World Sex Sells News

    Italy Shamed . ..

Italy considers on-the-spot fines for guys buying sex

From the BBC see full article

Italy is considering imposing on-the-spot fines on prostitutes' clients, the interior minister says.

Giulio Amato also revealed plans to serve legal papers in clients' homes in order to shame them.

He told a Senate committee he was examining efforts to keep prostitutes off the streets where they were near children or places of worship.

Italy allowed brothels to operate legally until 1959. It now has laws to stop pimps exploiting prostitutes. Critics say the laws have served to drive prostitutes onto the streets.

    Hungarian Enterprise . ..

Sex workers to be given permits to issue invoices and pay tax

From Google News

In an effort to bring prostitutes into the legal economy, officials said that Hungary will allow sex workers to apply for an entrepreneur's permit, a move that could generate government revenues from an industry worth an estimated $1 billion annually.

The permits allow prostitutes to give receipts to customers and become part of the legal economy by paying taxes and making social security contributions, said Agnes Foldi, head of the Hungarian Prostitutes' Interest Protection Association.

Hungary's sex industry including prostitution and the production of pornographic materials, generates an estimated $1 billion annually, said Agnes Bakonyi, the spokeswoman of Hungary's tax authority APEH: It is one of the leading sectors of the shadow economy. With this project, APEH is trying to help a group of professionals, in what is called the world's oldest profession, who have never paid taxes in their life.

Hungary legalised prostitution under certain conditions in 1999. Prostitutes can work legally only within certain zones, distant from schools and churches, and must get regular medical checkups. Pimping and bordellos are banned.

One of the prostitutes who already has been granted a permit said she applied for it in an effort to improve her future and self-image: From now on, no one will be able to ask me where I got the money to buy my house or my car, said Rebeka, Now we are also part of a taxpaying group and we too are making a contribution to society.

    Just Going to the Co-op Dear...

Vancouver girls want to set up brothel co-operative for safe working

From Canada.com see full article

An association of Vancouver sex workers say they'll move ahead with a plan to open up Canada's first co-operative brothel when their group incorporates in November.

The focus will be on setting up a place where prostitutes can work safely, said Susan Davis, spokesperson for the Prostitutes Alternatives Counselling and Education Society, a group of sex workers fighting to decriminalize and regulate the sex trade.

The recent murder of a young woman in a Kitsilano apartment has once again turned the spotlight on the safety of sex trade workers, Davis told the Vancouver police board on Wednesday.

It's currently illegal to operate a bawdy house or live off the avails of prostitution in Canada. The women have no intention of breaking the law, but will look for an exemption, similar to one given to supervised injection sites, Davis said.

Failing that, Davis said she hopes police will grant them the same sort of amnesty given to the Compassion Club, a Vancouver establishment where marijuana is bought and sold without interference from police: We will not open up a safe work site unless we can get an amnesty from the federal government.

Davis said a co-operative brothel would keep sex trade workers safe, decrease the number of complaints from residents, keep the streets cleaner and leave police to pursue more serious crime.

Update: Start Date

4th November 2007

The co-operative is targeting a November 2007 starting date

Update: Olympics

19th November 2007

The co-operative is targeting a November 2007 starting date

The group of Vancouver prostitutes now wants to open a "co-op" brothel in time for the Winter Olympics, saying it would help sex-trade workers by providing a safer working environment when the world comes to visit in 2010.

The group has support from some politicians, including Vancouver East MP Libby Davies and Vancouver Mayor Sam Sullivan, who believe a brothel owned and run by sex-trade workers would help reduce violence against them.

Susan Davis, spokesperson for the Prostitutes Alternatives Counselling and Education Society said the group is weeks away from incorporating a co-operative corporation and is looking for a possible location in the city's east side. But she said the group won't open the facility, complete with "quickie rooms" equipped with sinks and a bench, unless it has support from the federal government.

What we'd like to see is an exemption given to us along the lines of what was given for the Insite safe-injection site, Ms. Davis said.

    Window Shopping . ..

Amsterdam to buy up red lit windows

From Expatica see full article

The municipality of Amsterdam wants to work with large investors to buy up more of the buildings in the red light district so as to combat crime and deterioration. The city has its eye mainly on prostitution businesses and coffeeshops.

Together with NV Stadsgoed of housing corporation Het Oosten Amsterdam has already acquired 83 buildings in the notorious neighbourhood.

We plan to continue this on a larger scale," alderman Lodewijk Asscher (economic affairs) said on Thursday. We are in talks with large investors who can develop new investment plans for the inner city under the direction of the municipality.

Charles Geerts ('Fat Charles'), one of the most important business owners in the red light district, is on the verge of selling all his buildings to an Amsterdam housing corporation. A considerable number of prostitution windows in the area will disappear with the sale.

The municipality revoked Geerts' brothel permits in 2006 because of his presumed criminal connections and allegations that he was using his empire for laundering money. The accusations have never been proven however.

    Update: Closing the Windows to Pimps . ..

Amsterdam continues action against red light area

From Radio Netherlands see full article

The Mayor of Amsterdam, Job Cohen, wants to ban pimping in the city's red light district and other areas where prostitutes work. He says the ban is needed to prevent exploitation and human trafficking, and sees it as the next step in cleaning up the red light district.

Ten years ago a parliamentary commission established that the district was controlled by around 16 people with "serious criminal histories and/or contacts". In recent years, an increasing number of stories have been circulating about human trafficking and forced prostitution in the red light district. The mayor and city council concluded that the district was no longer a tourist attraction to be proud of.

The big clean-up started last summer when Amsterdam refused permits to a number of "window" brothel operators. The most important of them was Charles Geerts, owner of large number of premises in the red light district.

Cohen expalins: Our aim is to combat criminality. To make the district more manageable. To improve the quality of life by reducing the excessive concentration of prostitution, bad-quality cafes and restaurants, and marijuana coffee shops. We want to create more opportunities for bona fide businesses.

Cohen believes the legalisation of prostitution in the Netherlands seven years ago hasn't had the desired effect. Many prostitutes have not become "ordinary employees" or self-employed businesswomen, but are still exploited by pimps. The mayor is therefore calling for a ban on pimping.

The pressure group for prostitutes, the Red Thread, strongly opposes the council's measures. Spokeswoman Metje Blaak says Red Thread asees no advantage in a pimping ban. Blaak says the measure is unnecessary because pimping is already illegal. In the criminal code there is indeed an article forbidding "the inducement of women to commit involuntary sexual acts for money". The offence is punishable with a prison sentence of up to eight years. The Red Thread thinks Cohen would do better to enforce the existing law.

    Update: Managing Brothels ...

 

West Australia to decriminalise brothels

From News.com.au see full article

Police have welcomed proposals to decriminalise and regulate West Australian brothels, in a move due to be debated in State Parliament in the next month.

WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty will introduce legislation into State Parliament when it resumes next week which would allow brothels to operate legally.

Prostitution is not prohibited in WA but it is illegal to manage a brothel and live off the earnings of prostitution.

The laws are archaic and need to be changed, McGinty said: The new laws which we will be introducing to parliament in the next month will see brothels regularised, to the extent that we accept the reality that they are there and what we want to do is give local government the power to regulate where they are located and how they operate.

We want to give the police the power to properly control activities that might be crime-related but most importantly we don't want the absurd situation of the police being required to turn a blind eye to any illegal activity.

A Police Royal Commission in WA recommended the laws be changed to avoid the possibility of police corruption in terms of turning a blind eye to something illegal but unenforceable, McGinty said.

Organised Crime Detective Superintendent Kim Porter said the advent of new prostitution laws would be welcomed: The police have certainly been in a difficult position for quite some time, trying to deal with issues that have been not particularly clear in terms of legislation.

    Update: Evidence Seeking Nutter ...

 

Bishop opposes decriminalisation of brothels in Australia

Based on an article from The Age see full article

Laws to regulate Western Australia's sex industry were introduced into state parliament amid a call by Perth's nutter Archbishop Barry Hickey for MPs to oppose the bill.

WA Attorney-General Jim McGinty's bill will decriminalise and regulate brothels and escort agencies in WA, where prostitution is legal but running a brothel is not, nor is living off the earnings of prostitution.

Streetwalking and kerb crawling will remain illegal.

Police support the bill which McGinty touts as a pragmatic approach to protecting sex workers' health and safety.

The laws would also shield children from the industry and protect police from allegations of corruption for turning a blind eye to an illegal activity, McGinty says.

Prostitution raises significant moral and ethical issues and is strongly opposed by sections of the community, Mr McGinty said: However, we need to acknowledge that the industry does exist and not just stick our head in the sand like previous state governments.

Archbishop Hickey has written to state MPs urging them to block the bill which he believes is harmful to women: There are many reasons for opposing the legalisation of prostitution, but my biggest concern is the damage done to the girls and women who are enticed into the trade, he wrote in the open letter.

Arguments brothels were a "sort of safety valve" that protected women from sexual assault had failed to produce any evidence they were of benefit to any community, he said.

[That's rich coming from someone who's job it is to convince people to believe in the benefit of nonsense based upon no evidence whatsoever]

He continued: On the other hand, there is considerable research evidence to show that males, and particularly young males, who use prostitutes have greater tendencies towards domination of women and violence towards them.

Under the new bill, brothel or escort agency operators and managers would not be licensed if they have any serious convictions or charges pending related to sexual crimes, organised crime, drugs or violence.

Comment: More Sense

A quick change of one word and suddenly the nutter bishop seems to make an awful lot more sense: There is considerable research evidence to show that males, and particularly young males, who use religion have greater tendencies towards domination of women and violence towards them.

    Update: Middle of the Road ...

 

Liberal and illiberal views on W Australian brothels

From ABC see full article

During debate on the Government's prostitution legislation this week, the Liberal's police spokesman, Rob Johnson, said he believed every brothel in the state should be closed down.

However the former Liberal leader, Matt Birney, has vowed to strongly resist any move from within his party to shut down brothels in Western Australia.

But Birney says he will be voting against the Government's bill to legalise brothels because he believes it would encourage women to join the industry.

However, he says shutting down all brothels would have a negative impact on the community. You would close Hay Street down in Kalgoorlie over my dead body, he said: It would lead to an environment of harassment for local women who simply wanted to go out on a Friday night for a quiet drink. That's not in their best interests and it's not in the community's best interests.

    Burning Issue . ..

Taiwan sex workers protest at anniversary of prostitution ban

From Taipei Times see full article

On the 10th anniversary of the banning of prostitution, around 100 former sex workers and their supporters staged a demonstration in front of the Presidential Office to demand legalization of the sex industry in Taipei City.

Protesters, who included sex workers, gathered in front of the Presidential Office and burned a picture of President Chen Shui-bian.

The protesters were stopped by the police as they attempted to march towards the Presidential Office, and a minor scuffle occurred.

During Chen's stint as Taipei mayor, Chen abolished the prostitution licensing system on Sept. 6, 1997.

As Taipei was the only city that had an ordinance to regulate the sex industry, the abolition of the decades-old licensing system therefore put an end to legal prostitution in the country.

For those who turned to illegal prostitution, they have more to fear than the police.

In the past [when prostitution was legal], we could pick our customers, we could call the police when we had non-paying customers, one girl, Ching said. The regulation even stipulated that we got 70%of the revenue while their madams got 30%t.

However, illegal sex workers today can no longer choose their customers, can do nothing when customers don't pay, and are often exploited by their madams, Ching said.

A spokesperson for the Collective of Sex Workers and Supporters said: They [sex workers] wouldn't hurt anyone, they're only trying to make a living. We'd like to call on the government to legalize the sex industry so they can have a safer and more secure work environment.

    Update: Victory at Warrnambool . ..

Nutter opposed Australian sex shop opens

Based on an article from Warrnambool Standard

More than 500 customers passed through the doors of Warrnambool's controversial new sex shop when it opened at the weekend, manager Deon Drake told The Standard.

He said the strong turn-out vindicated his eight-month battle to open the store in the Silverton Park industrial estate.

Foreplay opened without incident as giggling clientele browsed through the variety of sexual aides, pornography and novelty items on offer.

Nutters of the South West Community Action Group had lobbied Warrnambool City Council against approving the store. The moral campaigners took the fight to the Victorian Civil and Administrative Tribunal. The group and Drake struck an agreement on July 20, which paved the way for the store to open without a tribunal ruling.

Drake was relieved that none of the shop's critics attempted any kind of protest at the opening.

    Boobs on Bikes ...

 

Contributing to the hype for New Zealand's Erotica Expo

From Stuff see full article

Topless porn stars on motorcycles will again be hitting the streets in Auckland next week after the controversial Boobs on Bikes Parade has been given the go-ahead.

Organisers of the parade said they had received an Auckland City Council permit for the parade, which consistently attracts more than 100,000 spectators.

The parade, which starts at 12.45pm on Wednesday and runs from upper Queen St to Quay St, is a prelude to the Erotica Expo next weekend.

Last year the council unsuccessfully tried to stop the parade after Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard called it "morally repugnant".

Parade organiser Sandy Watts said for the first time this year the council had given approval for the parade to go ahead without fuss.

Organisers had met with council staff on several occasions this year to discuss the parade and they were happy with the result, she said.

The expo consists of live stage shows, jelly wrestling, erotica for sale and exhibits ranging from books and photography promotion to sexual health education.

Conservative family nutter group Family First NZ slammed the Auckland City Council for granting a permit for the parade.

This is a `lame duck' council who is not willing to act in the best interests of families and children, national director Bob McCoskrie said. Last year, the mayor Dick Hubbard said the parade was morally repugnant, that council's hands were tied because the parade didn't need a permit, and the bylaw would be looked at. Yet not only is the council unwilling to change the law, but it is even granting a permit to further validate this year's parade.

    Update: Boobs Ever Popular ...

 

Thousands of New Zealanders enjoy  topless parade

Based on an article from Stuff see full article

Thousands of people turned out for the parade to watch topless porn stars on motorcycles driven from upper Queen St to Quay St as a prelude to the Erotica Expo this weekend.

The event went ahead despite opposition from Auckland mayor Dick Hubbard and conservative family nutter group Family First NZ.

Family First NZ national director Bob McCoskrie said while the expo catered to a targeted audience, a lunchtime parade down a major street  would cause widespread offence.

Parade organiser Sandy Watts said this year the council gave approval for the parade to go ahead without fuss.

The Erotica Expo has been running since 2000. The expo consists of live stage shows, jelly wrestling, erotica for sale and exhibits ranging from books and photography to sexual health education.

    People Should be Allowed to Enjoy Themselves ...

 

Even nutter politicians professing family values

From News.com.au see full article

Australia's opposition leader, Kevin Rudd, who is well placed to win the general election due soon, has been forced to apologise for visiting a strip club during a taxpayers-funded trip to New York.

Rudd, the Labour leader, acknowledged he had made a "foolish mistake" by visiting the Scores gentlemen's club in Manhattan four years ago. Revelations about the visit were published yesterday in News Ltd newspapers throughout Australia, denting his clean-cut image as a committed Christian and devoted family man.

In interviews yesterday Rudd admitted visiting Scores and said he had been too drunk to remember much of what had happened. He said he was not normally a big drinker.

The tabloid Sunday Telegraph also alleged that the father-of-three was cautioned by management for touching the strippers and had been asked to leave the club. I have absolutely no recollection of that. But if my behaviour caused any offence to anybody whatsoever that evening I, of course, wholeheartedly apologise.

Rudd said he expected his ratings in the polls to plummet. I think I'll take a belting in the opinion polls. It's an embarrassing thing to happen. But I think at the end of the day people just want you to level with them. I've said from day one since I've been in public life - I'm as flawed and failed as the rest of them.

    Strip Club Sues Church for Harassment ...

 

Australian church campaigns against legal business

Spotted by Adele Haze
From News.com.au see full article

Hobart strip club Players will sue the Anglican Church over claims of a damaging media campaign against it.

Lawyer Steve Chopping said the company that owned Players Sports Bar had instructed him to draw up the writ against the bar's landlord.

Chopping said his clients would claim "unspecified damages" for what they describe as a continual harassment and media campaign from the church. It's a well-conducted business and it's conducted in accordance with the law . There are no complaints of drunkenness or brawling like there are in other establishments.

Chopping said the Bobncoll company would also seek an injunction against the church: That would be a court order to stop them interfering in the business. He said documents to start legal proceedings are being prepared and will be lodged in the Supreme Court in Hobart.

Anglican Church spokesman Reverend Stephen Carnaby declined to comment.

The legal action follows a long-running dispute between the strip club and the Anglican Church. The church has been trying to have Players removed from the premises, adjoining St David's Cathedral, since the club opened in August last year. The Anglican Church has been concerned about the strip club operating on its grounds but the business owners maintain there is nothing in their lease agreement to prohibit it being used in such a way.

    Unsafe Law . ..

Canadian prostitution law challenged

Based on an article from Canada.com see full article

Two Vancouver lawyers will launch a constitutional challenge of Canada's prostitution laws, arguing they force sex workers into unsafe conditions and infringe a sex worker's right to freedom of expression.

The prostitution laws . . . subject sex workers to increased risk of physical and sexual violence, psychological injury, kidnapping and death, says a statement of claim to be filed in B.C. Supreme Court.

The prostitution laws deprive sex workers of the ability to lawfully conduct their work safely because they are prevented from taking steps to establish health and safety conditions in their work, it adds.

On Thursday, lawyers Katrina Pacey of Pivot Legal LLP and Joseph Arvay planned to file the statement of claim on behalf of the Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society, a group of mostly aboriginal women, some of whom have experienced physical or sexual violence because of their work in the sex trade.

The basis of this whole case is that we have a Charter of Rights and Freedoms and that that Charter protects all of us equally, Ms. Pacey said in an interview this week. Regardless of the type of work we are in, or how we live our lives, we should all have equal access to those fundamental protections.

Canadian law does not explicitly prohibit the exchange of sex for money. Instead, there are sections in the Criminal Code that prohibit activities surrounding prostitution, such as: keeping a "bawdy-house;" procuring another person to have illicit sex; and communicating in a public place for the purposes of engaging in prostitution.

A similar challenge was launched in Ontario earlier this year, and Ms. Pacey said though the two involve slightly different arguments it is possible they could be combined if they eventually reach the Supreme Court of Canada.

In an interview Thursday, John Lowman, a criminologist at Simon Fraser University who has been researching violence in prostitution since the 1970s, said he thinks Canada's prostitution laws have forced sex workers into extremely dangerous working situations, and applauded any challenge brought to the courts: Approaching 300 women [across Canada] have died, murdered, since 1985 when the communicating law was enacted. I say there is a direct correlation between our prohibitionist approach to street prostitution and the slaughter that we've seen.

Update: Filed

13th August 2007

The writ has now been filed and the legal case is in motion

The Downtown Eastside Sex Workers United Against Violence Society allege in a writ filed ithat prostitution laws violate Section 15, which makes it illegal to discriminate on the basis of occupation, among other things, because sex workers are treated differently from people who have consensual sexual relationships that do not involve the exchange of money and they're treated differently from others who perform other personal services for pay.

    Overdosing on Hypocrisy . ..

Italian family values politician caught with overdosing sex worker

From The Times

A married Roman Catholic politician whose party has espoused family values and is pressing for all Italian MPs to take drug tests was exposed yesterday after a prostitute took an overdose of cocaine in his hotel room.

Cosimo Mele a parliamentary deputy for Italy's Christian Democratic UDC party, resigned from the party after colleagues complained that his behaviour was incompatible with the Centre Right's espousal of family values. The timing of the dismissal was particularly sensitive as the party has been at the forefront of a campaign to oblige all parliamentarians to take a voluntary drugs test. This is due to take place tomorrow.

Mele said that he felt proud to have risked exposure by calling the emergency services when the girl began hyperventilating and experiencing delirium and hallucinations. At least I avoided the worst – for her, he said.

Asked if he had paid the girl for sex, Mele replied: Not exactly. I spontaneously gave her a present. Pressed further, he admitted that the present had been a sum in cash, though not excessive . He denied reports that he had taken part in a threesome, saying that although there had been another woman present she had only chatted to the first woman in the suite's sitting room while he lay in bed watching television. I think I fell asleep while they were talking. Perhaps that was when they took drugs.

Although he had agreed to leave the UDC, he refused to resign as a deputy, because he was "a respectable man" with virtues and weaknesses. There is a great deal of hypocrisy in Italian politics, with politicians of Left and Right making out they are saints, Mele said.

He told La Stampa: How many parliamentarians go to bed with girls? Is it a crime? You think UDC deputies don't make love? Of course I respect Christian values, but what has that to do with going with a prostitute? It's a personal matter.

Just because this happened after five or six days away from home doesn't mean I can't be a good father and husband . . . I don't think my electors care a fig who I go to bed with. They expect me to resolve the problems of the area I represent.

[All very commendable, but why then support the process to criminalise the enjoyment of life for everyone else]

    Power to the Porn People . ..

New Zealand retailer launches political party

From X Biz see full article

Auckland pornographer Steve Crowe has launched a new political party in an effort to challenge the current candidates in Auckland's upcoming mayoral race. Campaigning on the 1auckland.com party platform, Crowe will make his bid for mayor.

Crowe is the owner of Vixen Direct, a company that produces adult DVDs and distributes them to the Australian and South African markets. The company also operates a retail store in Auckland.

The controversial Crowe raised eyebrows by sponsoring last year's Boobs On Bikes Parade held in Auckland.

    Enough Already . ..

Canadian government sidesteps nutter inspired prostitution reforms

Based on an article from Canada.com see full article

The Conservative government has turned aside calls from Liberals and New Democrats, as well as its own MPs, to rewrite federal criminal laws in order to shift the burden of punishment away from prostitutes and onto their customers and pimps.

Opposition MPs said the government's refusal to act on the key recommendation of a report by the Commons committee on the status of women is disappointing and unacceptable.

The government announced in June it will allow victims of trafficking brought into Canada from abroad to remain here for 180 days on temporary resident permits, up from 120 days under the old rules. It also said they will be allowed to apply for work permits.

The measures were advocated by the committee as a way to tackle the consequences of human trafficking, a form of human slavery that revolves largely around the exploitation of women.

The committee had also wanted the criminal law amended so as to make purchasing a sexual service a criminal offence, and to repeal provisions that outlaw the act of soliciting by prostitutes and that make it illegal for them to be found in a bawdy house.

Justice Minister Rob Nicholson quietly tabled the government's response to the committee's recommendations just before MPs broke for the summer recess: The Criminal Code of Canada provides a comprehensive set of tools to ensure that traffickers are held accountable, the government's response statement said.

    Business Expansion . ..

Sex workers in Singapore extend their trading zone

Based on an article from the Electric New Paper see full article

Singapore's Geylang residents say that more and more of the women are venturing out of their normal territory (the even-numbered Lorongs). They solicit openly in the daytime and take up space in the coffee shops where they sit and chat with Ah Peks.

It's 9am and one of the first sights that greets people in the Geylang area are foreigners who cater to sex tourists and others. The women, who appear to be mostly China nationals, are out and about despite the mid-day heat.

As a result of fluctuating over-supply and 'competition', a number of them have moved out from the traditional zone between Lorong 4 and Lorong 22 to the opposite, odd-numbered streets - from Lorong 23 all the way to the shophouses and coffee shops at Aljunied Road and Sims Avenue. Some are even seen loitering outside a bank along Geylang Road.

While prostitution is not an offence in Singapore, soliciting is not allowed.

Anyone who solicits for the purpose of prostitution or for any other immoral purpose can be fined up to $1,000. On second conviction, offenders can be fined up to $2000 or jailed up to six months, or both.

    Bags of Fun . ..

Beate Uhse move from DVDs to love bags

I used to visit Germany a lot and would give Beate Uhse shops a wide berth because they were simply more expensive than competitors. Maybe their usual high street location was not so competitive as those shops a few blocks away from the main drag.

From Reuters see full article

Germany's Beate Uhse, the world's largest sex retailer by revenue, is investing heavily to adapt its image to changing tastes and morality and plans to build its brand through new "lifestyle" products including drinks.

The company is spending up to 5 million euros ($7 million) a year to revamp its stores, and putting more more money into what it hopes will be "more fashionable products".

We have love bags, which is a bag with products that make sex more fun, exciting, Chief Financial Officer Otto Christian Lindemann told Reuters. The love bags, with names like One-night and Sexplorer, contain lubricants, vibrators, body paint chocolate, champagne and CDs of erotic stories, among other products.

The company says the days when a sex shop's main function was selling porn to men are over. The Internet has allowed men to watch porn at home: DVD sales are down. So Beate Uhse is trying to lure more women and couples to its stores.

Porn's share of sales has fallen to about 35% and will decline more as erotica products gain and the company starts offering other products like wine and beer, joining other firms extending their brands deeper into people's lives.

In the future we'll still have DVDs but not that many, said Lindemann.

Its new store in Munich and recently renovated shop in Dortmund are divided into four sections. Near the entrance are fun products like massage oils, lubricants. Then comes lingerie. The third part contains DVDs and the fourth what he called "harder stuff" like dildos, handcuffs and leather attire.

Beate Uhse operates around 330 sex shops in 11 countries and has mail-order operations in nine.

    China Dildos . ..

Sex toys in China

From The Star see full article

The adult shop in East Nanjing Road near the Bund in Shanghai is popular among visitors. Customers can buy sex toys off the shelves at adult health and sex shops.

To the Chinese, sex products are no longer considered as novelty goods. They are so common that everyone aged 18 and above can buy them in many outlets in the metropolis.

However, they cannot be advertised in public, except for condoms "depending on occasions" as part of the Shanghai municipal government's effort to promote its safe sex campaign.

The Chinese authorities have an open policy on the production and retailing of these products as they feel that these are important to enhance the sexual life of couples and hence take a step further towards a caring society.

While adult products are tolerated, pornographic videos and publications are still banned in China.

The country is home to some of the major sex toy industry players, with the setting-up of more than 1,000 companies in the adult product-related business. China has the largest adult toy OEM producers in the world and its total production accounts for 80% of the world's output.

    Red Light Zone Held to Account . ..

Police and tax inspectors knock on Amsterdam windows

From Boston Herald see full article

Amsterdam's Authorities have announced a major crackdown on organized crime in Amsterdam's Red Light District. For the first time national police investigators and tax authorities will bear in on what had long been seen as a local problem.
With its scantily clad prostitutes posing in brothel windows and coffee shops oozing the pungent aroma of marijuana smoke, the area's seediness has always been part of its attraction.
But the district is a magnet for petty criminals and, authorities believe, human traffickers, drug lords and mobsters who take advantage of the situation to launder money.

Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, and coffee shops are licensed to sell small amounts of marijuana. But prostitutes don't have cash registers and drug vendors don't give receipts, making it easy for them to launder money for crime lords.

Authorities said they hope to detect and prosecute money-laundering by building a national database of tax returns and other information that would allow them to compare cafe and brothel owners' legal income to assets they hold around the country. And local authorities promised to enforce other existing laws more strictly.

Amsterdam has been conducting its own cleanup program for nearly five years, using a 2002 law that forces business operators to disclose detailed accounting in order to have their licenses renewed.

Last year, the city used the law to order the closure of one-third of all brothels in the Red Light District that were unable to comply. But Amsterdam's District Court blocked the closures while brothel owners fight the decision. That case is still making its way through the courts.

    Canada on Trial . ..

For endangering the lives of prostitutes

Based on an article from Reuters Canada

As grisly details emerge in a sensational case involving the serial killing of Canadian prostitutes, a group of lawyers is launching a constitutional challenge of the country's prostitution law, seeking to decriminalize the practice to make it safer.

Toronto law professor, Alan Young, is leading the challenge. The group of lawyers and law students -- representing three current and former prostitutes -- will argue in Ontario Superior Court, likely in August, that these three provisions are unconstitutional in that they endanger the lives of sex trade workers.

Under the convoluted Canadian law, buying or selling sex is legal, but it is illegal to communicate about it beforehand, live off its avails, or run a private bawdy house.

If you can't talk with a prospective client before entering the client's vehicle, how do you expect someone on the street to screen a client to know whether it's Robert Pickton or not? Young said in an interview.

He is referring to the trial of Robert "Willie" Pickton, who has been charged with killing 26 of more than 60 prostitutes who disappeared from the streets of Vancouver, British Columbia, from the early 1990s until 2001. It is the worst serial killing case in Canadian history .

A scheduling judge will hear preliminary cases this week in the first step of what Young expects to be a legal process that will eventually end at the Supreme Court of Canada. It is unclear how the government will respond to the challenge.

    High Moral Fibre Diet Results in Bullshit ...

   

Australian council rejects sex shop application

From AVN see full article

A proposed adult bookstore that would cater to a predominantly female clientele has brought its application to the state planning tribunal in a bid to overturn the city's recent rejection. The Melbourne City Council rejected Tickle n Tease's application despite its adherence to the city's strict zoning guidelines.

Club X, which owns 26 adult stores across the country, submitted the application. Peter Reynard of Club X told The Age that the Tickle n Tease proposal was rejected strictly on moral grounds: It's a typically ill-informed judgment from people who think this store will attract all sorts of 'undesirables.

An initial council report recommended that Tickle n Tease — which was going to be designed to make female customers feel more comfortable — be given the go-ahead. But the council then reversed its decision, fearing the effects of the store on its historic Chinatown neighborhood.

Two city council members voted to approve the shop, saying that all of Tickle n Tease's paperwork was in order. Our job is to consider the planning scheme when we make decisions, council member Frasor Brindley, who voted to approve the business: This seems to have been decided on political grounds.

    Cold Hearted in Norway ...

 

Proposals to ban paying for sex

From the Khaleej Times see full article

In an attempt to combat prostitution and trafficking, the Norwegian government said it planned to introduce legislation that would ban the purchase of sexual favours.

Norway should not be a haven for pimps or traffickers, Justice Minister Knut Storberget said.

According to the proposal, violators of the ban against buying sexual favours would risk a fine or up to six months in jail.

The draft legislation was to be debated by various agencies and organizations and could be introduced next year, Storberget said.

A ban has been debated for several years, and was likely to pass in parliament since the Centre Party and Socialist Left Party that are part of the coalition that rules with Storberget's Labour Party have earlier backed such a proposal.

The draft legislation does not differentiate between whether the seller of sexual favours was the victim of trafficking or not.

    Unislamic Surfing ...

 

Searching for sex in Pakistan

From Asian Sex Gazette see full article

Surfers in Pakistan search more for 'sex' on Google than in any other country while those in the Indian capital top the list of those hunting for the three-letter word on the Internet.

Google search trends show Pakistan, Egypt and India as the top three countries in the world where surfers look out for 'sex' on the Internet, and those in New Delhi and Chennai hold the top two rankings among global cities.

Cairo in Egypt takes the third spot, according to its 'Hot Trends' report posted on the site. Google trends also show Turkey, Vietnam, Morocco, Iran, Saudi Arabia, Serbia and Montenegro and Indonesia featuring in the list of top 10 countries.

The city list also includes Istanbul and Ankara in Turkey, Rabat in Morocco, Mumbai and Warsaw.

Google make no claim that its trend may be accurate. We hope you find this service interesting and entertaining, but you probably don't want to write your PhD dissertation based on this information.

    Virtual Wife Swapping ...

 

Webmaster of Korean amateur picture sharing site arrested

From Asian Sex Gazette see full article

South Korea police have arrested the operator of a pornographic website with some 10,000 members who shared porn pictures of their wives or girlfriends. Police also booked 53 members of the website who they say uploaded obscene pictures.

Police said webmaster opened a website in September 2005 and facilitated the sharing of video clips and pictures depicting nudity and sexual intercourse by 9,887 members. He is accused of collecting 30 US$ for a two-month membership from 857 paying members. Police said the images included "abnormal" practices such as partner swapping and threesomes.

Police found that the webmaster was already given a suspended sentence for operating the same website in March 2005 but reopened the site. The Cyber Crime Investigation Division of the Seoul Metropolitan Police asked the Korea Information Security Commission to shut down the site.

The police spokesman said there was no legal basis for punishing unconventional sexual activities, but if people pay for partner swapping it qualifies as commercial sex, which is illegal. Posting nude pictures of girlfriends without their consent is also a crime, he added.