World P4P News

French sex workers are hopeful of being able to return to French city centres in their traditional attire after President Hollande's government moved to lift restrictions that forced many to work in jeans and anoraks.

In the latest French move over the world's oldest profession, Najat Vallaud-Belkacem, the minister for women's rights, said the Head of State would repeal a ten-year-old law designed to curb prostitution in France.

The announcement represented a notable victory for French call-girl unions, who demonstrated in Paris over the weekend as part of their campaign against what they describe as police harassment.

However, lest people celebrate to quickly, the Government seems to be seeking a replacement which could easily be a lot worse.

Minister of Women's Rights Najat Belkacem-Vallaud said Saturday in Le Parisien that the campaign pledge of Francois Hollande on the repeal of this offense would be honoured...But...

A proposal for comprehensive law on prostitution and trafficking should be developed by the fall, she said, adding that penalizing the client was an avenue among others.

In the meantime Senator Esther Benbassa has filed a bill to repeal the offense of soliciting, which will be debated in the Senate on March 28.

Another bid will be made to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia. Labor MP Steph Key will introduce new laws to parliament next week to decriminalise all forms of sex work.

The new bill will require owners of brothels to register their business with consumer and business services to allow for more regulatory controls. Ms Key said sex workers would be required to go through the same planning approvals as other businesses.

With MPs to be given a conscience vote, she believes the legislation will pass this time after her previous attempt in November last year was rejected.

But Family First MP Dennis Hood said the legislation was being brought back to parliament just 12 sitting days after it was voted down. Hood claimed it would be a waste of time to have another debate on the issue.

Police in Stockholm were surprised to find that a man they had arrested for buying sex from a sex worker was the duty prosecutor to whom they were obliged to report the crime.

The chief prosecutor had spent the evening enjoying the company of  a female prostitute in a central Stockholm hotel. A police squad, however, had been tipped off and was waiting for him in the staircase outside the room.

Police were surprised to learn of the man's status while arresting him, as he was the prosecutor on duty to whom they should report the crime.

The victim of Sweden's PC extremism had paid 1,500 kronor ($232) for the sex, according to the Expressen newspaper. He told Aftonbladet that in his experience as a prosecutor, he knew that the stupidest thing he could do was to lie:

I have done what I've done, I'm standing with my pants down. The worst is what I have done to my family and friends.

PC extremists on Amsterdam Council have voted to increase the legal age for prostitution from 18 to 21 as part of a series of new regulations aimed at repressing the sex industr.

The city council decision will be now be written into local bylaws, along with closing hours for brothels and red-light windows between 4am and 9am. Dutch language tests will also  be introduced for the same reason. A council spokesman claimed:

Younger women tend to be more vulnerable. This is part of a set of measures designed to tackle abuse in the sex industry, and strengthen the independence of prostitutes. The logic of the language tests is the same: if women get into trouble, they need to be able to communicate.

In addition brothel managers will have to produce business plans which show how health and safety regulations, particularly in relation to working hours, are being applied to their employees. If they are renting windows to individual prostitutes, the businesses will have to produce contracts showing the price being paid and any other conditions.

Amsterdam moralists of the local council are considering going it alone with repressive attacks on the sex industry after efforts to get their way at that national level appear to have failed.

In particular, the council is considering raising the legal age to become a prostitute from 18 to 21 and introducing a language test. A council spokesman claimed:

A language test is important because it will not only enable the prostitute to speak to police and social workers but take care of herself in an emergency situation.

The proposals will be discussed by the city council executive next week.

The upper house of parliament is currently considering legislation which would require all prostitutes to register as sex workers. It would force clients to check whether the prostitute is registered or not. Both these requirements have come in for heavy criticism.

Miserable Tokyo police have targeted brothels for the elderly.

A Japanese woman has been arrested for allegedly running the brothels. Local TV news reported that 10 women aged in their 40s to 70s were working in one of the brothels, whose main clientele were men and women drawing a pension.

Those following the Irish Justice Committee hearings on prostitution will know that, so far, they have failed to allow any sex workers in.

It was reported in the media last week that former sex workers were being invited in. However, as I reported then, those invited were not any of the current or former sex workers who have been protesting to be allowed in, they were persons chosen to go in by religious anti-sex work organisation Ruhama. The part of the hearing involving them was not be transmitted and no transcript (with any identifying information redacted) was to be made available afterwards.

...Read the full article

The Thai government plans to ask Youtube to remove a video clip joking about the sex industry in Thailand.

The clip is a parody of a commercial for the Rosetta Stone foreign language learning programme. The spoof was produced by popular American late-night television show Saturday Night Live .

In the video, foreigners are interested in learning the Thai language so they know how to say things like, How much? , Is that for the whole night? or How can I take off your clothes? in Thai.

Culture Minister Sonthaya Khunploem said that the Culture Watch Centre is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to have the video removed from Youtube.

The government will also claim to the United States embassy that the commercial spoof is tarnishing Thailand's image and will ask the embassy to explain the situation to the producer of Saturday Night Live, Sonthaya said.

Rather ironically the Thai culture minister is the brother of the Mayor of Pattaya which is very much the capital of the tourist sector of the sex industry. Perhaps the minister should consider that his actions are contributing to an image of hypocrisy and internet censorship.

One Thai commenter kindly translated the culture ministers diplomacy speak:

Even though it might be true, the producers should not offend Thailand this way.

Update: Censored?

5th February 2013.  See  article from  nationmultimedia.com

YouTube has removed the Rosetta Stone Thai spoof video clip produced by US late-night TV show's Saturday Night Live that portrays Thailand in a negative light, mocking the country as a destination for sex tourists. Well at least according to Apinand Poshaya-nond, deputy permanent secretary for culture, who 'confirmed' the removal yesterday.

Apinand said yesterday that the ministry would explain the situation later to the producer of Saturday Night Live .

Meanwhile you can watch the 'offending' video on...you've guessed it... YouTube !

Comment: What a proper minister of fun would have said

6th February 2013.  See  article from  notthenation.com

This video is neither accurate nor humorous, and relies on outdated stereotypes to make fun of our nation and culture, said Thailand's minister of fun: The truth is that Thai prostitutes and those who provide sex services are fluent in English.

The minister blasted the video's ignorant suggestion that foreign tourists who wished to experience the unique pleasures of Thailand's extensive commercial sex services needed to undergo expensive and difficult language training.

Our sex tourism industry is one of the world leaders in the field, and we have serviced millions of satisfied customers -- male and female -- for decades. English, Chinese, German, Japanese, Russian, French, and Arabic-speaking sex tourists from around the world know that you don't need to speak a word of Thai to enjoy sex in Thailand. We are proud of this and will fight to maintain our image.

The Thai government plans to ask Youtube to remove a video clip joking about the sex industry in Thailand.

The clip is a parody of a commercial for the Rosetta Stone foreign language learning programme. The spoof was produced by popular American late-night television show Saturday Night Live .

In the video, foreigners are interested in learning the Thai language so they know how to say things like, How much? , Is that for the whole night? or How can I take off your clothes? in Thai.

Culture Minister Sonthaya Khunploem said that the Culture Watch Centre is working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs in an effort to have the video removed from Youtube.

The government will also claim to the United States embassy that the commercial spoof is tarnishing Thailand's image and will ask the embassy to explain the situation to the producer of Saturday Night Live, Sonthaya said.

Rather ironically the Thai culture minister is the brother of the Mayor of Pattaya which is very much the capital of the tourist sector of the sex industry. Perhaps the minister should consider that his actions are contributing to an image of hypocrisy and internet censorship.

One Thai commenter kindly translated the culture ministers diplomacy speak:

Even though it might be true, the producers should not offend Thailand this way.

Update: Censored?

5th February 2013.  See  article from  nationmultimedia.com

YouTube has removed the Rosetta Stone Thai spoof video clip produced by US late-night TV show's Saturday Night Live that portrays Thailand in a negative light, mocking the country as a destination for sex tourists. Well at least according to Apinand Poshaya-nond, deputy permanent secretary for culture, who 'confirmed' the removal yesterday.

Apinand said yesterday that the ministry would explain the situation later to the producer of Saturday Night Live .

Meanwhile you can watch the 'offending' video on...you've guessed it... YouTube !

The Philippines Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) has endorsed a bill that is pending in committee in the House of Representatives which would decriminalize prostitution but punish those who control and profit from the flesh trade.

The Anti-Prostitution Bill pending in the House committee on justice seeks to repeal the clauses under Articles 202 and 341 of the Revised Penal Code which punish women who, for money, engage in sexual intercourse, or lascivious conduct.

Social Welfare Secretary Corazon Dinky Soliman said the bill was one of the agency's priority pieces of legislation. The DSWD, however, clarified that it did not support the legalization of prostitution in the country.

Soliman said the bill would provide social protection to the victims and ensure the prosecution of persons who control and profit from the trade by exploiting the victims' poverty. The bill would also offer programs and services that would promote their economic well-being.

We all know that most, if not all, prostituted persons are forced to engage in this activity because of compelling reasons such as poverty if they are not victims of human trafficking. The government will continue to provide programs and services to uplift their economic well-being.

Ireland's Oireachtas Committee on Justice, Defence and Equality yesterday heard arguments for and against the criminalisation of buying sex.

It was good to hear of a little compassion from one lawmaker.

Senator Mary White said she had compassion for those who had no access to legitimate sexual relationships . She said people had an obvious psychological and physical need for sex and she asked if the selling of sex should not be legitimised to protect the buyer and the seller.

...Read the full article

The US Supreme Court has agreed to review a First Amendment dispute over whether the United States can force private health organizations to denounce prostitution as a condition to get AIDS funding.

Justices said they will hear the government's appeal of a lower court ruling that found the anti-prostitution pledge, in a provision of federal law, violated the health groups' constitutional rights.

At issue is the United States Leadership Against HIV/AIDS, Tuberculosis, and Malaria Act of 2003. It requires groups seeking federal money to announce publicly that they oppose prostitution and sex-trafficking.

The government often attaches conditions to the receipt of federal funds, but the 2nd U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in New York said the law went well beyond what is permissible.

Four organizations that work in Africa, Asia and South America filed a constitutional challenge to the law in 2005. A federal judge sided with the groups and a 2nd Circuit panel affirmed that ruling in a 2-1 vote. The majority said the rule doesn't merely force organizations to refrain from certain conduct, but also requires them to espouse the government's viewpoint.

The case probably will be argued in April, with a decision due by the end of June.

A district court judge in South Korea has requested that the courntry's Constitutional Court review the constitutionality of a law punishing sex workers. Judge Oh Won-chan of Seoul Northern District Court argued in the request:

Sexual contact between adults, unless it involves coercion or extortion, should be left for the parties to decide in view of their right to self-determination. The current law does not reflect a change in social views that the state should not interfere in such matters.

There is little evidence that punishing sex workers is effective in curbing the sex trade. Also, they are some legal issues regarding how to draw the line between forced or voluntary prostitution.

Subject to the review is the clause 1, article 21, of the nation's criminal law which stipulates that both the purchasing and selling of sex carry a penalty of up to 1 year in prison or a fine of up to 3 million won.

This is the first time that the law on prostitution, enacted in September 2004, has been brought to the Constitutional Court. The Constitutional Court now must decide within 180 days and the original trial will be suspended until its verdict is out.

Prostitutes in one of Brazil's biggest cities are signing up for free English classes ahead of this year's Confederations Cup and the 2014 World Cup.

Cida Vieira, president of the Association of Prostitutes in the city of Belo Horizonte, has said 20 women have already signed up for the courses. Classes are expected to begin in March and last up to eight months. Vieira explained:

It will be important for the girls who will be able to use English to let their clients know what they are charging and learn about what turns them on.

And for the same reasons we are also thinking of offering free French and Italian classes

Prostitution is legal in Brazil.