Prostitution in Namibia is legal and a highly prevalent common practice. Related activities such as solicitation, procuring and being involved in the running of a brothel are illegal. A World Bank study estimated there were about 11,000 prostitutes in Namibia. Human trafficking, child prostitution and HIV are problems in the country. Overview Prostitution takes place all over the country, particularly in border areas, transport corridors, Walvis Bay and the capital Windhoek. Most prostitutes are Namibian, but there are also a significant number from Zambia, Botswana and Angola. Most women work independently and few have pimps. Most prostitutes in Namibia meet their clients either on the street or in bars. Bars often have a room on the premises for the prostitutes to use, and brothels usually have a bar, so the line between a bar and a brothel is often blurred. Some, more up-market, sex workers are contacted by cell phone or the Internet and work in high-end clubs and hotels. Many clients are reluctant to use condoms, and offer to pay more for unprotected sex. Condoms may be difficult to obtain at times, and can be confiscated by police and used as evidence of prostitution. Sex workers and NGOs report abuse and violence against them by clients and police. Extortion and forced sex by the police is also reported. Child prostitution is a problem, particularly in Walvis Bay and Windhoek. History German rule In 1899, regulations around brothels using white prostitutes were drawn up in Swakopmund. This allowed the authorities to monitor the sexual health of the prostitutes and was designed to control the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs). Colonial authorities believed unregulated African prostitutes were the main source of STIs. Other towns subsequently introduced similar regulations, including Okahandja, Karibib, Windhoek, Keetmanshoop, Luderitz, Tsumeb and Seeheim. The use of white prostitutes was encouraged to try to prevent relationships between white men and African women. There is evidence that some of the white prostitutes had been trafficked into the country. After the Herero Wars, the German military set up a brothel in Windhoek for their troops. Although some indigenous women volunteered to work in the brothel, others were forced to work there. Although white men seeing African prostitutes was discouraged, it was tolerated throughout this era. South African Rule Prostitution was not made illegal, but the Undesirables Removal Proclamation (1920) was used to expel most of the white prostitutes and