Are prostitutes illegal

It is illegal in North America and Europe. Although prostitution is not illegal in New Zealand. == In most European countries, the ban is on soliciting and running brothels - not prostitution as such. After all, prostitution is actually a bit difficult to define. In the Netherlands and Germany prostitution is regulated by the governments. (In Germany each state has its own regulations. In Hamburg, for example, one can become an officially registered prostitute, subject to health checks and so on.