 Your new post is loading...
It’s important to note that the horrors of the Cleveland abductions had nothing to do with sex trafficking; Ariel Castro’s atrocities were his, the acts of single criminal male. [This is also something folks would be equally wise to remember when it comes to the use of the word "sadist" in description of his acts; this has nothing to do with BDSM, neither in porn nor practice. Just as whatever religion Castro professes to prescribe to has nothing to do with that faith's real practice, any other associations, assumed or claimed, should not be accepted. Castro's inhumanity is his; to lay it at the feet of some other group, to misrepresent its origins or associations, to pretend it came from some "other" or otherwise purport false dangers, these things create panic and other actions which do not serve public safety or justice. Castro, and those like him, should be held accountable for their actions.]
By now you’ve likely heard that gay porn star, and 2010 GayVN Performer of the Year, Wilfried Knight has killed himself, just a matter of days after his husband, Jerry Enriquez, had committed suicide. While suicide ought never to be simplified, the major strain on this couple was the fact that they were not accepted as a couple. ...Along with the struggle for gay rights and immigration status there was another issue in this that’s been largely ignored in the coverage: that of Knight’s status as a sex worker. He wrote the following ~ a long preamble to the entire story of his struggle and loss, which shows just how much the stigma of sex work affects the acceptance and understanding of grief. That addition status of “porn star” was like another circle in Dante’s hell for Knight
When Melissa King entered the Delaware foster care system at age 12, she weathered anxiety, depression, and frequent court-mandated hearings as she made the transition to a new school, a new family, and a new social life.
Via BeUnity
A 2012 report released jointly by the UN Development Program (UNDP), the UN Population Fund (UNFPA) and UNAIDS pressed for the decriminalization of sex work in many countries so that HIV prevention and treatment programs reach sex workers more effectively.
DECEMBER 20---A three-time U.S. Olympian whose illustrious running career has included a Nike TV commercial, a swimsuit calendar, and ongoing promotional work for Disney has spent the last year doubling as a $600-an-hour call girl, an astounding secret life that she now regretfully calls a “huge mistake.”
Censorship circumvention software is about to become very popular in Egypt. On Wednesday, the country’s Prosecutor General, Abdel Maguid Mahmoud, ordered government ministries to enforce a ban on pornographic websites, based on a three-year old ruling by Egypt’s administrative court, which declared that “freedom of expression and public rights should be restricted by maintaining the fundamentals of religion, morality and patriotism” and denounced pornographic content as “venomous and vile.”
We’ve told you about some of the individuals, organizations and businesses affected by the unsolicited arrival of Hurricane Sandy last week. Among them was Rentboy.com (NSFW), one of the world’s biggest male-escort sites and producer of the annual Hustlaball here in New York.
“Our I.T. department always planned on a backup in the case of a natural disaster—they just never planned for 38 feet of seawater in the basement of our data center,” CEO Jeffrey Davids said. “There’s been chaos dealing with restoring power and a lot of extra stress for everyone. It was a crazy week for us, but we feel very fortunate. There are people without homes and there are lost lives.”
The power is back on, but that was a week that escorts around the world couldn’t make any do-re-mi. Well, Rentboy understands and is reaching out to help:
Rentboy.com understands that escorts around the world lost business during last week’s service disruption. Our IT and sales department are working full time this week to add back the lost time. Monthly ads will automatically receive 8 days added to their purchased ad time. Travel ads will automatically receive store credit for the days their individual ads were down.
We’ve heard of a hooker with a heart of gold, but this is a new one on us!
Via PunterPress
The historic landmark might just be saved yet!
Five cases were reported last week, causing a trade group for the multi-billion dollar industry, The Free Speech Coalition (FSC), to call for a halt in filming to prevent the spread of disease.
The website posts personal information about the men. Then they are contacted by a supposed attorney who says they can pay $4000 to get their names taken off.
Via PunterPress
"With sex addiction claiming celebrity headlines in recent years, Sex Workers Anonymous addresses the less glamorous topic: addiction to prostitution."
Curator comment: this is a fascinating look at how some people apply the idea of "addiction" to certain forms of sex industry work, and the corresponding rise of "Sex Worker's Anonymous" meetings. Various perspectives about this provocative concept are offered. Source: The Fix, May 15, 2012.
Via Bill Herring LCSW, CSAT
The federal government will appeal a landmark ruling from the Ontario Court of Appeal that struck down several anti-prostitution laws, a move that sex workers say was expected.
Via Thomas Schmeling
|
A NEW non-governmental organisation has discovered that around 85 per cent of sexually active teens in the Bahamas are engaging in some kind of transactional sex. Officials at the Bahamas Urban Youth Development Centre have also found that whatever the conventional wisdom on the matter, the majority of middle and high schoolers in the Bahamas are not sexually active. But of those who are, the majority are involved in risky behaviour. “Say if we have a group of 30 students 25-30 per cent are sexually active and of those, 85 per cent are involved in some type of transactional sex,” president and CEO at Bahamas Urban Youth Development Centre Prodesta Moore told The Tribune yesterday. Transactional sex relationships are created when gifts, money or services are given in exchange for sex. It differs from prostitution in the sense that only a portion of the needs of the person providing the sex are met through the practice. Ms Moore said that young Bahamian women can often create for themselves a network of “regulars” – several men who they can count on to fulfil a number of their needs, ranging anywhere from school supplies, exam fees or lunch money. “Many young people put themselves through high school and college in this way. They see it as a means of taking care of themselves, that’s the culture. They feel that if a man wants to deal with them he has to pay in some way and they are not prostituting themselves by doing this,” Ms Moore said. But the familiarity between the young women and the persons they sleep with creates a worrying situation which places teens in the Bahamas as one of the groups most at risk for contracting HIV/AIDS.
A trio of Manhattan men held a female prostitute enslaved for two days in apartments on the Upper West Side and Harlem, forcing her to have sex with multiple additional "customers" until -- desperate
These unlucky prostitutes were caught in the act while touting for business - after being snapped by Google Street View cameras. The women in skimpy outfits are seen plying their wares on roadsides in dozens of countries - including the UK. But they were unaware they were being photographed by the search engine's cameras and then uploaded to the web. More than 5,000 shots of sex workers have been posted by eagle-eyed browsers on doxypsotting.com. They include a prostitute in one-piece lingerie waiting for customers by some woods in Nice, France, and a blonde girl in denim hot pants being picked up by a punter in Taguantiga, Brazil. Meanwhile, one raven-haired mistress in Brussels flashes her legs to passers-by from her apartment window. A prostitute in Rome even waves to one of the giant cameras, which are fixed to Google's distinctive mapping vans. A sex worker in a daring red dress and silver stilettos leaves little to the imagination as she is pictured on the streets of Sau Paulo, Brazil. And a voluptuous call-girl waits for customers as she sits next to a car park in Madrid. Just a handful of prostitutes are pictured in Manchester, Nottingham and Sheffield - with one in the Midlands applying make-up next to the road. A staggering 2,000 pictures have been uploaded of sex workers and venues in Italy, followed by 639 in Brazil, and 222 in Belgium. Other countries include the Czech Republic, Germany, the Netherlands, Romania, Mexico and Thailand. The images are found by web users who trawl known red-light districts and search the same places on Street View. The website's anonymous administrator wrote: 'To kill time I began exploring exotic places on Street View to take a "mini vacation". 'That got a little boring after a couple of days, so I was looking to spot something new - the seediest thing you could find on Google Street View. 'At first I did not record the sightings. But it became apparent that Google Street View was full of prostitutes - more than I ever expected! I quickly created a website to record and share my findings. 'I have a preference for Spain. Most of the prostitutes I've spotted in Spain look hot. And Madrid is such a raunchy city.' He quickly identified a few of his favourites: 'One of my most precious spottings is an amazingly hot looking busty hooker in Madrid's Zona Industrial de Villaverde. 'I also like the Italian broad that advertised her services with her boobs out while sitting next to her van - and the construction workers nearby certainly did not mind the view.' Last week a Russian woman ended her engagement after discovering her fiance was having an affair through Russia's version of Google's map service. Marina Voinova, 24, was searching for the address of her house on Yandex Maps, which doesn't blur faces. But an image of her home in Perm, Western Russia, loaded, and she was horrified to see her partner Sasha with his arms around a mystery brunette.
Via PunterPress
When news broke last week that Peter Acworth, the founder and CEO of local porn companyKink.com, had been arrested for cocaine possession, many were surprised by the misstep from a man who's built his empire on a strict code of ethical behavior and transparency. He's been lauded in the Wall Street Journal and theNew York Times for revolutionizing the porn industry and improving the neighborhood around the Armory, his headquarters at Mission and 14th streets. Kink is also the subject of the eponymous James Franco-produced documentary that premiered at Sundance. So the details of Acworth's arrest — police discovered the drugs while investigating a complaint about a makeshift shooting range inside the Armory — seemed in stark contrast to his usually upstanding image. This image has been essential to Kink's success. While the idea of any porn company in the neighborhood might raise a few eyebrows, Kink's BDSM content sparked protests when the company moved into the Armory in 2007. (If the recent Fifty Shades of Grey craze hasn't turned you on to the acronym yet, it stands for bondage and discipline, domination and submission, and sadism and masochism.) Whatever the fetish,Kink.com caters to it; the company hosts nearly 30 subscription sites, offering everything from foot worship to gangbangs to electric play to bondage. Acworth responded to the opposition the way he often handles criticism — by pointing to his ethics and opening the Armory doors. Part pornographer, part activist, Acworth has devoted himself to demystifying BDSM for those outside the lifestyle and protecting those within it. Kink outlines its tough ethical standards in its lists of models' rights and shooting rules, both of which are posted on the site. These tenets protect models and go a long way in combating the critics who are quick to conflate BDSM with abuse. However, even as Kink flourishes — it's nearly doubled the number of sites it operates since moving into the Armory — doubts about its ethical standards linger. The company attracted unwanted attention last summer when it abruptly switched its cam girls' pay rate and sparked a debate about its commitment to models' rights. Now, two former models allege they were denied workers' compensation when injured on Kink sets, one of whom further states she was coerced into a performance that left her with long-lasting injuries and was offered money in exchange for keeping quiet about those injuries. Other workers claim to have been terminated or chose to resign when they questioned Kink's business practices, including the use of an erectile dysfunction drug called Trimix. These allegations threaten the company's conscientious reputation, and conflict with the stories offered by current directors and models who say their experiences inside the Armory have always been ethical and enjoyable...
Via PunterPress
This ain't your mama's drive-in.... The city of Zurich, Switzerland is set to a build a series of drive-in "sex boxes" which, starting next August, will provide a discreet environment for prostitutes to meet clients. The "boxes" are garage-like structures that are large enough for a car to be parked inside. According to the Telegraph, the site will facilitate meetings for around 30 prostitutes, and clients will use the drive-in slots on a first-come -- ahem -- first-served basis. Prostitution is legal in Switzerland, but Zurich officials have struggled with controlling sex-trade related crime and violence. "We can't get rid of prostitution, so have to learn how to control it," police spokesman Reto Casanova said in 2010, when the idea was first introduced. The decision was also motivated by complaints of city-dwellers unhappy with seeing prostitutes walking the streets. "We're sick to death of looking at it," one resident said, according to the Mail Online. Michael Herzig, of Zurich's social welfare department, says that getting prostitutes off the streets will also be beneficial to the women involved in the world's oldest profession. "The women will be better protected from attack, and it will also mean better business for them," he told Swiss Radio, as translated by the Telegraph. "With the women right by the sex boxes there is no 'travel time' so they can deal with more customers." Women working in the boxes will be required to take out medical insurance and pay for a license fee, the Sun reports. Additionally, each night they work, they will need to insert five Swiss francs into a machine to "clock in." The boxes have faced some local opposition. Margrit Haller, representing Swiss People’s Party in Altstetten, told World Radio Switzerland in 2011 that, "The idea that women will be better protected and monitored is good, but I don’t really see it as an alternative that women either work the streets or work in the boxes.” Nevertheless, voters gave a green light to the creation of the boxes in a national referendum last March. Installation was approved by the Zurich city council on Monday, the Local reports. Drive-in sex boxes are already employed in several German cities.
Via PunterPress
New York State slams an exotic dance club with back taxes, but owner Stephen Dick Jr. petitions for an arts exemption, i.e. Is Stripping Art?
NiteFlirt has finally made a decision and has officially announced the phone sex platform site will be bringing back the controversial Featured Listings option for PSOs -- but some are bitching about it.
A PROSTITUTE'S win against a Queensland motel paves the way for other sex workers to stand up against "systemic prejudice", the national sex workers' association says.
The King County Sheriff's Office announced Monday that the remains of a woman killed by Green River killer Gary L. Ridgway have been positively identified.
NEW DELHI: The Centre has asked all states to start deportation proceedings against any foreigner involved in prostitution if the woman is a victim of human trafficking rather than prosecuting her...
"Istanbul is no Bangkok. Its sex trade is, for the most part, invisible. But sex work, both lawful and unlawful, has a long, distinguished history in Turkey that reaches back to the height of the Ottoman Empire. In the 21st century, however, it is quietly being swept away by an Islamist government whose desired image for Turkey -- modern, pious, and upwardly mobile -- leaves little room for the work of Suzan and her colleagues."
|
