World Sex Sells News

    Mexico to Sell Copy DVDs more Discreetly

From The Daily Journal

Mexico City launched an operation against street vendors who have turned many of the city's sidewalks and subway entrances into displays of graphic, triple-X movies and magazines.

Some 600 city police confiscated thousands of pirated pornographic videos from a five-block stretch Tues-day in an effort to force some of the city's unlicensed street vendors to be more discreet with their X-rated wares in this socially conservative society.

The city government also signed an agreement with an association of newspaper vendors this week to keep hard-core pornography magazines off front shelves near schools and parks.

The association began handing members fliers about the agreement, along with a placard reading: "Dear customer, out of respect for the family, we do not display adult publications. But if you want them, please ask."

This follows a long-standing tolerance for tens of thousands of street vendors who hawk everything from pirated DVDs to stuffed animals. The phenomenon started taking off in the 1990s, when cheap video players – and later DVD machines – became available to the general public.

Selling pornography is not a crime in Mexico City. Police instead confiscated the X-rated videos because they are – like most DVDs sold in the city – pirated copies, often of U.S. films.

We do offer original videos, but people won't buy them because of the price, said "Chore," a street porn vendor who would give only his nickname for fear of arrest.

By Thursday, many of the downtown sidewalk porn vendors were back, albeit a little more nervous. Some stood a few steps away from their stalls, apparently so that they could deny having anything to do with the merchandise if confronted by police.

Mexico City's street entrepreneurs often find creative ways of selling goods on the street. When police started raiding computer software stands a few years ago, vendors took to displaying their wares in loose-leaf binders that could quickly be flipped open for potential customers. Other vendors known as "torreros," or "bullfighters" display their wares in small, jumbled piles on blankets that can be swiftly gathered up and spirited off when police appear.

For most officials, that would be preferable to the current situation, in which sidewalks are crowded with 6-foot-tall wire display racks, often crammed with hundreds of porn videos.

For Villegas, of the national parents' association, the trend has come at a heavy cost. There is no modesty anymore, he said. Our values are being lost.

    Yellow Cards for Red Light Areas

From Reuters

Singapore is installing closed-circuit television cameras in a notorious red light district following a rise in illegal prostitution by mostly mainland Chinese women, police said yesterday.

The cameras will be placed in the back alleys of Geylang, an area of tightly-controlled Singapore where prostitution has begun spilling out of officially regulated brothels onto the open street. Closed circuit televisions have proven to have a strong psychological deterrent effect on potential offenders, and we hope this will ease the prostitution problem, Singapore Police Force director of operations Aubeck Kam said.

Prostitution is legal in conservative Singapore but soliciting is not. There are several "approved'' red light areas where strict regulations require registered sex workers to carry a yellow health card and submit to monthly medical checks.

An influx of mainland Chinese women working as prostitutes on tourist visas has sparked complaints by residents who say streetwalkers are roaming from red light zones to quiet residential areas to target elderly men.

    Prostitution in Check

From Cesky Rozhlas

Prague's Wenceslas Square is the best known thoroughfare in the Czech Republic, and the site of many key moments in the nation's history. But today Wenceslas Square is perhaps not the best of advertisements for the Czech Republic, having earned a reputation for crimes such as drug dealing and prostitution. Now Prague City Hall has launched a campaign to clean it up.

The statue of St. Wenceslas overlooks the square but in recent years the patron saint of the nation probably won't have been too pleased with the scene he is looking down on; Wenceslas Square has gradually turned into a favourite hang out spot for drug dealers, pickpockets, and more and more conspicuously - prostitutes.

Fearing that this popular tourist area would give the Czech capital a bad name, Prague mayor Pavel Bem had dozens of police officers - some in uniform, others undercover, spend the last few weeks in a "Zero Tolerance" clean up operation.

Jiri Sellner, Prague 1 Police chief: The biggest problem here was prostitution, which was mainly offered by girls from Bulgaria. But then there were other crimes too, ranging from pick-pocketing to break-ins and drug dealing. The square is very popular among criminals because it is an attractive tourist area but also an important transport intersection, with two metro stops and trams go right through it.

But it's not only drug dealers and prostitutes who the police have declared war on - beggars and reckless drivers too have been getting their fair share of police attention. Almost 7,500 people were checked in the course of one month.  Over one thousand were engaged in the oldest profession. Of the people we checked, 1,600 were foreign citizens, of whom 350 ended up in police custody. Sixty of them were people already wanted. We also recorded 2,183 criminal offences and gave out over 1,500 fines totalling 628,000 crowns (25,500 US dollars) .

Those who pass through Wenceslas Square on a regular basis have noticed a difference. The prostitutes and drug dealers on every corner have been replaced by police officers. But how long will it last? When you need to clean somewhere properly, you get a big broom and sweep the whole place. After that, you only need a small broom to keep the place clean. That's what we're going to do. There won't be as many police officers on patrol as in the zero tolerance operation but they will continue to keep a close watch on the place.

    Freedom Stripped Away

From the St Petersburg Times

Strippers, their co-workers and bosses may soon need a license to ply their trade in Hillsborough County, Florida. They also would be subjected to a host of new rules if they want to keep that license and continue performing in or running an adult- oriented business, under a proposal expected to go before commissioners next month.

Those rules could make it harder for their bosses to attract customers, and are sure to draw legal challenges from the adult entertainment industry.

Among the highlights of the proposal:

No nudity or semi-nudity would be allowed in any place where alcohol is consumed. Currently, some strip clubs get around laws that ban the sale of alcohol in adult businesses by letting people bring their own and selling the mixers. No erotic performances would be allowed in any room smaller than 1,000 square feet. That would effectively ban VIP rooms, or private modeling rooms where lap dances are performed.

Employees of strip clubs would be forbidden from touching their customers, even with their clothes on. Currently strippers are able to get around the so-called 6-foot rule by donning enough clothing to cover their private areas between dance performances.

Owners of adult-oriented businesses and their employees - including contract employees - would lose their licenses if convicted of certain crimes, ranging from prostitution or other sex crimes to drug possession.

The proposal was crafted by Scott Bergthold, an attorney whose firm specializes in crafting and defending adult business regulations. Commissioners hired Bergthold for $10,000 to critique their adult-business laws and suggest ways to tighten them. Bergthold concluded that the county's ordinances are overly vague and broad in many instances, opening them to successful challenges from adult-business operators claiming their First Amendment rights are being infringed.

He proposes maintaining some zoning requirements, mainly the more mathematical or "robotic" rules that govern how close an adult business can be to a school or park. Then a second tier of rules should be added that govern conduct inside those businesses, with the intent of combating "harmful secondary effects" that are caused by the "combustible combination" of alcohol and nudity.

    A Swing Decision

From Reuters

Canadians who attend "swingers clubs" to have sex in groups with strangers will learn on Wednesday whether they can keep doing so in peace or are considered a threat to society.

The Supreme Court of Canada will rule in the case of two Montreal men who ran separate swingers clubs and were found guilty under the country's Criminal Code of "operating a bawdy house." The judgment is due at 9:45 a.m. (14:45 GMT).

The accused say the group sex posed no harm to the general public because it took place behind closed doors. These were consenting people -- people who were members and had access to the place. It was a private place ... and that's why we think we'll win, Josee Ferrari, lawyer for one of the accused, told Reuters on Tuesday.

Her client, Jean-Paul Labaye, ran the L'Orage (Thunderstorm) club where people paid C$200 ($170) for membership. A separate room, equipped with mattresses, was set aside for those members who wanted to have group sex or watch what was going on.

Labaye was fined C$5,000 on the grounds that his club had caused "social harm" and that the group sex had been degrading, dehumanizing and anti-social, as well as risking the spread of sexually transmitted diseases, according to court documents.

The other defendant is James Kouri, owner of the Coeur a Corps (Heart to Body) club where couples paid C$6 to enter and then moved to a dance floor. Every half hour, a black curtain descended around the floor and group sex occurred.

Both men turned to the appeals court in the province of Quebec, which upheld the case against Labaye but threw out Kouri's conviction on the grounds that the curtain meant no one present in the room was compelled to witness sexual acts.

The contradictory decisions by the Quebec court on two very similar cases means the case is now in the hands of the Supreme Court. As there is no definition of indecency in the Criminal Code, the judges have to decide whether the group sex breached general standards of tolerance and went beyond the rules of conduct necessary for the proper functioning of society.

Joseph Arvay, a lawyer for the British Columbia Civil Liberties Association, told Reuters the state should not try to impose its morality on sane, consenting adults: We believe this kind of activity ... is highly personal and private and in no way harms anybody else , This is done behind closed doors, these places are well signed, people know what's going on inside, the activity is truly consensual. There is just no room for the criminalization of it.

    Update : Canadians Can

From Reuters

Group sex among consenting adults is neither prostitution nor a threat to society, the Supreme Court of Canada ruled as it lifted a ban on so-called "swingers" clubs.

In a ruling that radically changes the way courts determine what poses a threat to the population, the top court threw out the conviction of a Montreal man who ran a club where members could have group sex in a private room behind locked doors.

Consensual conduct behind code-locked doors can hardly be supposed to jeopardise a society as vigorous and tolerant as Canadian society, said the opinion of the seven-to-two majority, written by Chief Justice Beverley McLachlin.

The decision does not affect laws against prostitution because no money changed hands among the adults having sex.

The court was reviewing an appeal by Jean-Paul Labaye, who ran the L'Orage (Thunderstorm) club. He had been convicted in 1999 of running a "bawdy house" -- defined as a place where prostitution or acts of public indecency took place.

Labaye, who is still running L'Orage despite his earlier conviction, said he was relieved, and would now go ahead with a new venture with backing from a group of Florida investors: We hope clients will be more calm. This will probably lead the way to a good future, he told reporters, saying he was looking at adding a Jacuzzi and a swimming pool. Labaye said he had about 2,000 regular clients who paid around C$20 (10 pounds) a year for a membership card.

Lawyers for Labaye and the owner of another swingers' club in Montreal argued that consensual sex among groups of adults behind closed doors was neither indecent or a risk to society.

The Supreme Court judges agreed.

Criminal indecency or obscenity must rest on actual harm or a significant risk of harm to individuals or society. The Crown failed to establish this essential element of the offence. (Its) case must therefore fail, McLachlin wrote.

In indecency cases, Canadian courts have traditionally probed whether the acts in question breached the rules of conduct necessary for the proper functioning of society. The Supreme Court ruled that from now on, judges should pay more attention to whether society would be actively harmed.

This seemed to ensure there could be no repeat of Labaye's original conviction for causing "social harm" by allowing degrading and dehumanising group sex to take place. The judges said that just because most Canadians might disapprove of swingers' clubs, this did not necessarily mean the establishments were socially dangerous. The causal link between images of sexuality and anti-social behaviour cannot be assumed. Attitudes in themselves are not crimes, however deviant they may be or disgusting they may appear, the judges said, noting that no one had been pressured to have sex or had paid for sex in the cases the court considered.

The autonomy and liberty of members of the public was not affected by unwanted confrontation with the sexual activity in question ... only those already disposed to this sort of sexual activity were allowed to participate and watch, they said.

They also dismissed the idea -- raised during Labaye's original trial -- that group sex was dangerous because it could result in the spread of sexually transmitted diseases. Sex that is not indecent can transmit disease while indecent sex might not, they ruled.

    Free Sex Zones

From Ananova

German towns may erect 'No Prostitutes Here' signs over fears an army of call girls are coming for the 2006 World Cup.

Prostitution is legal in Germany but only in certain areas, and the street signs are planned to stop football fans pestering women in other areas. They also want to stop the thousands of call girls heading to the country from moving out of the legal areas.

The idea for the signs came after a German man, named only as Michael G, was arrested for soliciting a prostitute in a restricted area in Dusseldorf. In court he claimed he had no idea picking up a prostitute in that area was illegal. Judge Dirk Kruse admitted that he also didn't know which areas were legal and which were not and said: We need some kind of sign to make it clear.

Similar signs have already proven a success in the Italian town of Aulla.

    Cold Hearted Finland

No wonder there are so many Finns that take a break to the warmer & friendlier charms of Thailand.  I have a feeling that even more will be joining us here very soon. Finns are the second biggest readers of Thai-Anxiety after the Brits

From Helsingin Sanomat

The buying of sex could soon lead to imprisonment in Finland, as the purchase of sexual services is to be totally banned and criminalised in the country. Under the proposed law, the buyer of sex services would be subject to a fine, or up to six months in prison. An attempt to buy sex would be a crime as well.

On the other hand, there are no plans to place any further criminal sanctions on the sales of sex services. Moreover, selling sex will not be generally criminalised in connection with the criminalisation of sex purchases.

The contents of the bill were approved by the government on Thursday. The amendment to the criminal law will be put before Parliament next week, and the change will take effect next year, as soon as Parliament has passed the new legislation.

At present there is only a ban on selling and buying sexual services in public places. Persons violating the ban can get fines.
 
In the enforcement of the proposed new law, the sale of sex in public places will remain illegal, while the purchase of sex services will be a crime everywhere, regardless of location. According to the law, the definition of sex services includes "sexual intercourse or a similar sexual act".

For the purposes of the law, the purchase of sex services includes also a promise of any form of compensation - not only money. Also the purchase of sex services over the phone or via the internet would be criminalised.

By criminalising the purchase of sex, the government aims at reducing prostitution, and at making pimping and trafficking in humans more difficult.

According to various estimates, there are around 8,000 to 15,000 prostitutes working in Finland in the course of a given year. The majority of them are women. A similar law has been in force in Sweden since 1999. On the other hand, Norway has decided not to follow the example set by the Swedes.

    Sex Sells Very Well

From AVN

New statistics for the year 2005, which will be released by AVN in its January, 2006 issue, show that the adult industry will have generated approximately $12,615,000,000 for this past year.

Approximately $4,280,000,000, which accounts for 34 percent, is attributable to video sales and rentals, according to the study. Sources for that study include AVN, Kagan Research, Juniper Research, the New York Times, Forbes and the Free Speech Coalition.

Another 20 percent, or $2.5 billion, was generated by adult Internet sales. Meanwhile, the third largest segment, exotic dance clubs, generated approximately $2 billion, or 16 percent of the market.

AVN will also report that 13,588 hardcore titles were released in the adult video industry, including features, new releases and compilations. There were approximately 957 million rentals of adult DVDs and tapes this past year, and the wholesale value of tapes and DVDs sold in 2005 topped the one-billion-dollar mark.

I've heard numbers anywhere from $8 billion to $15 billion the last couple of years from various news organizations, said Paul Fishbein, president of AVN Publications. Because the majority of companies are privately held, hard numbers are difficult to ascertain. But when you add up all the segments, from video to magazines to strip clubs and Internet, a number that approaches $13 billion seems logical.

     In the Lap of Nutters

Based on an article from Unison

A group working with women involved in prostitution is campaigning against the opening of Peter Stringfellow's lap dancing club on Parnell Street in Dublin.

RUHAMA is supporting the North Inner City Concerned Nutters in their attempt to prevent the club from being granted a dance license.

RUHAMA spokesperson Geraldine Rowley said it is internationally recognised that such clubs are part and parcel of the sex industry.

Rowley said she is concerned that the club would create yet another breeding ground for prostitution.

She said she knew of women who went to clubs expecting to dance, only to discover that their contract had changed, and that they would not get paid unless they provided private dances.

    Amusement Centres are not Amused

From the Sun Star

The Mayor of Baguio in the Philippines wants bars, amusement centers far away from government institutions.

Liquor oriented establishments and amusement centers operating near government buildings, schools, hospitals or churches in violation of distance restrictions provided under the Liquor Code and the Tax Ordinance of the City Government of Baguio will no longer be allowed to operate starting next year.

Mayor Braulio Yaranon, in an Administrative Order advised businessmen operating liquor stores, night clubs, bars, disco houses, beer gardens, computer games and billiards, covered by the zoning provisions of liquor and tax ordinances, not to renew their business permits next year. He said the applications will not be given due course if they intend to continue to operate on unauthorized locations.

The mayor said the Anti-Vice Coordinating Task Force (AVCTF), which has been monitoring the operation of the so-called vice establishments, found out that many establishments have been issued permits and allowed to operate despite violating provisions of the law that these should be located at a certain distance from government buildings, schools or churches.

Yaranon said the Liquor Code or Ordinance 1-1990 provides restrictions on the location and distance of establishments from government buildings, schools, hospitals or churches. The ordinance requires business establishments to secure clearances from the City Engineer's Office (CEO) that their location is "beyond the distance of 50 or 100 linear meters as the case may be from" any government institution.

Under the ordinance, restaurants dispensing liquors are not allowed to operate within 50 linear meters from the government institutions. Otherwise

• 100 linear meters for night clubs, day clubs, cabarets, dance halls, disco pads, beer gardens and cocktail lounges that allow dancing and employ hostesses
• 50 linear meters for retail dealers of fermented liquor, retail liquor dealers, liquor stores, ordinary beer gardens, bars and cocktail lounges without dancing and hostesses.

The mayor said the City has to implement the restrictions because violations have reached "intolerable conditions": The existence of this kind of businesses has reached alarming proportions whereby you can find these kinds of businesses anywhere in the city. This, he said, is caused by the "laxity, negligence or tolerance" of offices in charge of issuing permits.

    Short Time Left for Short Time Hotels

From the Philippine Daily Inquirer

NO more "quickies" in Philippine's Quezon City?

A councilor wants to ban "short time" in motel rooms in hopes of putting a stop to prostitution and other illicit sexual activities in Quezon City.

Short-time rates in motels promote promiscuity and illicit sexual activities among the populace, particularly youngsters, Councilor Edcel Lagman Jr. said. They also offer unfair competition to legitimate hotels, according to the councilor. Lagman has proposed an ordinance penalizing hotels, motels, apartelles and other establishments that lease rooms for less than 12 hours, or on "short-time" basis to help "improve public morals."

Under Lagman's proposal, violators face suspension of their business license for at least two months, or a fine of P4,000, or both, at the discretion of the court. Second-time offenders would be suspended for four months and/or fined P5,000, while third-time offenders would be fined P5,000 and their license cancelled.

To enforce the ordinance,the business permits and licensing office would have to coordinate with the city's department of public order and safety and police on the spot inspection of hotels, motels and similar establishments.

    Red Lights get the Green Light

From the New Zealand Herald

Wellington sex industry leader Michael Chow wants to re-establish Vivian Street as the city's premier adult entertainment strip.

Vivian St was the hub of the city's red light district from the sixties to the early nineties and boasted Wellington's premier strip joints, peep shows and illegal brothels.

The street was also the home of the famous coffee bar operated by the flamboyant transsexual Carmen. Following Carmen's decision to leave and live in Australia, along with redevelopment, the street's fortunes began to wane.

With the passing of the Prostitution Law Reform Bill, Chow believed the time was ripe to once again re-establish Vivian Streets the city's prominent red light district. He said he is about to open the street's first-ever legally operated brothel, Il Bordello and has plans for further outlets. Chow describes his latest venture as an "up-market gentleman's club."

He said the Act legalising prostitution has opened the way for the development of "high class" operations like Il Bordello. Up until now the sex industry has operated in an uncertain dodgy environment with no quality of service standards. Il Bordello is a state of the art operation, professionally run and I believe, will see the rebirth of Vivian St as the leading centre in the provision of quality sex industry operations in Wellington.

He rejected claims that he was also thinking of moving the sex industry into the suburbs: The central city is the only place for the sex industry, not the suburbs.

    Dimming Red Lights

From Expatica

The head of the biggest political party in Amsterdam called for gradual closure of the city's infamous, but legal, window prostitution zone.

Chairman of the Amsterdam branch of the Labour Party (PvdA), Lodewijk Asscher made the suggestion in his book 'Nieuw Amsterdam' (New Amsterdam) published on Wednesday.

Asscher said Amsterdammers would have no reason to be proud of the red light district — known locally as "De Wallen" — "if we know the window prostitution in Amsterdam is under the control of a small number of criminals; if we know that forced prostitution is at play for a lot of the women; and if we know that Amsterdam is a golden market for lover boys".

Lover boys is the Dutch term for men who befriend young women and shower them with gifts before forcing them to work as prostitutes.

Asscher said women who wanted to earn their living by prostitution would be better off working in a brothel.

In his book, Asscher described his vision of Amsterdam of the future as a mix of New York and the old Europe: dynamic and energetic; international and tolerant with good social services and deep-rooted solidarity.

    Religiously Following Malaysian Police Standards

The Malaysians seem to have gone in a bit of lather about single Chinese girls visiting their country. They don't seem to be able to distinguish the tourists from the working girls.

From the BBC The video can be viewed in the international news section

Malaysia has launched an inquiry after a video emerged which apparently shows a police officer humiliating an ethnic Chinese woman. The clip, apparently filmed on a mobile phone, purportedly shows the naked woman being forced to squat as she is watched by a woman in uniform.

Deputy Prime Minister Najib Tun Razak said the incident was a severe blow to Malaysia's image. Najib said he took the matter seriously and promised action against those responsible if the incident was genuine.

It follows a number of complaints against police by Chinese tourists. A Malaysian delegation is due to travel to China next week to mend relations between the two countries.

Interior Minister Azmi Khalid said the incident should not have happened. If police personnel are really involved, then this is police abuse, he said.

Azmi is due to fly to Beijing next Wednesday to placate the Chinese over the treatment of their tourists in Malaysia. There has been a marked drop in Chinese tourists visiting Malaysia since reports of the alleged abuses surfaced. A number of Chinese women have claimed they were forced to strip in Malaysian police stations while being spied upon. Malaysian immigration officers have also been accused of profiling young female Chinese visitors as would-be prostitutes.

The clip, thought to have been filmed on a mobile phone, appears to show the prisoner and a female police officer. The officer, who wears a Muslim headscarf, stands in front of the woman, who is forced to strip naked, grasp her ears and squat repeatedly. The detainee then faces the camera and puts her underwear back on.

The pictures are accompanied by the sound of verses from the Koran being recited, although it is unclear if this would have been audible to the woman.

The pictures were passed to an opposition lawmaker who released them in the lobby of the Malaysian parliament.

    Not So Street Smart

From Newstalk ZB

The New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective is shocked that Parliament is considering reverting to the old system of making street prostitution a criminal offence again.

This comes after Labour MP George Hawkins presented a bill to Parliament yesterday proposing a $10,000 fine for anyone found publicly soliciting in Manukau City, in his electorate.

National coordinator of the New Zealand Prostitutes' Collective Catherine Healey, says that nothing can be gained by picking on street workers. She describes the fines as horrific, and thinks that it will just result in sex workers being put in prison. Catherine Healey says that the best way to deal with problems associated with public soliciting is to work with neighbourhood groups and the Prostitutes' Collective.

  Boys will be Boys...For a Fee

From The Guardian

Heidi Fleiss plans to open for business in the desert. Female clients would be charged $250 an hour. The former Hollywood madam plans to open a "rooster ranch" - a brothel catering to women - in Nevada. I am opening up a stud farm, Fleiss told the Associated Press. I'm going to have the sexiest men on earth. Women are going to love it.

She plans to convert an existing bordello, the Cherry Patch, 20 miles north of Pahrump, a small town in the Nevada desert which boasts the state's two largest brothels, Sheri's Ranch and the Chicken Ranch. After a Hollywood-style makeover, the Cherry Patch's bar and collection of trailers will be renamed Heidi's Stud Farm. The cowboy theme will be replaced with waterfalls and palm trees. I'm going to put out a casting call for about 20 guys, said Fleiss. I bet I get thousands of applicants.

In 1995, she was convicted of running a sophisticated prostitution operation. Fleiss served 21 months in prison for money laundering, tax evasion and attempted pimping. She was freed in 1999, and has since started various business ventures.

However, her conviction could stand in the way of her plans. Pahrump, 80 miles northwest of Las Vegas, is in Nye County, one of 10 counties in Nevada where prostitution is legal. But convicted felons are not allowed to run brothels.

But will Heidi's Stud Farm attract any customers willing to pay $250 an hour?

" Women are more independent these days, " said Ms Fleiss. They make more money and it's hard to meet people. You wouldn't believe the number of women who've told me, 'Heidi, if you do this, I'll be the first one in line'.

    Sex with the Lights Off

Based on an article from The Electric New Paper

No nudity. No whips and handcuffs. No penis rings. No inflatable sex dolls.

Those were just some of the sex toys barred from display as strait-laced Singapore opened its first sex exhibition under the watchful eyes of the police.

Instead the three-day Sexpo 2005 offered pole dancers, condoms, vibrators, sexy lingerie and sexual health seminars to titillate crowds and excite the libido of a country consistently ranked bottom in a global survey of sexually active nations.

Barred to anyone under 21, the exhibition is far from racy yet it is seen as a milestone for the tightly controlled city-state that bans pornography and has tight censorship laws that routinely snip nudity and sex scenes from movies. This is really tame for a sex exhibition. But this is Singapore, so I was not expecting a lot more, said Christopher Hedman, a 49-year-old marketing director.

Curious crowds, mostly male retirees in their 50s, converged on booths demonstrating use of a condom that comes complete with a vibrating ring. Many whipped out mobile phones to snap pictures as erotic dancers -- clad in midriff-baring tops, mini-skirts and three-inch-heels -- gyrated to pumping music.

Police and Singapore's media watchdog reminded organisers of rules restricting display of adult toys and warned them not to promote objectionable sexual behaviours or lifestyle, such as sado-masochism, bestiality, homosexuality, paedophilia and promiscuity .

The organisers, who spent about a year obtaining police approval to stage the event, said the exhibition was not intended to mimic Australia's Sexpo, which has autograph sessions with porn stars, strip shows, bondage and love-making demonstrations.

Sexpo 2005 included exhibits from the Chinese Ancient Sex Culture Museum in Tongli, China. Visitors peered at erotic paintings of love-making scenes, pored over scripts on sexuality in ancient China and gawked at a curious 5,000-year-old artefact called the "Donkey's Saddle" - a torture device used to punish adulterous women.

Director Kenny Goh said he planned to make Singapore's Sexpo a yearly affair and would try to push the boundaries gradually.

    Obscene Embarrassment

Based on an article from The Electric New Paper

What do penis rings, genital ticklers, rubberised blow-up female torsos with attached private parts and abnormally big vibrators have in common?

They have been banned from being displayed at the forthcoming Sexpo, which starts on Friday at the Singapore Expo. Not only are they regarded as obscene, doctors have conveniently expressed concern about how safe they are to use.

A doctor on the panel of medical experts advising the organisers and their exhibitors gave The New Paper on Sunday the lowdown on why certain novelty sex toys were rejected for exhibition. He has been an adviser to the Singapore Planned Parenthood Association and has given talks on sexology for many years. He declined to be named.

He said: What I wanted to know was whether the toys were safe. On top of not being obscene, I had to ensure that no harm would come to people who use them. He rejected the penis rings and genital ticklers because there was a risk of injury to the user. The rings are thought to increase pleasure during sex. But they are hard and thick and could cut off blood supply to the penis. There is a remote possibility that gangrene could set in. The ticklers were made of many blunt-ended pins attached to a ring slightly bigger than the circumference of a 50-cent coin. It is battery-operated. Once inserted, the user can trigger it with a remote on the outside. This is very silly. The pins would more probably cause more pain than pleasure.

He also rejected the oversized dildos: Those that are 9 inches (22.8cm) long are considered too big. If it's just for show, it's okay. But some adventurous people might try it out and injure themselves,

One thing which gave him the shivers was the blow-up female torso with private parts attached: That was absolutely obscene. From a distance, it looks just like the real thing and I'm sure some men will get aroused when they see it.

There are also all manner of marbles and stones that he has rejected as unfit for exhibition. Some men get these stones surgically implanted under the skin of the penis. Many Singapore men go to Thailand to get this done in the belief that it will give more pleasure to the woman. It's totally unfounded. It would be painful for both the woman and man.

He also said no to vibrators which give off electric shocks: They had this pen, a ball pen. You click the top with your finger and it sends an electric shock to whichever part of the body it's in contact with. That's downright dangerous. People can get electrocuted.

So what did the good doctor say yes to? Oh, all sorts of toys such as dildos, vibrators, stimulators which people all over the world use, but which nobody admits to.

    Nutter Mayor in Jackson...That's a Novelty.

From WLBT A Jackson adult video store is back open, one day after the nutter mayor and police locked the doors.

The owner of the McDowell road adult video and bookstore was also arrested, and several items were taken as evidence.

Charles Hobby, says he has operated the bookstore for four years without any problems, so he was surprised when Mayor Frank Melton, and police showed up on his doorstep. It started with a raid at an adult bookstore on Terry road the last week of July.  One arrest was made, sex toys were confiscated, and the store closed by the city. Now Jackson Police and Mayor Frank Melton have set their sights on the adult bookstore on McDowell road.

Charles Hobby says, We haven't violated no law, he puts a key on the door and locks us up, then sends his people out last night and confiscates all my novelties. The wall where the sex toys were displayed is now empty, about ten grand worth, taken by police during Monday's unscheduled visit by the mayor and several detectives.

Hobby, who was arrested, says for four years he's operated quietly with a city permit, and within the law, even though state law says selling sex toys is illegal. Hobby says, We have got a license on the bulletin board right there the city issued us to do just that and thats the way we've been operating.

We were taken on a tour of a the store, and into a back area with private booths, where customers can sit and watch videos. Police say they found more violations there. Jackson Mayor Frank Melton says he found two men involved in an inappropriate act, but managers here at the store say there was no one back here at the time.

Hobby says, I just got done reviewing the tape and there was nobody in that room. Charles Hobby says the entire raid was captured by security cameras, and as far as he's concerned he's done nothing wrong.

Mayor Frank Melton declined to comment on camera Tuesday, but he did say he will continue to shut down the bookstore as long as they continue to operate.

Charles hobby says he's hired a lawyer, and will fight to keep his business open.

    Petitioning for Free Speech

From AVN Strip club owners say Seattle voters should decide whether brighter lights, tip jars and a four-foot distance between dancers and customers should be required in Seattle's adult cabarets, according to a published report.

Attorneys for Seattle Citizens for Free Speech on Monday delivered petitions with more than 27,000 signatures calling for a ballot referendum to repeal the stricter strip club rules, the Associated Press reported. All the group needed to qualify was 14,000 valid signatures.

It is unclear when the question would go on the ballot. It could be as early as February or as late as next fall, according to the report.

Strip club owners say the new law is aimed at putting three clubs, now open, out of business,

    Bare Back Banned Out Back

From Nine MSN Queensland prostitutes will now be able to take a break during peak times, with the government allowing an increase in the number of workers at each brothel.

The new laws, part of the government's response to the recent review of the Prostitution Act by the Crime and Misconduct Commission (CMC), would also make it illegal for clients to ask prostitutes to have sex, including oral sex, without a condom.

Premier Peter Beattie denied the number of sex workers would increase in the state because of the changes, saying many prostitutes might now choose to work extra shifts.

Under the changes, eight prostitutes will now be allowed to work in each brothel, which is limited to only five rooms, per shift. Currently, brothels are only allowed to employ five sex workers per shift. This change will not increase the number of rooms or customers - it will just allow the brothel workers to have a break between clients, he said. The CMC found that on busy nights, sex workers will often work continuously throughout their shift."

Clients who broke the condom law would face a $7,500 penalty, in line with the current penalties for engaging in unprotected sex with a prostitute. One person has faced prosecution for the offence this year.

Opposition Leader Lawrence Springborg accused the government of slowly opening up the sex industry, saying official figures showed the number of people picked up for illegal prostitution increased significantly last year.

That's been the experience ever since the government brought in the legislation for these so-called boutique brothels in Queensland, Springborg said. We've got growth in the legal industry and growth in the illegal industry.

But Police Minister Judy Spence said street prostitution had dropped considerably since the government introduced legalised brothels. Queensland currently had 19 legal brothels, she said. Anecdotally, police have told me there are probably less than five regular street prostitutes in the CBD or (Fortitude) Valley and that's a real difference from years ago, when street prostitution was a great cause for concern.

Beattie said the government was still opposed to allowing brothels to run escort services, but would wait for a separate CMC report before making a final decision on that issue. We'll take some convincing on it, but we're prepared to have an open mind. The safest environment (for prostitutes), as much as we don't condone this, is in one of these small, boutique brothels and for the police to be tough on streetwalkers.

The government had rejected the CMC's recommendation to remove a limit on where brothels could be located, and would maintain a 200 metre restriction zone between a brothel and a school or church, he said.

The laws would be introduced into parliament early next year.

    An Obscene Tax Demand

From AVN Goalie Entertainment owner Edward Wedelstedt pleaded guilty Friday in Dallas to a federal obscenity charge, agreeing to forfeit three adult bookstores in Texas to authorities as part of his plea agreement.

Wedelstedt admitted one count of distributing obscene material in exchange for a 13-month prison term and charges being dropped against his wife and their company, Goalie Entertainment Holdings, Inc., as part of the plea bargain. Wedelstedt's attorney, Hank Asbill, said they came away "pleased" with the agreement considering what was at stake.

Other than an outright dismissal of all the charges, we're extremely pleased, Asbill told AVN.com Friday. Eddie Wedelstedt for nearly 20 years has operated adults-only bookstores in Texas, and one of those movies out of nearly 200,000 titles have been deemed obscene in the Northern District of Texas (and nowhere else in U.S.). ... Mr. Wedelstedt never personally viewed the movie, nor did he personally send it… But he has taken responsibility.

Wedelstedt will be sentenced in February. He and seven others were named in a 23-count indictment in March for racketeering, obscenity and tax charges. The judge must either accept the terms of the entire plea agreement or reject it, at which time Wedelstedt can withdraw his plea forcing a trial. If the judge accepts, he would likely serve only 11 months in a mininum security federal prison camp.

Asbill said: With respect to the tax offense, Mr. Wedelstedt conceded that between 1997 and 1999 he gave some employees cash bonuses in which those employees did not pay their own taxes on. During each of those three years, the average tax loss to government was $40,000 a year. During that same time, Eddie and his company overpaid their taxes by many hundreds of thousands of dollars, if not low millions of dollars.

Of the 23-count indictment, 18 of those counts referred to interstate transportation of obscene material by common carrier; interstate transportation of obscene material for purpose of sale or distribution; engaging in the business of selling or transferring obscene matter; and aiding and abetting those three alleged acts.

The final two counts of the indictment were RICO forfeiture, which asked for the forfeiture of millions in cash, all stock and other interests that Wedelstedt and Goalie have in 53 listed companies, 10 parcels of land and an airplane.

The bottom line is all of Eddie's 1,000 employees are out of harm's way, Asbill said. His company continues to thrive everywhere except temporarily in the Northern District of Texas, and his foundation Eddie's Kids will continue to thrive as well. So when the government starts patting itself on the back about this, someone ought to match up the indictment and charges, and forfeiture they were seeking against the plea agreement in this case, and you can draw your own conclusion.

    After the US Left

The sex trade continues in the Philippines

From Bulatlat by Dabet Castaneda

Prostitution was and still is a thriving "trade" in Olongapo City, where U.S. soldiers used to frequent the bars for their rest and recreation.

A teenage working girl has just woken for a 10am interview. After washing her face with tap water, she broke into a sheepish smile and said, I am sorry, I just woke up. I slept late. The girl then took her mobile phone and started texting some messages. This fair-skinned, chinky-eyed young lass is Maya (not her real name), an entertainer at a videoke bar along the streets of Subic in the province of Zambales.

“Ate” is Evelyn Marzan, an organizer of bar girls from a women’s organization, 'Organize Women', who assisted this reporter for this interview.

Maya had no idea she was going to be interviewed and upon realizing it, her smile broke into a giggle. Are you a reporter? she asked. I also want to be a reporter like you. she said as her face turned red. Don’t be shy, Evelyn told her. After a little prodding, Maya took her seat and was ready for this interview.

Although she insisted she is 19 years old, Maya’s lanky, underdeveloped body and mannerisms gave away her real age. She said she was in third year high school when she stopped schooling this year. Evelyn later confirmed Maya is only 16. Evelyn also said she had met a 15-year old girl who just arrived in this bar last week.

In a separate interview, Buklod president Alma Bulawan said the present generation of bar girls is aged 15-25 years old: Customers today want young girls, not like in our time when any age will do. Bulawan was a prostitute during the 1980s when what is known today as the Subic Bay Freeport was still a U.S. military base.

The Philippine Senate voted against the extension of the U.S.-RP Military Bases Treaty when it expired in 1991. But the area continues to serve as a military station for U.S. warships after the Visiting Forces Agreement (VFA) was approved in 1998. During the five decades that the U.S. military base was in Subic and Olongapo City, the area surrounding the base had long strips of bars, which are actually brothel areas, where American servicemen spend their “liberty,” a U.S. military term for rest and recreation. Prostitution became the most convenient job for women and children then, Bulawan said.

Provincial officials initiated a clean-up drive against prostitution after the bases treaty was scrapped. In fact, the base area was converted into an industrial and recreation hub, which hosts multi-national corporations, hotels and casinos. But with or without the bases, Bulawan said, the sex trade never has stopped in Olongapo and Subic, as it never did elsewhere. At present, there are about 3,000 Guest Relations Officer (GROs) in Olongapo alone, she added. During the time of the bases, she said, their number rose to about 16,000.

The biggest proof, Bulawan said, is the girls’ health cards given out by the local government itself. Precy, a GRO in a videoke bar in Olongapo, said they are being checked by the city’s health center every week. We undergo pap smear she said. They are made to pay P30 per check up and are not allowed to work if they do not comply. The Customers also want to make sure. They want to see the health card first before sleeping with them, Bulawan said.

Since then, there have only been a few changes: sex trade hubs in and out of the Freeport are now known as videoke bars and bar girls are now called GROs. She said videoke bars in this area offer three dance sets every night for their customers. During the first set, the girls would still be wearing clothes. In the second set, they would be in their bikinis. On the third, they go all the way, meaning they dance in the nude, Evelyn said.

These girls, Evelyn said, get drunk or even take drugs before doing the dance shows. They won’t have the courage to dance nude in front of people if they are not drunk or stoned, she said.

Maya started working in the bar only last September when her father sent her there: He wants me to marry an American, she said. Maya said she had a cousin who also worked as a GRO here and was able to marry an American serviceman who was a customer at the bar.

But money never comes easy for Maya. She said she is paid a measly P100 a night as a dancer. At first, it was enough to “just dance and drink.” She said they are encouraged to drink a lot because they get a commission in every order. Girls are given P40 for a drink that costs P80 and P50 for a P120 drink. Back then, I would not agree to be taken out. That’s because I was still a virgin when I arrived here, she said.

To take the girl out for sex, a customer has to pay a bar fine, Evelyn explained. After a few weeks, Maya finally agreed to go out with a customer. To earn more she said.

But her father’s American dream could not materialize, she said while smiling. I am afraid of Americans. You know why referring to the belief that Americans have a large penis. And I do not understand English. Maya said her customers were mostly Filipinos, Chinese and Taiwanese who come to Subic to gamble at the casinos.

These customers pay a bar fine of P1,200 but Maya said only P550 is given to the girls, the rest going to the bar. Not knowing anybody in Subic, Maya decided to live with the other GROs. There are seven of them staying in a room at the back of the bar where they work. Maya pays P200 a month. They each have a bed and share the bathroom, wash area and kitchen. They pool their money together to buy food.

Like most girls working in bars, Maya is trying to look for another job but could not find one. She said she wanted to apply as a contractual worker in one of the companies inside the Freeport but is not qualified being an undergraduate. Thus, like many of the girls in Subic, Maya is forced to survive by selling her body to earn a few hundred pesos.

At a little before noontime, Maya was already shifting restlessly on her seat, looking at her mobile phone and asking her bar mates for the time. She soon excused herself and ended the interview. By 2pm, she would have to put on her make-up and wear a tiny, skimpy dress. For Maya, the show begins at 4 p.m.

© 2005 Bulatlat ¦ Alipato Publications

Permission is granted to reprint or redistribute this article, provided its author/s and Bulatlat are properly credited and notified.

    Adult Pay TV in US Hotels

I have found hotel porn to be disappointingly softcore in the US and I find it far more cost effective to buy DVDs from the adult stores and play them on my laptop.

From AVN by Kathee Brewer

If all pay-per-view entertainment available in the U.S. is lumped together, sex comes second — after first-run movies but before concerts and sporting events. According to entertainment industry analyst Dennis McAlpine, a partner in McAlpine Associates, the “buy rate” for in-home pay-per-view adult entertainment delivered via cable or satellite is between 5%t and 10%. The buy rate goes up as the content becomes more explicit, topping out at about 20%. (Ironically, one of the largest providers of in-home adult entertainment is Direct TV, which is owned by Rupert Murdock’s News Corp. News Corp. also owns conservative Fox News.)

In hotel rooms, however, the buy rate skyrockets to as much as 50%, according to recent estimates. McAlpine said although that represents only 5 to 10% of any hotel chain’s bottom line (but as much as 70% of in-room profits), erotic entertainment is still a significant revenue generator because it requires no investment on the hotel’s part. Under contracts with LodgeNet and On Command, the two largest purveyors of on-demand in-room entertainment, hotels receive a percentage of each pay-per-view purchase.

Hotels were among the first publicly traded corporations to profit from porn, although shareholders won’t find exact figures in their annual statements. Sex and other on-demand fare typically are lumped together under the heading “pay-per-view revenues.” Partially, that’s for reasons of convenience, but it’s also so corporate executives don’t have to field angry calls from conservative shareholders who, while they want to see their investments grow, don’t necessarily want it bandied about publicly that they profit from — or even worse, support — something as embarrassing as sexually explicit content.

Hilton Hotels, Marriott International, Sheraton and Holiday Inn are among the largest hotel chains to offer explicit in-room entertainment. Until 2000, Texas based Omni Hotels was among the illustrious brotherhood of sex purveyors, too. That year, however, responding to what it perceived as a growing need for corporate America to support pro-family issues, Omni struck a deal with LodgeNet under which adult channels would be stricken from the rooms at all 80 Omni-owned and managed properties. The move cost the company an estimated $1.8 million per year, according to president Jim Caldwell. Omni claims to have recouped the losses by selling more family oriented entertainment.

Despite increasing pressure from conservative groups like Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values — which in 2003 contributed to the removal of pay-per-view porn from a group of hotels in Ohio and Kentucky under threat of prosecution for “pandering obscenity” — representatives of other large hotel chains remain firmly committed to the decision to let pay-per-view porn remain on guests’ menus. Most say they respect guests’ ability to choose for themselves what kind of entertainment is appropriate for them. Some go so far as to say their guests demand erotic viewing options, and to drop them would cause not only a plunge in pay-per-view revenues, but also a decline in customer loyalty.

That view is not universal. When it comes to hotel erotica, the so-called “prudish” U.S. may be pulling ahead of some European countries typically seen as more liberal. Many of Sweden’s hotels became porn-free in April, after the government agency that controls where military members, civil servants and politicians may stay blacklisted all properties that offered in-room adult entertainment, effectively canceling the demand except in properties that cater primarily to foreign tourists. The Netherlands outlawed hotel porn in 2003, and since 2004, unionized hotel staff in Norway have been engaged in a campaign to convince their government to adopt a similar policy.

    Tasmania Forces Girls back onto the Street

From The Indy Channel A Launceston brothel owner says she is being forced back to being a working girl by the State Government's controversial sex industry legislation outlawing brothels.

She said brothel workers were already panicking and suffering stress because of fears they would be forced to work on the street or in illicit sex parlours, with little protection.

The Touch of Class owner, who goes by the name of Chloe, runs the administrative side of the business which she bought three years ago. She said yesterday the legislation banning brothels left her with no choice but to close her brothel. Chloe said this meant she and another prostitute would work out of the premises, putting as many as 8-12 girls out on the street. I'm being forced back into prostitution by the State Government -- how do you like that? she said.

Chloe said she had worked 12-hour days as a prostitute to help pay for the business and she only bought the premises last year. She said with closure imminent, she had no option but to go back to work. She said she was angry with the legislation, saying politicians made generalisations about the industry: I have never had children or drugs in this business, but politicians make sweeping statements saying that this is about protecting children .

Chloe said some working girls would struggle to operate privately. It doesn't suit everyone's circumstances and some don't have the wherewithall to set up privately and get a premises.

A Prostitutes Tasmania spokeswoman, known as Rachel, said illegal brothels would continue to operate despite the Bill being passed. She said more prostitutes would be exploited by dubious operators. There are some underground brothels which loan girls money, or give them drugs on credit, and then they are locked in to working for them,

Rachel said there were between 10 and 15 brothels in Tasmania but the number of prostitutes was difficult to estimate. I've seen figures there are 250 prostitutes in Tasmania -- that seems a bit low.

Rachel said brothel workers would have to take safety risks by working the streets, with some just working to pay rent, or support children.

    Sex Club Clubbed

From The Indy Channel A two-year battle between a sex club and Indianapolis council is over. A judge ordered the Reel One sex club on West Washington Street to shut down.

The club opened in 1992. City and police opened an investigation in 2003. Officials said they found nudity and large groups of people watching and having sex inside the club. The buildings doors were locked Wednesday evening after the ruling

The club's owners were involved in a protracted legal battle with the city. Their attorney maintained that the couple did nothing wrong and had a right to operate the sex club: The activity that occurs in a private setting among consenting adults is perfectly appropriate and lawful activity, said Reel One attorney, Richard Kammen.

Investigators said Reel One violates licensing laws, allows live sex on the premises, and operates within 500 feet of a residential neighborhood.

The judge not only ordered the owners to stop using the Reel One property for their sex club. They were also barred from running a live sex club anywhere else in the city.

    Record Fine for Record Attemp t

From CBC A strip club in St. John's has been fined $7,500 – the maximum possible fine – on two charges of violating an obscure part of the Criminal Code. Bubbles Gentlemen's Club was charged in April with violating section 167 of the Criminal Code, which deals with what's called "immoral theatrical performance."

Montreal stripper Marie-Andrée Lauriault – who works under the stage name Tangerine Dream – performed explicit shows using sex toys in February and April. Lauriault was originally charged but the charges against her with withdrawn. Charges were also withdrawn against Sonia Delisle, the manager of the George Street club.

Bob Simmonds, a St. John's lawyer who represented Lauriault and the club, said the fine should not have been enforced: If you don't like the activity, then don't pay the cover [and] don't go into the club .

Simmonds says prosecutions under that section of the Criminal Code are unusual. It's a very inexact standard – it changes with time. Things that years ago once were clearly criminal are not anymore.

In the last Tangerine Dream show, Lauriault attempted to set what she called a "gang-bang record." Witnesses said 177 men and women lined up along the Bubbles stage to penetrate Lauriault with a sex toy.

    Big Tits Govern Rio

From The Guardian Raunchy postcards featuring bikini-clad women could soon be forced from the shops in Rio de Janeiro after the city's legislative assembly approved a ban on Tuesday.

Alice Tamborindeguy, the state deputy behind the project, said outlawing the images would help in the fight against sex tourism. Our state has innumerable other beauties and does not deserve to be devalued by postcards that show the backsides of our women out of context . These postcards ... attract to our city the wrong kind of tourist and promote deplorable sex tourism With its sun, sea, mountains and sultry lifestyle Rio is a popular tourist destination. But prostitution is also rife, and the UN and other groups have expressed concern that it is growing as a magnet for foreigners seeking cheap sex. State governor Rosinha Matheus has 30 days to ratify the rule.

    Golden Age on DVD

From AVN The Command Cinema library, a treasure trove of Golden Age porn classics produced by their owner, Cecil Howard, has finally found a DVD distributor in Media Blasters, a Manhattan-based mainstream company.

Howard released all his films on video on his Command Video label, but he never put them on DVD, and several companies over the years have pursued the digital rights to what is perhaps the last major classic porn cache not available on disc.

Media Blasters will be able to make digital transfers directly from Howard's 35mm camera negatives, which he has kept in pristine shape in storage over the years.

First releases are Babylon Pink (1979), one of the few Command movies not also directed by Howard, and Neon Nights (1981). The Babylon DVD features interviews with director Henri Pachard and Georgina Spelvin, a member of its all-star cast. All Command reissues will include cast and crew interviews and director's commentary.

Howard's movies are among the most highly esteemed and awarded products of porn's Golden Age (late '70s to late '80s), big-budget productions with well developed scripts and the major stars of the period.  Howard's Command catalog numbers some 47 films, but Howard said there are some he doesn't want to see reissued. "They're just old," he laughed. He has earmarked a selection of "30 to 40 titles tops" for DVD exposure.

Sirabella said that if the Command series works out, they'll be looking for more classic adult titles to reissue. They want to go far beyond straight digital transfers, cleaning up the masters, restoring quality and adding extras to the DVDs. Howard made it easy for them since he still has everything, from prints to archival materials, in good condition.

Babylon Pink is scheduled for release November 29, with Neon Nights (1981) following sometime in December. Sirabella said they'll wait to see what happens with the first two releases before firming up a schedule for 2006.

    Exhibiting a Good Attitude

From   Spiegel A museum in Hamburg opens a new show exploring the role of prostitution in German society. The country is home to an estimated 200,000 prostitutes -- who together form a highly lucrative industry that is older than Germany itself.

The world's oldest profession is also, these days, one of the world economy's most important. Hamburg's Museum der Arbeit ("Museum of Work") estimates that over 200,000 Germans -- mostly women -- work in the €14 billion-a-year prostitution industry. The work is legal in Germany, at least under the proper conditions, and since 2002 registered prostitutes can even claim national health benefits. As legitimate businesses that are fully integrated into society, they are also required to pay taxes.

On Nov. 4, the museum will unveil an exhibition of posters, photographs, figurines, and other historical relics with the idea of examining both myths and realities behind sex work. The focus is on changing attitudes toward the skin trade in Germany from the 19th century to the present. No alley goes unexplored, apparently -- prostitution for drugs, different ideas about preventing disease, sex-work immigration, and visions of prostitution in art are all major themes.

The show's curator, 50-year-old Elisabeth von Dcker, says prostitution is nothing unusual -- it's a "profession," a "traditional service."

To make that point, she relies on a large historical archive that tracks the tricks and the tools of the trade. A few highlights from the collection, which travels from Hamburg to Berlin and Bonn in early 2006, include a registered prostitute's account book from 1861, documentation of sex work during the Nazi era, "working clothes," like heels worn by a Reeperbahn window-prostitute or a male hustler's cock ring. You'll also find official condoms distributed to Germany's army, the Bundeswehr, as well as photos of prostitution activists marching in the streets during the 1990s.

Legal as it may be, however, the world's oldest profession is still socially unacceptable in many parts of German society. Still, the profession is an important part of a well-functioning German society. I call it the McDonald's effect , says Andreas Harms, a bordello operator in Hamburg. No one claims to go in, but the place is always packed.

    Ohio Nutters On Hold

From   Ohio.Com A Bill that would regulate Ohio strip clubs is on hold for now.

Senate President Bill Harris on Tuesday delayed action on two bills, saying he has concerns but still hopes to get them passed in some form by the end of the year. Both had been scheduled for committee votes Wednesday and were expected to be recommended for full Senate votes.

One of the bills, which would ban most erotic dancing after 11 p.m. and lap dancing altogether, became the subject this week of complaints that religious conservatives pushing the bill have suggested Republican primary challenges to any GOP member - including Harris - who opposes it. The bill also gives townships more power to regulate adult businesses, a provision the clubs don't oppose.

Harris, an Ashland Republican, pulled the bill from the Judiciary and Criminal Justice Committee, which was set to vote on Wednesday, and parked it in Rules, which can either take up hearings or refer it to another committee. He said he was concerned about potential loopholes and did not act because of the political statements.

However, Harris said he was offended by statements in an e-mail by Phil Burress, president of Cincinnati-based Citizens for Community Values (CCV). The e-mail said: After this is over, CCV's new PAC (Political Action Committee) will be making sure every Republican who stood in the way of CDA (the strip club bill) passage will have to answer to the voters. Maybe in the form of a primary.

Harris said he was concerned that language added in the House, which passed the bill 92-5 in April, would allow seminude dancing to continue after 11 p.m. in clubs with liquor licenses but ban it for other types of clubs. Ohio law already allows fully nude dancing only in clubs that don't serve alcohol.

    Czech Legalisation Checked

From   www.ceskenoviny.cz Deputies rejected the government proposal to annul the international Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, which was the condition for the subsequent passage of a bill regulating prostitution. The government supported the bill to regulate prostitution in July, and the lower house was to start debating it at this session.

Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan told deputies before today's vote that if they did not support the annulment of the convention, it would be pointless to submit the bill at all.

The government proposal to annul the convention was rejected by 64 deputies out of the 90 present. The junior ruling Christian Democrats (KDU-CSL), the senior opposition Civic Democrats (ODS) and the opposition Communists (KSCM) voted against it.

The KDU-CSL politicians rank to the sharpest opponents of a bill regulating prostitution. They say that the state would thereby become "a pimp."

On the contrary, the bill's supporters argue that the legislation would help fight with prostitution. The bill is also backed by mayors of some towns which face serious problems with unregulated prostitution.

According to the bill, municipalities would have the right to regulate or restrict prostitution on their own territory, and prostitutes would need a permit for their "business." The bill also reckons with regular medical check-ups of prostitutes who would also pay health and social insurance and taxes.

    Working Rights for Working Girls

From Reuters European sex workers called for their profession to be recognized as work Monday, saying they deserved the same social rights as other employees.

Male and female sex workers from the International Committee on the Rights of Sex Workers in Europe (ICRSE) held a news conference in the European Parliament, urging the 25-nation European Union to end discrimination of the sex industry. What we do is work and we want it recognized as that , said British sex worker Ruth Morgan Thomas from Scotland.

In many European states, the sex industry flourishes in the black market where women are trafficked from poor countries to work as prostitutes in Europe. Their passports are often stolen to prevent their escape out of sex slavery.

Prostitution is legal in some EU states and tolerated in most European countries, but laws on prostitution and the legal rights of sex workers vary across the EU.

The sex workers said regulating the sector would curb exploitation and boost prostitutes' willingness to pay tax in return for rights and social protection.

Camille Cabral, representing French sex workers said it was time to end the stigma associated with the sex industry: You shouldn't hide yourselves, you shouldn't be ashamed. All societies should accept and give (the same) sort of statute to this profession as to any other.

    Working Girls Working Against Repression

From The Seoul Times For the first time in South Korean history, thousands of sex workers and brothel owners from around the country flocked to the nation's capital building demanding their "rights to make a living"

Donned with sunglasses, baseball caps, and masks to cover their identity more than 3,000 prostitutes and runners of brothels staged a protest in front of the National Assembly building in Seoul's Yeouido district. The women came from 12 of the nations major cities and provinces' large-scale red-light districts.

The demonstrators were protesting the strict new laws resulted from a recent campaign first launched by women's groups to protect sex workers from the dangers of the industry. Instead, the women rebelled and demanded to be left alone.

Speaking on behalf of the protesters, the Hanteo Workers Union — an association of brothel owners — said that they are looking for separate demands for the women. They have been asking the government to allow them to prepare for the women's life outside the sex industry by putting off enforcement of laws until 2007.

Surrounding the rare demonstrators were a group of detectives in plain clothes who also gathered from police stations in the country. One special police company of 100 female officers were mobilized for this demonstration. Police also prepared about 60 blankets because there was a "tip" that the demonstrators would stage a "naked" demonstration.

The prostitutes were demanding their rights to make a living out of "the women's oldest profession." They also demanded that the lawmakers revise "the Special Sex Trade Law," which went into force in Sept 2004.

Sex trade workers weren't the only ones at the rally. Some merchants who work around the red-light districts also participated in the rally. One merchant said that her business had sharply decreased since the police started cracking down in the Cheongnyangni area.

The new anti-prostitution laws declared "zero-tolerance" towards the sex trade, handing out heavy punishment for sellers, buyers and brothel owners. Under the law, hundreds of sex traders and customers were rounded up and punished in all the major red-light districts around the country driving prostitutes out of brothels.

Even with the police's arrests, red light districts have learnt to adapt using different tricks to avoid possible arrests. In a move that looks more like a cloak and dagger scheme of the cold war, sex traders hide in dark places waiting for buyers that don't appear to be police and offer them security and peace of mind. Sex organizations are now using people strategically placed on the streets to call in whenever the police come in for a raid.

The recent crackdown on the sex trade has brought the girls out of the streets and into other clandestine operations such as barbershops, motels, massage parlors and private house calls. Experts warn that the indiscriminate clampdowns on brothels and red light districts might turn the whole nation into a giant island of prostitution.

    Street Cleaner Janssens

From Expatica Antwerp Mayor Patrick Janssens has proposed fining the clients of illegal street prostitutes in a bid to curb the city's sex trade.

Clients of street prostitutes in the Atheneum city district will risk a fine of up to EUR 250 from November in what is being described as a precedent for Belgium. In combination with a street ban on the prostitutes, the Antwerp Council wants to put an end to the city's street sex trade, newspaper 'De Morgen' reported on Friday. A prostitute received the city's first street ban last week. A further 16 women in the Atheneum district were issued with a final warning.

However, city mayor Janssens wants to go a step further and will request the council enact a new law allowing fines to be imposed on the prostitutes' clients: We don't want to only crackdown on the weakest group; that is not fair.

Janssens said it will be easy to identify the clients by their behaviour: He approaches the women, picks them up in a car. We trust the expertise of the police to pinpoint the clients. They can also be caught in the act, than there is absolutely no discussion possible . The mayor hopes the fines will not only be a repressive policy, but also serve as a preventative warning.

The new law can only be imposed on clients who pick up prostitutes on public roads. No fines will be imposed on sex trade clients in the three streets in the Schipperskwartier city district where street prostitution is officially tolerated. Clients of the window prostitutes will not be fined.

    Airbrushed Survey

I wonder what happened to the important questions such as whether people, enjoy it, get off on it or buy it? From AVN How does the public feel on pornography? What should be done about it? Opinions may vary, but basically men like it and women don't, according to a recent Harris Poll.

These are the results of a survey of 2,555 U.S. adults conducted online between September 20 and 26, 2004. Among the more interesting findings of this research are:

About half of all adults believe that pornography "raises men's expectation of how women should look" (51%) and that it "changes men's expectations of how women should behave" (48%). However, women are much more likely than men to believe these (62% vs. 40% and 58% vs. 37%, respectively).

Two out of five adults (40%) believe that pornography "harms relationships between men and women" with this view also held by a higher percentage of women" (47%) than men (33%).

Almost half of all adults (48%) believe that "pornography is demeaning towards women" but this view is more widely held by women (57%) than by men (38%).

There is no consensus on the impact of pornography on children but most people, including both men and women, think the effects are mainly negative. When asked which one phrase best describes their beliefs about the impact of pornography on "children who see a lot of it," 30 percent of adults say "it distorts boys' expectation and understanding of women and sex," 25 percent say "it makes kids more likely to have sex earlier" and another seven percent say "it distorts girls' body images and ideas about sex." Very few people say that "it helps kids better understand sexuality" (2%).

    Anti-Social Evil Bureau

From Thanhnein News Hanoi is set to start a system of monitoring sex workers by recording arrests on a computer network so that authorities can check on repeat offenders.

Tien Phong newspaper Friday quoted an official as saying that starting this month, arrested sex workers would have to fill in a form, which, along with their recent photo, would go into a computer network accessible to all relevant agencies.

Nguyen Vi Hung, head of the Hanoi Anti-Social Evil Bureau, said those arrested frequently would be sent to rehabilitation centers.

The city's initiative aims at better managing sex workers since without proof they engage in prostitution frequently, they can only be fined 50,000 Vietnamese dong (US$3.2) on arrest.

With the new system, the policing agencies would find it much easier to prove the "operation frequency" of sex workers, Hung said. He pointed out that under prevailing rules, sex workers who were also drug addicts had to go to rehabilitation centers for one year for their first offence. After their release, if they relapsed into either drug use or sex work, they would have to go a center for 3-4 years, he said. Now, sex workers will be afraid of being arrested a second time… Sending them to rehabilitation centers is necessary since many of them are addicted to drugs and infected with HIV , he said.

Some experts at Vietnam's Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs said the ministry should implement the Hanoi initiative nationwide.

Currently, there are records on about 13,000 sex workers in the country, including 3,000 in Hanoi.

    Seattle Prudes

From New York Newsday Seattle City Council recently approved some of the strictest adult-entertainment regulations of any major city in the country, voting 5 to 4 to require that dancers stay 4 feet from patrons.

That means no lap dances and no folding dollar bills into G-strings. In addition, the clubs must maintain at least parking-garage brightness throughout the premises and can have no private rooms. Dancers will no longer be allowed to take money directly from customers; instead, customers will put the money in a tip jar.

For the most part, the attraction's gone , said Gil Levy, a lawyer for Rick's adult nightclub in Seattle: It will make the clubs less fun.

The legislation was requested by Mayor Greg Nickels. The mayor's office said the restrictions were needed  supposedly to prevent a rash of cabarets from opening after a federal judge struck down the city's 17-year moratorium on new strip clubs.

Technically, Seattle already had a ban on dancers and patrons "touching" in clubs. But officials and police said that the rule was ignored and that dancers routinely gave lap dances.

Several officers submitted testimony about witnessing acts of prostitution or near-prostitution in the clubs, but said that because the clubs were dark, it was sometimes hard to prove the no-touching rule was being violated without buying a lap dance.

Those who opposed the rules suggested a better way to regulate strip clubs would be through zoning, to keep them away from schools, churches and homes. Seattle has no zoning rules governing adult entertainment.  Furthermore, they said, the rules are unbecoming of a city that prides itself on being liberal and tolerant.

And a classic "I'm not a prude... BUT...": Without being prudes, we can be prudent , said Councilman Nick Licata.

    D Day

From The Nation The government has vowed to exert moral authority by tough law enforcement on a wide range of social ills, such as vice, teenage sexual promiscuity, football betting and loan-sharking. In a meeting yesterday with top government officials, Prime Minister Thaksin Shinawatra relaunched old campaigns on social order, drug suppression and poverty eradication to portray a proactive image of his government. Society is plagued by many illnesses, and it is high time to wipe out social germs , he said.

Many of his points resembled those delivered by former deputy prime minister Purachai Piumsombun, who fell from favour for spearheading the social-order campaign.

For this year's remaining three months, I want police to send out a strong signal that illegal and immoral businesses will no longer be tolerated beyond January , he said, referring to a "D-Day" for the vice-suppression campaign.

He said his Thai Rak Thai Party would open a call centre later this month to monitor vice-related complaints in order to double-check on the police's performance.