World Sex Sells News

A member of the House of Representatives has filed a bill seeking to impose stiffer penalties for perpetrators of highly scandalous crimes against decency.

Aside from longer jail sentences, House Bill 2856 filed by Cebu Representative Antonio Cuenco also seeks to increase the fines provided for in the Revised Penal Code for such offenses as grave scandal, indecency and pornography, among others, to between P100,000 to P2,000,000, among others. Currently, such offenses carry sentences of only six months or less.

The current law seems to be taken lightly by offenders since its penalties are minimal compared to the gravity of crime, Cuenco said There is no justice if we let the criminals responsible for the grim days ahead of these victims walk away unscathed -- only to be incarcerated be for a mere six months or less .

The lawmaker also said there is a need to amend some provisions in the law to curtail, if not totally eradicate the conduct of inappropriate and obscene behavior.

The Representative Carmelo Lazatin has proposed a bill to the Philippine House of Representatives that would impose fines on individuals participating in online sexual activity.

Called An act prohibiting cyber sex, prostitution and pornography in the Philippines, providing penalties for its violation and for other purposes, or House Bill (HB) 3190, the legislation would prohibit cybersex — defined as sexually explicit online activity between two or more individuals — as well as prostitution or forms of pornography broadcast on the Internet.

Lazatin's proposal calls for any financier, manager, producer or promoter of a “cybersex operation” to be penalized with jail terms of from 20-30 years, and fines from more than $12,000, but not more than $25,000.

Other offenders would be subjected to possible jail terms of between 5-10 years and fines of $6,000 to $12,000.

Non-resident aliens convicted of violating regulations would face the same penalties and fines with deportation immediately following completion of their jail term, and would be barred also from re-entering the country.

Offenders would also risk loss of any property used in the commission of related crimes.

In the bill, “cybersex” was defined by Lazatin as any form of Interactive prostitution, pornography and the performance of a sexual act or other obscene or indecent act, between or among those belonging to the same or opposite sexes, using, as primary channel, the cyberspace.

Madrid's first Pornography Festival is planned for April 2008. The festival works towards promoting the glory of sex as a form of adult entertainment and shaping the acceptance of explicit pornography as a means of exploration to be enjoyed without succumbing to social stigma. High-class and arty!

La Jugueteria, Spain's first erotic boutique, and a Berlin based film production company are putting this festival together with citywide participation from theaters, galleries, and nightclubs.

For four days, you'll be able to relive the "golden age" of pornography with the opportunity to watch high-quality, eye-opening hardcore porn classics, shorts, plus "experimental" stuff produced by the international best of the industry. What's more, if you have the risky yet innovative vision required for pornographic cinematography, the festival gives you the chance to make your very own porn. Categories are gay, lesbian, and heterosexual. Deadline for submissions is January 31, 2008.

Amsterdam authorities said they will introduce new measures to crack down on pimps and stop the exploitation of prostitutes.

Under the proposed policies, brothel owners, escort services and so-called "security" firms that work with prostitutes will be forced to seek a license and will be subject to financial auditing, the city government said in a statement.

The city will force escort services and "security" firms for prostitutes, which usually are not registered businesses, to obtain a licence, a fixed address and phone line, and subject them to financial auditing, he said.

The proposal, which must be approved by the City Assembly, is part of a larger strategy to reduce criminality associated with prostitution, the city said.

The removal of the ban on brothels in 2000 that made prostitution legal hasn't achieved what was expected. (Instead) it gave free reign for the exploitation of women in the sex industry, the statement said.

It added that it hoped to increase the legal age for prostitution from 18 to 21.

A young man came to the sex-shop located on Leningradskoye Shosse in Moscow. At the entrance he took out a roll, threw it to the shop hall and ran away. In a few seconds the roll exploded. Silicon dildos and other specific goods were driven asunder.

The police are now holding an investigation and trying to identify what kind of explosive device it was. They say the bomb was equal to 50 grams in TNT. There are several versions of the explosion motives: it could be some of the customers who did not like the shop's production or some citizen fighting for morality by such extreme means. The police also do not exclude the version about the former sex-shop seller who has been sacked recently and could want to take revenge

Police in Dubai say they have raided 22 brothels, arresting 247 people.

A total of 170 prostitutes and 12 pimps, mostly from China, were arrested along with 65 clients of various nationalities.

The police chief said such raids were a frequent occurrence but were not usually announced to the media.

In March, UAE police announced they had deported about 4,300 prostitutes from Dubai during 2006.

Lt Gen Dahi Khalfan Tamim said: We cannot tolerate this kind of behaviour that is against human moral ethics and our religious beliefs.

Foreign workers and expatriates make up over 80% of the 4 million inhabitants of the UAE, and men outnumber women by about three-to-one. Somehow with ratios like that then surely prostitution will continue unabated in UAE.

Prague City Hall has unveiled new plans to banish prostitution from the capital's streets.

As of January 2008, prostitutes caught offering their services in Prague's public spaces could face weighty fines, and will be banned from the area. But women's groups have asked whether the City Hall's new decree goes far enough.

Wenceslas Square at night has a seedy feel to it. Prostitutes and pimps are clearly visible at the corner of every street, particularly near the top of the square.

This is what Prague City Hall would like to put a stop to with its new decree. Under the new regulations, prostitutes offering their services in public places could face a fine of up to 30,000 CZK (1,500 USD). Police will also have the right to ban sex workers from the area, on the grounds that prostitution is a disturbance of the peace.

Petra Burcikova is the head of La Strada, an organization which fights against people trafficking said she can see the initiative as having two possible outcomes: Either [the prostitution] stays where it is, and the sex workers will try to find ways to avoid sanctions, or it will really be moved to some of the areas that are remote and inaccessible. It is important to keep in mind that this increases the danger and threat to the sex workers themselves. This is something that most people, and most councilors, don't take into account. This increases sex workers' health risks and even risk of death tremendously.

Prostitution is illegal in the Czech Republic. But Prague has still come to be known abroad as a destination for sex tourism. This new decree doesn't affect the city's 58 brothels, which the deputy mayor Rudolf Blazek has said are beyond the council's legislation.

The Maharashtra government banned dance bars two years ago, and claims the flesh trade flourishing at these joints has been finished off. Wrong.

Dance bars in Mumbai continue to double up as pick-up joints and the flesh trade flourishes under police protection. Undercover CNN-IBN journalists visited bars that the police had recently raided and found the places were still a front for flesh trade.

At the LP bar in Andheri, girls sat in a corner, policemen waited outside and a bouncer called Ram Singh was a pimp. He offered to supply “bahar ki ladki” (foreign girls) and asked the reporters to wait outside in their car.

Outside the bar another man offered to “supply” women. “It will cost you Rs 8,000 for a girl. and for Rs 1,500 I will arrange a flat for you.

The next stop in CNN-IBN's investigation was the Samudra bar in Chembur. At 1.30 am the bar is packed with women and it's clear that many of them are not out for dinner. This bar too is a front for prostitution, and being located near the Chembur police station doesn't harm its business.

The friendly doorman warns us that the police will be inspecting the bar tonight but asks us not be worry. I will show you 10 girls, pick any, he says.

Rakesh Marya, Joint Commissioner of Police, Crime, promised to conduct an investigation on CNN-IBN's report: These bars have licences but we'll check if they are violating any deadline or if any offences are being committed.

Canada's TV watchdog has approved the launch of Vanessa, a national pay TV porn channel.

The Canadian Radio-television and Telecommunications Commission (CRTC) approved the application by Montreal-based Sex-Shop Television to operate a digital French-language channel devoted to the themes sex appeal, sensuality, eroticism and sexuality for a seven-year license period.

The regulator said the proposed pay TV channel will include documentaries, news coverage and magazines that focus on the sex shop industry.

At the same time, the CRTC barred the operators of Vanessa from airing infomercials, corporate or promotional videos, a key driver of advertising revenue.

The regulator said it received only two submissions against Vanessa. To ensure Vanessa remains within Canadian taste standards, the CRTC said the proposed pay TV channel must meet general community standards within the context of a discretionary service intended for an informed public.

China's public security departments have stopped using condoms as evidence in prostitution cases, according to an official with the AIDS prevention committee under the State Council.

Now police departments at all levels no longer take condoms as the proof of illegal sex activities in entertainment venues, Han Mengjie, also secretary of the National Center for AIDS Control and Prevention.

As various public places were told by health authorities to provide condoms in an attempt to prevent the spread of HIV/AIDS, police departments have gradually adapted to this change in line with AIDS prevention efforts, according to Han.

According to national surveillance figures, the rate of regular condom use among China's prostitutes rose from 14.7% in 2001 to 41.4% in 2006.

All hotels in Beijing will be required to provide condoms in every room by the end of next year, though so far they are only available in 133 hotels out of 700 in Beijing, according to local government statistics.

The Regulation on AIDS Prevention and Control, issued by the State Council in January last year, urges all public places designated by provincial or municipal governments to provide condoms or condom vending machines.

City authorities are cracking down on alcohol sales along Hamburg's famous Reeperbahn as they try to curb the drunkenness, violence and litter associated with visitors to its strip clubs, sex shops, brothels and discos.

Owners of gas stations and street kiosks around the central street in Hamburg's red-light district are being asked to stop selling alcohol in glass bottles, and not to sell alcohol after 11 p.m. as of Jan. 1.

If voluntary sales limitations don't work for the vendors, then there will be an alcohol ban as of May 1 , said city Interior Ministry spokesman Reinhard Fallak.

The rules will be applied not only to the Reeperbahn strip, but to the wider red-light zone that has grown up around it in the St. Pauli district, Fallak said.

Beer gardens and street cafes will be exempt from the restrictions.