Kerb crawler

A kerb crawler (or curb crawler) is a person who drives around areas known for street prostitution, soliciting prostitutes for sexual activity. The act is known as kerb crawling because the person will typically drive very slowly along the kerbside.

Where prostitution is illegal, kerb crawlers are widely regarded as a public nuisance; they help to keep street prostitutes in business in red-light districts and often solicit pedestrians who are not prostitutes for sex. As a result, kerb crawling is illegal in many jurisdictions.

Sting operations in which undercover police wait for kerb crawlers to proposition them are a common method for tackling kerb crawling.[1] Kerb crawling is illegal in Canada,[2] the United Kingdom,[3] the United States,[4] South Korea[5] and India.[6] Police may also collect licence-plate numbers of vehicles that appear to be kerb crawling and may contact their registered owners. Kerb crawling and soliciting in a public place are legal in New Zealand.[7]

  1. ^ Hill, Amelia (15 December 2002). "The policewomen who pose as prostitutes to trap kerb crawlers". The Guardian. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  2. ^ "Prostitution laws around the world". Global News. 20 December 2013. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  3. ^ Cite error: The named reference cps was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  4. ^ "US Federal and State Prostitution Laws and Related Punishments". prostitution.procon.org. ProCon.org. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  5. ^ Cook, Ian. "Research Projects". Imagining Urban Futures. Archived from the original on 25 September 2019. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  6. ^ "Prostitution in India and it's [sic] legal analysis". Lawyers Club India. Retrieved 29 November 2018.
  7. ^ "Prostitution Law Reform in New Zealand - New Zealand Parliament". www.parliament.nz. Retrieved 2023-04-05.