders.
• 10th
  • 1836: Murder of Helen Jewett, a New York prostitute, whose alleged murderer, Richard P. Robinson, was tried and sensationally acquitted.
• 13th
  • 1946: Brothels were outlawed in France by the passing of the Loi Marthe Richard.
  • 2016: Paying for sex in France became illegal by Law 444 (2016) coming into force.
• 17th
  • 2009: Iceland enacted legislation to adopt the Nordic model of prostitution which criminalises the buying of sex.
• 24th
  • 1891: Murder of Carrie Brown, a New York prostitute who was murdered and mutilated. She is occasionally mentioned as an alleged victim of Jack the Ripper.

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