7th November updated to 30th December | Red Lights Dim
In Amsterdam red light distict
From The Telegraph The Amsterdam's famous red light district has seen better days. A morning stroll through this most picturesque part of the Dutch capital reveals signs
advertising windows for hire and an atmosphere of general depression.
The decline in 'window prostitution' - where the working women display themselves behind glass for the passing clientele - has been documented in a new survey revealing that
the number of window prostitutes in the Netherlands halved between 1999 and last year.
The survey, conducted by the 'Rode Draad', which looks after the interests of prostitutes, found that many women were working 16-hour days for a pittance.
Legislation passed in 2000 that legalised brothels with the intention of improving conditions for prostitutes had not led to better security or conditions, the report found.
Amsterdam's 'Wallen' red light district bears this out. In an
alleyway near the Oude Kerk (Old Church) that traces its history to the 13th century, a row of girls smiles tautly at passers-by.
A blonde with an eastern European accent calls out an invitation in English, but an attempt to engage her in
conversation meets with an increasingly frosty response. 'You are in, you pay euro 50 ($65),' she says.
The city authorities are investing large sums in the area, where most of the buildings are 17th century and many even older. The canal side
roads are being repaved and the canals themselves repaired.
The Rode Draad report describes the atmosphere in many establishments as 'depressing' and notes that younger men show little interest in old style brothels and window prostitution.
It points to the rise in more upmarket businesses where sex is available for money, like massage salons, and saunas and to the 'eroticisation' of social life in general. The kind of kinky sex once sought in brothels is now to be had in the bedroom or
at sex parties. |
2nd December | Update: Less Red
A third of Amsterdam's red light windows to go dark From the BBC Authorities in Amsterdam have ordered 33 sex clubs in the Dutch city's famed red light district to close by
the end of the year.
The clubs, 20% of those operating in Amsterdam, have lost their licences or had an application for one turned down. The move affects a third of the windows where scantily-clad women are on show. It follows a police
investigation which revealed that a number of sex clubs were involved in illegal activities such as money laundering. We're not knights on a morality crusade, and this is intended to target financial crime, not prostitution per se , city
spokesman Martien Maten said: But we do think it will change the face of the red light district.
The owners of the affected clubs are able to appeal against the decision in court. |
30th December | Update: Banking on the Red Light Area
Amsterdam girls fight back From the BBC Brothel owners in Amsterdam's red light district have taken the city council to court over its decision to close a number of sex
businesses.
The council is demanding the closure of 33 brothels, which account for around a third of the district's sex businesses, by the end of the year.
The prostitutes union says the move will force many women to work illegally. The
brothel owners say they will go to the highest court to save a third of the windows in Amsterdam's famous red light district from disappearing.
Amsterdam's mayor, Job Cohen, claims that many sex businesses are fronts for criminal activity, such
as women trafficking and money laundering.
But the prostitutes' union, the Red Thread, which represents 20,000 prostitutes, argues that closing legal brothels will force many women onto the streets.
The city council wants the banks to
play a role by making it easier for sex businesses to get financing. Many have loans from private companies which the city council says are too risky. The city believes that with proper paperwork for registered brothels and prostitutes, banking could
have a positive effect on the fight against crime at the heart of the sex industry. |
26th December | Party Poopers ... |
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Korean government pay cash for abstinence pledge From International Herald Tribune From The Korea Times
South Korea has launched a campaign offering cash
to men if they promise not to buy sex from prostitutes after year-end office parties, government officials said.
The move is aimed at changing the party culture in this male-dominated society by winning commitments from male employees to abstain
from hiring prostitutes after their parties finish.
A total 4.6 million won (US$5,000; €3,700) will be paid to companies based on the largest number of volunteers who sign a written pledge, said the official. Some 1,300 companies have so
far participated in the campaign.
A government-funded study showed that South Korea's sex industry generated 4.1% of the country's gross domestic product in 2002 and employed 330,000 women. Some experts say the figures are grossly underestimated.
The government is also planning sterner punishment for job brokers involved in sex trade next year, setting up a maximum prison term of seven years and a fine of up to 30 million won ($32,150).
The new rules, which will go in effect in July
next year will focus on those arranging prostitutes for hostess bars, hotels and other establishments, the Labor Ministry said.
The ministry said it will also provide cash rewards for people reporting on unlawful job brokerage activities, such as
trafficking, fraud and other illegalities. |
26th December | Log Rolling in Missouri ... |
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Anti adult business law ruled unconstitutional From AVN
The Missouri Supreme Court has ruled that a law banning nudity and imposing other restrictions on strip clubs violates
the state constitution.
The court had already deemed the law unconstitutional in August 2005. The court's decision was based on that fact that the law was tacked onto a bill toughening Missouri's drunken-driving laws, and the state constitution
requires legislation to deal with only one subject.
According to the Missouri Supreme Court, the strip club law constitutes "log-rolling," which refers to the practice of gathering several matters in a single bill, in the hope of ensuring their
passage.
According to Dan Margolies' report for the Kansas City Star, the ruling last year was a victory for the adult entertainment industry and yet another setback for Missouri Sen. Matt Bartle, the Lee's Summit Republican who sponsored the
bill as well as other measures aimed at the adult entertainment industry.
Margolies' report went on to say that the strip-club bill struck down banned full nudity; required dancers to stay at least 10 feet from customers and behind a rail; barred
dancers from touching customers; and required customers and dancers to be at least 21 years of age.
In striking down the law, Cole County Circuit Judge Richard Callahan found that it violated both the Missouri Constitution and the U.S.
Constitution.
Like it or not, Cole wrote, nude dancing qualifying as expressive conduct is constitutionally protected activity falling within the outer perimeters of the First Amendment of the United States Constitution.
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24th December | Bowel Movements in North Carolina ... |
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State sees illegality in erotic movement From X Biz
In a far-reaching decision that could potentially make cheerleaders or pop singers a target for prosecution, a 4th U.S.
Circuit Court of Appeals upheld a ban on erotic simulation in adult entertainment venues throughout the state of North Carolina.
The case of club owner Giovanni Carandola vs. Douglas A. Fox, chairman of the North Carolina Alcoholic Beverage
Control Commission, met its fate this week before the Circuit Court, which ruled that the state can prohibit erotic movements or gestures at alcohol-licensed establishments even if the performer is fully clothed. Only venues that are "primarily" devoted
to the arts or theatrical performances are exempt from the ban.
The court's decision comes as the last stop in a battle that began in 2000 when a commission officer for the ABCC witnessed dancers at Carandola's Christie's Cabaret performing in
a manner that violated then-applicable state law.
Two years after Carandola was first cited, the 4th Circuit struck down that law for being overly broad, only to have the Legislature amend it last year with even more specific guidelines
prohibiting adult venues from allowing simulated sex acts of any kind that mimic masturbation, sodomy, sexual intercourse, bestiality, oral copulation or flagellation. The terms of the amendment also included touching, caressing or fondling of the
breasts, buttocks, anus, vulva or genitals and the use of artificial devices or inanimate objects.
In final arguments before the 4th Circuit, attorneys for Carandola argued that that law, even in its amended state, had a chilling effect on adult
entertainment and posed a major threat to protections of the 1st and 14th Amendments.
The law exempts theaters, concert halls, art centers or theatrical performances when those performances are expressing "matters of serious literary, artistic,
scientific or political value."
No one would mistake a dancer gyrating her hips for someone having intercourse, nor believe that a Carolina Panthers cheerleader patting her buttocks as part of a dance routine was masturbating, Judge Diana
Gribbon Motz wrote in her dissent. |
18th December | Extras Tax ... |
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Cologne's pleasure tax take increases From Hemel Hempstead Today
Cologne in Germany will earn a record 828,000 euros (555,000
pounds) in "sex tax" revenues this year, a figure well above expectations when the levy was first introduced in 2004.
Cologne officials said that the sex tax component of the "pleasure tax" had jumped from 790,000 euros in
2005 to about 828,000 this year.
Cologne has been charging prostitutes a flat 150-euro per month tax since 2004, replacing a voluntary reporting scheme.
In 2006, the city introduced a new 6-euro per day fee for "part-time"
prostitutes who had claimed the 150-euro monthly fee was unfair. Authorities said many prostitutes had documents proving they were only working a few days each month.
Prostitution is legal in Germany and sex workers are required to pay tax on
their income and a value-added tax. |
11th December | Valued Added Art
Norwegian court rules that striptease is art From the BBC
A Norwegian appeals court has ruled that striptease is an art form and should therefore be exempt from
value-added tax (VAT). The owners of the Diamond Go Go Bar in Oslo had refused to pay VAT of 25% on entry fees as tax authorities demanded.
The local authority had taken the club to court over its refusal to pay tax.
The lawyer for the
club's owners argued that striptease dancers were stage artists just like sword-swallowers and comedians and deserved the same status: One can suspect there were moral scruples behind the tax authorities' claim since all forms of stage dance are free
of value-added tax,
Striptease, in the way it is practised in this case, is a form of dance combined with acting, the judges ruled. The court's ruling upholds an earlier verdict of May 2005.
The court ordered the state to cover
the court costs of the owners of the bar. |
7th December | LUXx TV
New adult service for Hungary From Variety
Budapest-based film producers and distributors have unveiled adult viewing network LUXx TV, which will made available over
Internet protocol television and cable.
It will be launched by LUXx Video, one of Hungary's most prominent porn film and video producer-distributors, owned and operated by filmmaker Istvan "Kovi" Kovacs.
LUXx TV reps said the
network will offer 24-hour programming, with a package that includes access to a Web porn site.
LUXx will launch in January with little competition as regional erotic network, Private Gold, went off the air in this market last year.
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25th November | Incurably PC
Don't let the risk pedantic censors at the BBFC hear about this. It will give them ideas. Based on an article from International Herald Tribune Starting next year, French cable television channels will no longer be allowed to air porn with scenes
of unprotected sex because it sets a dangerous example, the official French broadcasting watchdog High Audiovisual Council, or CSA, announced Wednesday.
The risks actors take by having unprotected sex during filming are real, AIDS
awareness organization Act Up wrote to the CSA in January, pressing for the change. These films trivialize and possibly glorify risky sex.
The CSA agreed with the activist group, moving to classify unprotected sex in pornos as
"delinquent behavior," noting that the films rarely showed sex between partners in committed, l
The new rule will affect nine cable channels licensed to air porn. Movies on demand, however, won't be affected because they aren't
regulated by the CSA. |
13th November | Las Vegas Stripped of Fun
From AVN Those who like their Las Vegas lap dances with some fondling and caressing will have to go elsewhere after the Nevada Supreme Court banned dancers from getting too hands-on with
their customers.
In a 5-2 decision Thursday, the high court upheld a Las Vegas ordinance that bans exotic dancers from fondling or caressing patrons to sexually arouse them.
Although a lawyer for some dancers said the measure effectively
bans lap dancing, the city says strippers can continue to grind on their customers but must keep their hands to themselves.
Las Vegas police had cited 14 dancers for violating the ordinance for such activities as rubbing their breasts on
customers' faces and grinding their buttocks on customers' groins.
A number of Las Vegas dancers challenged the law and a lower court agreed, saying the measure was too broad and unconstitutional, prompting the high court to step in and
adjudicate the matter.
The ruling, however, would not affect a Clark County ordinance on clubs which allows erotic dancers' clothed pubic region and anus to make contact with a patron's legs during performances. Las Vegas is located in Clark
County.
The dancers said they are weighing their options about on whether to proceed further with their case. |
17th October | Redlight Japan Based on an article from Mainichi Tobita Shinchi is a district standing on the
site of the its predecessor, the old Tobita Yukaku (licensed brothel quarters), which was founded in 1918. After the Anti-prostitution Law went into force in April 1958, the old two-story establishments therein officially became "restaurants."
But young women still sit by the ground floor windows waiting to escort male customers to rooms upstairs, assisted by businesslike crones who handle the negotiations.
At the 80 to 90 establishments currently operating in Tobita, rates begin at
11,000 yen (£50) for 15 minutes, rising to 16,000 yen (£75) for 20 minutes and 22,000 yen (£100) for 30 minutes; but discounts can be negotiated, especially with some of the older gals or when business is slow. Once inside the room, time is of the
essence, and the standard method of getting clean prior to performing the act is a few quick swipes with a pre-moistened towelette.
After absence of five years, the first thing that struck Asahi Geino's reporter is how the quality of women
working at Tobita had considerably improved. Some gals were even outstanding -- as cute, he said, as the "idols" that appear on TV.
What's the explanation for the sudden appearance of these lovelies?, wonders Asagei's reporter.
The quality has definitely improved over the past three years, says the editor at a magazine covering Osaka's "pink" trade. One theory is that a major police crackdown of 'fashion health' massage parlors at Daikokucho, which had the
city's biggest pink area, drove the girls to work at Tobita.
Apparently Tobita gets away with things that would bring down the authorities elsewhere.
In the past, Tobita's workers featured a high percentage of women from Okinawa or
Kyushu, who came to the big city in search of work. But recently, writes Asahi Geino's reporter, a surprising number of local Osaka girls can be found working there. The reason is simple economics. A gal's cut of the house take is 60 percent. By
servicing 10 Johns a day, she clears about 100,000 yen -- an income no massage parlor or soapland can match.
More girls at Tobita are making efforts to cater to customer fantasies, such as by adorning themselves in maid costumes or wearing
glasses to give them a more "intellectual" appearance.
Asahi Geino's survey of Kansai red light districts doesn't stop at Tobita. A map of the region identifies now fewer than nine locales where houses of prostitution operate openly.
Osaka proper boasts two other red-light areas: Matsushima Shinchi in Nishi Ward (70 shops) and Imazato Shinchi in Ikuno Ward (30 shops), bringing the city's total to nearly 200. And other red-light areas can be found around Kannami Shinchi in Amagasaki
City (30 to 40 establishments); Shintaizan Shinchi in Izumi City (30 establishments); Gojo Rakuen in Kyoto (15); Ikoma City (10); Takii Shinchi in Moriguchi City (10) and Tenno Shinchi in Wakayama City (5). |
14th October | Japanese have Fetish for Fetishes Based on an article from gridskipper
Tokyo has the most intense, well-developed and generally fucked up fetish scene in the world. Fetish clubs in Tokyo abound. Most recently, anybody with a pair of eyes and a libido has seen Joan Sinclair's photoessay on Tokyo's sex clubs: they've got
mermaids, girls in green goo, breast touching, stewardesses. But these are all relatively above board, as far as Tokyo fetishes go. Not only are the Japanese responsible for my personal favorite, bukkake (literally: splash), but for many many many
lesser known fetishes. Ganmen kookegi, for instance, face attack, nyotaimori, a fetish in which one eats off a naked woman while unagi is a fetish of putting eels in a woman. Kikkou, the Japanese good ol' bondage, is one of the most popular hentai
fetishes, rivaling Cosplay in its pervasiveness. But perhaps the most emblematic fetish is ha daisuki, dental exam, where the "porn" merely features women (fully clothed) getting their teeth checked. What is more badass then taking dental
hygeine and making it dirty? |
13th October | Bush: AIDS Accomplice From Planet Out
The Bush administration is seeking to overturn a court decision that lets nonprofit AIDS groups apply for federal funding without signing a pledge opposing prostitution and sex trafficking. At least one of the groups, DKT International Inc., has
refused to sign the pledge because it helps distribute condoms to prostitutes and other sex workers in Vietnam. DKT last year sued the U.S. Agency for International Development, contending their free-speech rights were violated by a 2003 law requiring
that they explicitly oppose prostitution and sex trafficking to qualify for part of a $15 billion AIDS program.
In May, U.S. District Judge Emmet G. Sullivan sided with DKT, saying the funding conditions insist that groups "parrot" the
U.S. government's position on prostitution.
But the Justice Departmentcalled the funding condition "highly germane" to the overall goal of fighting the spread of AIDS and HIV: Congress could reasonably determine that the government's
efforts to stamp out prostitution and sex trafficking would be most successful if HIV/AIDS services are provided by organizations that affirmatively oppose two underlying causes of the disease.
The case now heads to the U.S. Court of Appeals
for the District of Columbia. |
10th October | Well Run Sex Trade in Dublin Based on an article from The Irish Independent
Prostitutes working in Dublin are now making significantly more money than they can earn in most other European cities, and a senior garda says our law-makers should consider legalising the business.
Gardai say that Eastern European girls are
charging punters up to €400 an hour. Average half-hour rates are now running at €130 which compares to just €50 for the same period in cities like Hamburg and Amsterdam.
A major investigation into the brothel bosses has resulted
in four facing charges for brothel-keeping and organising prostitution and files on the other two are set for the DPP.
Detective Superintendent John McKeown, who heads Operation Quest at Store St Station, says that there is no evidence that any
of the girls are being forced into prostitution, none is underage and most pocket 50% of their earnings.
He says the oldest profession in the world is experiencing similar benefits of our booming economy as other industries and Dublin is now a
highly sought after place to work. And he believes that politicians should considering legalising prostitution in a bid to monitor it properly and offer more protection to girls.
We have carried out an in-depth investigation into organised
prostitution over the past 18 months and we have found no evidence of exploitation or trafficking. There are no gangs involved and there is little violence.
The youngest girls appear to be 19 and most are in their 20s and early 30s. We have found
no evidence of underage girls working - the pimps don't want to bring that kind of attention on themselves. The girls are working because they want to make money and Dublin is somewhere that they can earn a lot of money," Detective Superintendent
McKeown said.
I was very surprised when we started this investigation to find that a lot of the old myths regarding prostitution have gone out the window. It is a service that is in demand and there is a lot of money about nowadays. To put it
simply, there is room for everyone and plenty of work. The pimps know one another and work side by side. They don't want trouble and there are rarely disputes."
Polish, Slovenian and Lithuanian girls make up the vast majority of foreign
prostitutes working here. They work in six to twelve months stints, then return to their homelands with money to invest or save. According to gardai, they work in small brothel units in many major apartment complexes around the city centre and can vacate
the flats within minutes if required.
They usually operate for a few weeks before we start getting complaints about the comings and goings. Then they will close up and rent out a new apartment within days. They are very resilient and just keep
coming back.
Operation Quest have also investigated a number of lap dancing clubs but say they have found no breaches of the law within that industry and no exploitation.
Again the girls are here willingly and it is their choice to
work in the business: they are earning a lot of money. They seem to be very happy doing what they are doing. They are not breaking any criminal laws. Obviously prostitution is morally wrong but there are no laws being broken because the girls aren't
soliciting sex on the streets, said McKeown.
We do not go after the girls - we wouldn't even consider doing that. It is the organisers that we are interested in, But the fact is that prostitution is here to stay and perhaps it is time that
our legislators started to consider making it legal and getting a proper handle on it. Of course that would mean that taxes would have to be paid and maybe Dublin wouldn't be as lucrative a place to work. |
3rd October | Supreme Dildos From X Biz
The U.S. Supreme Court has refused to hear a case involving a Texas law banning the sale of sex toys shaped like sexual organs.
Ignacio Acosta, an employee at an adult bookstore in El Paso, Texas, was arrested for violating the law after he
allegedly showed a penis-shaped sex toy to two undercover officers. According to a police report, Acosta allegedly told a female officer that the sex toy would arouse and gratify her.
Acosta challenged his arrest, arguing that the law was
unconstitutional because it prevents individuals from using the sex toys in violation of their sexual privacy.
An El Paso County court agreed with Acosta, granting his motion to dismiss the criminal charges. But a state appeals court reversed the
lower court's ruling and reinstated the charges.
Acosta's lawyer urged the U.S. Supreme Court to hear the case in light of conflicting rulings throughout the nation as to the sale of so-called obscene sex toys.
Colorado, Kansas and
Louisiana courts have all weighed in saying that laws banning the sale of sex toys on obscenity grounds are unconstitutional. Courts in Georgia, Mississippi and Texas have upheld sex toy bans.
The case will now go to the El Paso County court for
trial. |