Prostitution: A Victimless Crime? For some prostitution is a victimless crime while others fight hard in the hopes of one day abolishing prostitution forever. The topic of prostitution remains a greatly debated issue even after so many years of existence. Prostitution existed as far back in time as ancient Athens and ancient Rome. In Rome, prostitutes were licensed by the state and taxed. Prostitution continued to flourish through out Europe until the High Middle Ages with the outbreak of the syphilis epidemic and Reformation morality. In most large Western cities today prostitution is illegal but tolerated, because police there are mo