Prostitution in American Samoa

Prostitution in American Samoa is illegal, as are related activities such as brothel keeping and pimping.[1] These acts are punishable by law, including a fine of more than $500 or a jail sentence of up to a year for customers of prostitution.[2] Prostitution occurs in bars[3] and nightclubs,[4] and in boats moored in the harbours.[5]

W. Somerset Maugham's short story Rain about a missionary trying to get a prostitute to give up her ways is based on Maugham's visit to American Samoa's capital Pago Pago in 1916.[6]

  1. ^ Godwin, John (October 2012). "Sex Work and the Law in Asia and the Pacific" (PDF). UNAIDS.
  2. ^ Baker & Dalla, R & L (2011). Global Perspectives on Prostitution and Sex Trafficking: Africa, Asia, Middle East, and Oceania. p. 288.
  3. ^ "Two women in American Samoa sentenced over prosititution [sic]". Fiji One. January 11, 2015. Archived from the original on June 25, 2015. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  4. ^ Cite error: The named reference justice was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  5. ^ "Prostitution Being Tackled In American Samoa". Pacific Islands Report. February 24, 2000. Retrieved February 3, 2018.
  6. ^ Page 244 Samuel J. Rogal, A William Somerset Maugham Encyclopedia. Greenwood Publishing Group, 1997.