Adult World News

Here's a bit of new year reminiscing from a policeman. Could have been almost anywhere and at any time in the last few decades.

Dealing with the different types of sex establishments that sprung up was no easy task for many reasons.

First, the premises did not operate on any license so we could not prosecute them for breaching licensing conditions. They usually had a good lookout system, which warned them of police raids, and they probably had some policemen on their payroll. And as they had many dedicated customers, even if they were closed down, they could reopen under another name and business registration within a very short time.

Police resources used to deal with these premises were quite significant and often at the expense of other duties more important to the well-being of the community.

Securing enough evidence for a prosecution was easier said than done because the agent provocateur had to go to the premises more than once to gain the confidence of the operator and female server. So prosecution was not such a good option.

The next best thing we could do was work on the customers because we believed no customers, no sex shop. Customers who frequented sex shops could be real diehards and unless they were personally troubled, they did not mind the inconvenience of being kicked out while police were inside, only to return as soon as we were gone.

So the only way to get at the customers was to involve them in police action but they were not, strictly speaking, suspects. That meant there was little, if anything, we could pull them back to the station for, except to verify their identity. But at the time it was not mandatory to carry an identity card.

Harassment, albeit a bit tongue-in-cheek, was the only action we could think of to use. So we decided to bring everyone back to the station who would not provide their address.

Every customer on the premises when we visited would be asked for their address and telephone number and those who failed to give them would be taken back to the station for further inquiries. Those who gave them were released after we called their home or had colleagues visit the address given.

In both cases their families would know they were in trouble and worse still they were in a sex shop.

In fact the story comes from the mid 70's in Hong Kong from  thestandard.com.hk by JS Lam who served with Hong Kong police for 36 years.

A debate is needed about changing the prostitution laws, the Association of Chief Police Officers (Acpo) has said.

Deputy Chief Constable Simon Byrne, Acpo's lead on prostitution and sexual exploitation, has also called for the funding of a national database of men suspected of attacking sex workers.

He was speaking after the murders of three women who worked as prostitutes in Bradford, West Yorkshire. Byrne said any murder [was] one too many and if we can do something simple and effective to stop that then we should do so . Perhaps the law does need changing - some of it is frankly complicated

In many cities across the UK, details are already gathered about so-called ugly mugs - men who have been violent or threatening towards sex workers. Someone can rape in Liverpool and the sex workers in Manchester would not necessarily be aware, said Shelly Stoops, of support service the Armistead Street Project in Liverpool: We need something to co-ordinate and link up all the information... and something that the police can look at on a national level and see patterns and trends of offending. Preventing attacks. Late at night ugly mugs leaflets are handed out in Liverpool by outreach workers, along with condoms and advice.

Byrne said: There is another dimension - there is a significant cost to investigating a murder. When times are tough and you have all the austerity and revolution going on in the public service... there's some hard [edged] maths to be done here. If you can invest a small amount of money in rolling the scheme out, you can prevent an awful lot of crime .

The Home Office says it has been carrying out a feasibility study into the possibility of a national scheme and it will be considering its recommendations. It plans to publish guidance in the spring on how best to police and deal with problems linked to prostitution.

But some people involved in sex work want more fundamental changes to the legislation surrounding prostitution, such as designated red-light zones or decriminalised brothels. It means the people that are there to protect you, can also arrest you, said Rosie Campbell of the UK Network of Sex Work Projects, so [sex workers] can be reluctant to go the police.

Britain's Prostitutes - Life on the Edge will be shown over the New Year's weekend on the BBC News Channel.

Tucson City Council has voted unanimously to increase the age for adult entertainers at fully nude establishments from 18 to 21 years old.

According to the Arizona Daily Star, an assistant manager and several other employees from the Bunny Ranch said the decision discriminates against women's equal opportunity employment rights. This is a women's rights thing. It's discriminatory against their rights and our business, said 23-year-old assistant manager Marcus Richardson.

The move by the council, which takes effect Jan. 1, will have an immediate impact on the Bunny Ranch, which features more than a dozen performers, only two of whom are 21 or over.

Richardson said he was unsure whether the Bunny Ranch owners and manager would consider applying for a liquor license, which would set the employee minimum age to 19, reported the Star. A liquor license would also prohibit full nudity inside the business.

There has been no official word from Craigslist, but it appears the company has yanked prostitution ads from its Canadian websites.

The move comes after months of lobbying from Canadian nutter politicians. When you log on to the site, the erotic services section did not appear on most of its Canadian home-pages, including the Vancouver site.

Crisis worker Alice Lee with the Vancouver Rape Relief and Women's Shelter calls it a positive first step: It's true there are other websites, however Craigslist is the biggest and the most popular.

The federal government is happy with the move. But after a detailed search, some recently posted erotic ads still pop up, only they're listed under a different category.

Update: First the US, then the World

21st December 2010.

It now appears that the recent removal of Craigslist erotic services section in Canada was reported too narrowly.

Reports are now coming to light that the erotic services section has been removed worldwide.

Update: Confirmed

23rd December 2010.

Connecticut attorney general Richard Blumenthal said legal representatives for Craigslist had confirmed to his office that erotic and adult services sections had been removed from the company's websites around the world.

China's Ministry of Public Security (MPS) has claimed that the special campaign to crackdown on prostitution has been effective, with cases of prostitution and obscene performances in entertainment venues in October dropping 18% on a month-on month basis.

The campaign in the latter half of the year attached increased importance to the investigation and punishment of the organizers of prostitution.

The campaign also targeted business operators and the protective umbrellas - sometimes local government officials - that allow prostitution to happen, according to a document released at a ministry work conference.

According to the document, the MPS sent 27 groups of inspectors to 651 entertainment business venues in four municipalities and 20 provinces during the campaign. At some 381 of the venues, cases of prostitution or 'obscene' performance were discovered.

Faced with a $133 million deficit, one western German city has introduced a day tax on prostitutes to help whittle down its budget gap.

The new pleasure tax requires prostitutes in Dortmund to purchase a $8 day ticket for each day they work, or face a potential fine. The city estimates that the new tax will add some $1 million to its coffers each year.

City spokesman Michael Meinders told Reuters. We considered several sex taxes but this was the most practical proposal.

The new tax went into effect in August but the day tickets have not been available until this week.

An alternative proposal was to charge a $1.33 or $2.66 fee to anyone entering Dortmund's red-light district, but this idea got little political support, Meinders said.

Such taxes are not unusual in Germany where prostitution is legal and sex workers must pay tax on their income. Cologne introduced a $200 pleasure tax on sex workers in 2004 and later added an $8 day tax option for part-time prostitutes.

A call to ban alcohol from Victorian strip clubs has infuriated venue operators.

The Coalition Against Trafficking Women Australia (CATWA) claim in a report that strip clubs harm women, increase crime rates and act as a gateway into prostitution.

The activities that take place in the clubs are clearly sexual and often involve a good deal of physical interaction between male buyers and the women who strip. Strip clubs often provide links to other sex industry services and in some clubs the full range of prostitution activities is available, even though they are technically illegal.

The report says these venues can't be seen merely as entertainment, that they have far more in common with brothels and, therefore, need similar restrictions and bans on liquor licences.

But Melbourne strip club owners are strongly rejecting suggestions they are somehow linked to rising crime rates, the exploitation of women or prostitution.

Nightclub Owners Forum spokesman David Butten said: First and foremost, these are licensed venues. The fact that it caters for a certain market is irrelevant, he said of strip clubs, adding that no clear link has been established with alcohol-related harm: Erotic entertainment has quite a distinction from sexual services, and any suggestion that women are being exploited is false.

There are seven strip clubs in Melbourne's CBD and 20 venues across the state that offer tabletop to private dancing: Many women who choose to work in strip tease do not want to work in prostitution, Butten said.

The Nightclub Owners Forum billed the latest push to strengthen laws against them as a moral and religious crusade.

Based on article from  sexparty.org.au

Sex Party President, Fiona Patten, said that the group's allegations of a proliferation of strip clubs did not stand up to scrutiny:  Since the first club appeared in Melbourne's CBD nearly 20 years ago, there are still only seven clubs in the CBD and no more than 20 across the entire state . It is ludicrous to even suggest that this represents a 'proliferation'.

Ms Patten said that CATWA embraced a lesbian separatist philosophy on sexual matters that was fundamentalist in nature and supportive of the Swedish model of regulating prostitution - which was not to regulate it at all, but to jail men who engaged in commercial sexual services. In Sweden the language of lesbian separatists now means that any man who engages in a normal commercial sexual service is officially said to be involved in 'sex trafficking'.

These fundamentalist feminist groups have also picketed Sexpo recently and their sexual agenda is similar to fundamentalist religious campaigners like Fred Nile. If these genteel 19th century notions of entertainment take hold in modern Victoria, thousands of people will be out of work and the tourism economy would take a huge hit.

John Leslie, the multi-award-winning actor and director, passed away on Sunday of an apparent heart attack at his US home in Marin County. He was 65 years of age.

Leslie began his film career in the mid-1970s, and had his first major role in the Mitchell Brothers' production Autobiography of a Flea (1976), where he shared acting duties with legendary stars such as Annette Haven, Jean Jennings, John Holmes and Paul Thomas.

Leslie continued hardcore acting until the late 80s, though he essayed a few hardcore scenes after that.

By 1988, however, he had turned his attention to directing—one of the first performers to do so—creating 27 movies for VCA Pictures and later nearly 100 for his own production company, John Leslie Productions, all of which were distributed by Evil Angel Productions.

Over his career, Leslie received 10 acting and directing awards from AVN, and several others from the X-Rated Critics Organization (XRCO), the Adult Film Association of America (AFAA) and the California Adult Film Association (CAFA), and was inducted into the AVN and XRCO Halls of Fame, as well as the Legends of Erotica.

A New York man who runs a travel company specializing in trips to Thailand and the Philippines has been charged with promoting prostitution.

He was the victim of a sting operation. An online investigator pretended that he wanted to use Allen's company, Big Apple Oriental Tours, to go overseas and have sex for money. The district attorney's office said the investigator paid Allen $2,500.

Allen allegedly told the investigator he would be taken to Angeles City in the Philippines, where he could negotiate with women for sex acts.

If convicted, he faces to up to seven years in prison.

A Canadian judge has extended unsafe sex-trade laws while the government prepares an appeals against the court ruling that decriminalized prostitution in Canada.

Prostitution itself is not illegal in Canada, but communicating for the purposes of prostitution, pimping and operating a brothel were considered criminal acts.

Ontario Court of Appeal Judge Marc Rosenberg ruled that the stay on decriminalisation will be extended until April 29.

Update: Mean Minded Minister of Injustice

5th December 2010. Based on article from  pr-usa.net

Rob Nicholson, Minister of Injustice and Attorney General of Canada, made the following statement following the Ontario Court of Appeal's decision to stay the Ontario Superior Court's decision on the Bedford Prostitution Challenge until final disposition of the appeal:

The Government is pleased that the Ontario Court of Appeal has stayed the lower court's decision. This means that the challenged Criminal Code provisions remain in effect until April 29, 2011, or until the appeal is heard by the Ontario Court of Appeal, whichever is the earlier.

It is the position of the Government of Canada that these provisions are constitutionally sound. The provisions denounce and deter the most harmful and public aspects of prostitution. They also ensure that the police have the tools necessary to continue to address the significant harms that flow from prostitution, both to communities and to the prostitutes themselves, along with other vulnerable persons.

The Government of Canada is committed to the health and safety of all Canadians [except sex workers] and the well-being of the country's communities and will continue to defend the constitutionality of these Criminal Code provisions.

French porn producer Marc Dorcel is bringing Europe a new dimension in erotic entertainment with the launch of a 3D video-on-demand service for porn videos.

Dorcel claims the service will be Europe's first on-demand 3D outlet for porn.

The initial offering, available via French provider FREE, features more than 60 videos shot in 3D and full HD, according to Dorcel.

Dorcel plans to offer the new porn service to operators across France and Europe.

Lawyers for Canada's federal government said that Canada is on the brink of launching an unprecedented social experiment if three key prostitution laws are lifted this Saturday.

The government appeared in the Ontario Court of Justice on Monday to seek a ruling that would delay the lifting of the laws.

But Justice Marc Rosenberg, from the Court of Appeal for Ontario, reserved his decision on Monday, saying that he would attempt to issue a ruling by the Saturday deadline.

If the Ontario Court of Appeal does not agree to give the government more time to consider an appeal, it could mean the end for a number of laws that have effectively criminalized prostitution.

A September ruling by the Ontario Superior Court of Justice struck down laws against keeping a common bawdy house, communicating for the purposes of prostitution and living on the avails of the trade.

Prostitution is not illegal in Canada, but nearly everything related to it is. Lawyers who fought for the end of those laws said the adjustment would mean safer conditions for sex-trade workers.

In a ruling released in September, Justice Susan Himel determined the laws created a dangerous environment for sex-trade workers: I find that the danger faced by prostitutes greatly outweighs any harm which may be faced by the public .

Update: On Hold

28th November 2010. Based on article from  thestar.com

Saturday marks the expiration date of the 60-day stay on Justice Susan Himel's landmark court decision to strike down Ontario's prostitution laws.

But nothing will change for the province's sex workers this weekend, as the Court of Appeal continues to mull over an application by the Crown to extend the stay until the federal government can prepare a proper appeal.

The court's decision won't make the Nov. 27 deadline, but it will come sooner rather than later, said John Kromkamp, senior legal officer for the appeal court: I can't tell you whether it will be Monday or Friday or a week Friday, he said. We try to get our decisions out as quickly as possible. The court will give a day's notice when Rosenberg's decision is ready.

In an appeal court hearing on Monday, all parties agreed that the struck-down laws would remain in place until Rosenberg makes a decision.

New plans to tackle prostitution by criminalising pimps, brothel keepers and customers are to be launched in the Scottish Parliament.

Labour MSP Trish Godman, who unsuccessfully attempted to add a prostitution amendment to the Criminal Justice Bill that was passed in the summer, is to launch a consultation on a new private members bill, with people able to comment on it until 18 February.

The Criminalisation of the Purchase and Sale of Sex (Scotland) Bill , focuses on the people who facilitate and purchase sex, while treating the sex worker as a victim.

Ms Godman said: Prostitution should be regarded in Scotland as an abuse and an exploitation that will not be tolerated - we must call time on the punters, pimps and brothel keepers. My legislation will challenge the whole acceptance of men buying sex.

Update: 'Consultation'

Thanks to Melanie-H

Trish Godman has published a worthless one sided, and presumably private 'consultation' which only allows for opinions supporting her aims:

• to make the purchasing/selling of sex indoors illegal;
• and to strengthen existing legislation to criminalise activities linked to prostitution, specifically advertising and facilitating

She has put together a 'consultation' document with no provision whatsoever to oppose the proposal. It asks:

1. Which option do you favour? Please explain the reasons for your choice.
   Option 1 is to criminalise both the seller and the purchaser;
   Option 2 is to criminalise only the purchaser.
    
2. What penalties would have a deterrent effect for the purchaser/seller?
    
3. What are the barriers to policing and enforcing a prohibition on advertising?
    
4. What penalties are appropriate for those who advertise brothels or prostitution, bearing in mind these may range from individuals such as prostitutes to organised crime gang members?
    
5. What are there barriers to policing and enforcing this aspect of the proposal?
    
6. What penalties are appropriate for those that facilitate prostitution, bearing in mind these might be individuals such as prostitutes or organised crime gang members?
    
7. What other costs might arise as a consequence of this proposal?
    
8. Are there any equality issues that arise from this proposal?

Responses are invited by 18th February 2011 to:

Trish Godman MSP
Q2.08a
Scottish Parliament
Edinburgh EH99 1SP

Tel: 0131 348 5837
Fax: 0131 348 6460
E-mail: trish.godman.msp@scottish.parliament.uk

no no no no no no no...maybe!

The Vatican has appeared to expand the Catholic Church's tolerance of condoms as a means of fighting HIV, backing their use by female prostitutes, days after the Pope said their use by male sex workers was better than spreading the virus.

Pope Benedict XVI was quoted at the weekend saying condom use by male prostitutes could be a good thing, indicating the user's intention to protect others from a deadly infection, apparently condoning the use of contraceptives for the first time. The Vatican then confirmed that the same message applied to women sex workers. Related articles

Observers said the pontiff's message that condom use, and its inherent ability to prevent conception, was justifiable on health grounds, represented a seismic shift by the Church. This is a game-changer, said James Martin, a Jesuit priest and culture editor of the religious magazine America.

Alabama is the only state in the USA that has outlawed sex toys—until now.

Pleasures sex shop proprietress Sherri Williams has managed to fight the good fight all the way to the Supreme Court, but they kept the ban in place. However, there is a loophole in the law does allow for sex toy sales if there is a bona fide medical, scientific, educational, legislative, judicial or law enforcement purpose.

Taking advantage of that, Ms. Williams has opened not just the first adult toy store in Alabama, but the first adult toy store drive-thru in the world. Using an old Wells Fargo bank building in Huntsville, she plans to cash in by selling whips, lubes, and vibes through the chutes in discreet paper bags.

Williams has all of her customers fill out a medical questionnaire explaining what health-related needs the purchase of a sex toy will fill.

Gentlemen's clubs are suddenly a thriving part of Malta's nightlife industry.

As a young woman gyrates suggestively around a pole in the skimpiest of underwear, other scantily clad women mill about – some seated by the bar, others chatting to customers or among themselves.

This is not Las Vegas but Paceville, Malta. Yet gentlemen's clubs have proliferated, with seven now located in the heart of what is the country's most popular nightlife district.

This newspaper visited seven gentlemen's clubs in Paceville and one in Sliema on two Friday nights between 10 p.m. and 3 a.m. to witness what goes on behind the darkened doors.

The clubs are not difficult to find as their employees are out in full force on the streets of Paceville, handing out flyers and enticing revellers inside. Entrance to all the clubs was free.

The ambience inside was not dissimilar to any other nightclub: dimmed lights, loud music and a bar. But unlike other establishments, patrons were sitting down, leaving the dancing up to the girls .

Although prices varied somewhat, in several clubs the journalists were quoted €15 to €20 for a private basic lap dance, €40 for a private topless dance and €70 for a private nude strip dance. Private dances take place in either lockable booths or curtained-off areas.

Despite licensing laws permitting premises to stay open no later than 4 a.m., dancers in two of the clubs said they typically finished work at 7 a.m. at weekends – around the time the last customers leave.

None of the clubs were packed but clients were predominantly local and western European males aged between 20 and 50. Female customers were rare.

In each location, The Sunday Times was approached – but not harassed – by the dancers within minutes of entry into a club and offered private dances. In two clubs, dancers encouraged the journalists to buy drinks for them at €6 each, with one girl explaining she received commission from drinks bought for her.

Generally, the women did not give the impression they were there against their will. Indeed, there seemed to be a certain camaraderie between them. But behind the smiles, one Hungarian dancer admitted she wished she could do something else – but she needed the money.

Are these clubs legal?

There is no specific classification for gentlemen's clubs in terms of licensing – they are licensed by the Malta Tourism Authority as regular bars, discos or nightclubs. The type of entertainment offered in a bar, nightclub or disco does not need to be specified when applying for a licence, meaning owners are free to change their premises into a gentlemen's club if they abide by the conditions of their current licence. Maltese law is clear on two counts: no brothels and no indecency. But it does not distinguish between an entertainment nightclub and a pole or lap dancing club.

In 2005, the police arraigned a club owner and dancers over indecency, but the magistrate's decision was clear-cut: being skimpily dressed did not amount to indecency. The Attorney General has appealed against the decision but the case has stalled because the dancers have since left the country. However, a similar case is pending before another magistrate.

On the recent boom in gentlemen's clubs, one owner said: You know what it's like in Malta – when we see something successful that someone else has, we want it as well.

Drinks are not expensive and we offer a nice alternative to normal bars and clubs, which makes us popular. Our club is clean, there is waitress service, the music is not too loud and generally it is more of an upmarket environment. That means we attract different types of people – not just men but mixed groups, women, gay people... our club is for everyone.

Dancers are contracted at our club – it is like hiring a barman, there is no difference. Girls are aware of their duties and regulations... I don't want to go into detail about 'no touching' regulations and things like that because legally it is a grey area, but our club is very clean and law abiding and we look after our staff.

What happens in the booth?

David, 18, said: I was out with the lads celebrating my 18th birthday. A host of one of the gentlemen's clubs approached us and encouraged us to go in.

The boys paid for a private dance for me – €25 for the duration of two music tracks. The dancer was perhaps about 25 years old. She was wearing hot pants and a bra – and didn't take them off at any point.

Halfway through the dance, I started touching her. She didn't move my hands away. The dance lasted about three minutes.

I often go to these clubs, but don't always buy a private dance. It's like a bar, but one where you're surrounded by beautiful women.

Update: Police Comment

17th November 2010. Based on article from  timesofmalta.com

Nudity or semi-nudity is absolutely not permitted in gentlemen's clubs, according to the police, who have defended the way they are monitoring the booming gentlemen's club industry.

Their defence comes in the wake of the above story in The Sunday Times. In response, the police said all clubs are monitored and inspected regularly.

The police also call (at) these places in plain clothes to check working permits and other issues, such as age and residence in Malta. Police also check if there are any immoral acts being done in these clubs or in places accessible to the public since nudity or semi-nudity is absolutely not permitted.

The Swedish government plans to invest 10 million kronor ($1.49 million) to enable state agencies to develop clearer 'ethical' guidelines for civil servants working overseas in order to curb the buying of sexual services and improper sexual relations.

The measures include education, a common website and guidance materials that will be developed.

It is clear that everyone knows that you cannot buy sex, surf for porn during work hours, or come as a rich man or woman and sexually exploit someone living in poverty. That much we know. But it must be made clear in a document what you can do and cannot do, Gender Equality Minister Nyamko Sabuni told the Svenska Dagbladet.

However, she said that the government is reluctant to put its foot down and establish standard general guidelines. Different agencies have different needs, she told the newspaper. You can't compare the military in peace-promoting missions with agencies which maybe only travel to Brussels.

The government has not investigated how common the purchase of sexual services, visits to porn clubs and the sexual exploitation of locals is among Swedish civil servants, soldiers and aid workers.

Sabuni instead used media coverage on Swedish soldiers who bought sex in Germany and UN staff who exploited the local population in the Congo, to illustrate the problem.

A study commissioned by the government showed that only one-fifth of all government agencies have some form of 'ethical' guidelines and the government hopes that the 10 million kronor allocation will address this.

Even though they suspect that this is bad behaviour, it should be clear what the consequences are if one violates the ethical guidelines. It is difficult for the employer to take action when it is not known from the beginning that it is a violation of the guidelines. Clarity is needed, said Sabuni.

According to the New York Post, Berth Milton, CEO of Private Media, wants to open as many as 100 sex hotels in cities around the world where guests could stay for free - if they agree to have sex in front of Web cams. Their sessions would then be broadcast on the Web to subscribers, the story says.

The hotels would be luxury hotels.

Milton believes porn fans will pay to watch amateurs having sex. He estimates that subscriptions could bring in about $44 million annually: The important thing is to go all the way - not halfway or a third of the way.

Milton researched the concept by visiting more than a dozen swingers clubs around Barcelona, the story says: It has to be a hotel for non-swingers as well -not super explicit where everybody's running around naked. That takes the style and class out of it.

Mara Carfagna and Silvio Berlusconi have announced a mean minded package of measures to ban prostitution in public places.

In a week when the latest of several women claimed to have been paid for sex by Italy's prime minister, he chaired a cabinet meeting that approved a bill outlawing prostitution.

Mara Carfagna, the former topless model who is Berlusconi's equal opportunities minister, told the website Clandestinoweb a package of security measures that will now go to parliament included a ban on prostitution in all public places.

It emerged last week that three associates of the prime minister were formally under investigation on suspicion of profiting from prostitution. They include his TV network's best-known newscaster, a talent scout who supplies many of its showgirls, and a former dancer who was Berlusconi's dental hygienist until he plucked her from obscurity to be a regional MP.

Confused travellers unsure about what sort of porn they're allowed to bring into Australia have prompted a re-working of incoming passenger cards.

Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said he had asked to change the wording on the declaration cards travellers must fill out when they fly into Australia.

The previous card stated that travellers needed to disclose any 'pornography' they were carrying,' O'Connor said: That has now been amended to read 'illegal pornography .''

But with no further advice on hand about what constitutes 'illegal pornography' , travellers may be forced to run their selection by a Customs officer.

My advice to travellers is that if you're in doubt – find out, O'Connor said: Customs officers operate with discretion and the penalties for failing to declare a prohibited import are steep. Prohibited pornography includes child pornography and material depicting bestiality, explicit sexual violence, degradation, cruelty and non-consensual sex, a statement from the Minister said.

The Australian Sex Party claimed credit for the changes today. The party's spokesman Robbie Swan said he wrote to O'Connor's office about six months ago after receiving complaints from a number of members, including a couple on their honeymoon, who thought they had to declare naked pictures of themselves after reading the incoming passenger card. Others had called the party to complain that the ambiguous wording meant they were forced to declare material that was legal in Australia, he said.

A fine of up to $11,000 applies if travellers are caught making a false or misleading statement to a Customs officer.

Update: Honeymoon Snaps

27th October 2010. From aolnews.com, thanks to David

The Australian press is reporting that the poor treatment of a couple returning from honeymoon was the spur to a re-wording of Australia's porn declaration requirements at customs:

Afraid of breaking the law, an Australian couple returning home from an overseas honeymoon felt obliged to show customs officials naked photos of themselves.

[The couple were] on the beach, they were nude, they'd taken a photo of themselves on their iPhone having an embrace, said Robbie Swan, spokesman for the Australian Sex Party. It wasn't full on or anything, but when they'd gone through customs they'd asked what 'pornography' meant and the customs officer had said: 'Well, anything explicit.'

They were made to display a nude photo of themselves in a line with all these other people, Swan said. They were so embarrassed.

The Sex Party, a libertarian political organization and lobby group, says it has received complaints from angry citizens over the law, which was introduced late last year. The government has told travelers to show their photographs to customs officers if they are in doubt about the content.

The previous [arrival] card stated that travelers needed to disclose any 'pornography' they were carrying, Home Affairs Minister Brendan O'Connor said in a statement. That has now been amended to read 'illegal pornography.'

The government says illegal pornography in Australia includes child pornography and material depicting bestiality, explicit sexual violence, degradation, cruelty and nonconsensual sex.

Sex workers on the street outside a town northern Spain have been ordered to wear reflective vests supposedly to make them visible to passing traffic and reduce the risk of accidents.

Women touting for customers on a rural highway outside Els Alamus near Lleida in Catalonia have been told to don the yellow fluorescent bibs or pay fines of 40 euros (£36) under road traffic laws.

Police claim the sex workers on the LL-11 road are not being specifically targeted because of what they do but because they posed a danger to drivers.

The prostitutes are in breach of 2004 law which states pedestrians on major highways and hard shoulders must wear the high visibility garments.

The move follows recent legislation introduced by Els Alamus town hall to ban prostitutes from offering sex for sale in public urban areas. The mayor Josep Maria Bea has been accused of mounting a campaign to drive the sex workers out of the area.

The Paradise night club, touted as the largest brothel in Europe, has opened for business after a Spanish town failed to stop it in the courts.

Police patrolled the roads outside the Spanish town of La Jonquera and 15 security guards kept watch as the opening night crowd filtered in on Thursday.

I give the girls breakfast, lunch and dinner and they get to keep whatever they make. Do you call that exploitation? a Paradise manager told reporters as a group of middle-aged French men left their cars for the club, which looks like a disco that overdosed on neon. The club, which measures 2,700 square metres and boasts 80 rooms with rates of €120 (£107) per hour, is one of 11 so-called macro-brothels in this Catalan region of Gerona, near the Costa Brava.

Roughly 1,800 prostitutes reportedly sell their services there [Other reports suggest a more believable 180]. And many local restaurant owners and other residents are pleased with the business they attract. Except for a handful of local priests, few Spaniards have attempted to throw cold water on this industry.

But the mayor of La Jonquera, Jordi Cabezas, refused to give the club an operating licence, claiming that a police report warned the brothel could cause security and public order problems. The club owner, identified as Jose Moreno in the Spanish press, had been arrested in September, along with 40 other people, in connection with an alleged sex trade trafficking ring. He was charged and released pending trial.

Moreno has denied involvement with trafficking rings. I run three places. Who would think that I would get involved in something like that? It doesn't make sense, he told El Pais newspaper. Moreno took the town to court and won. In February, the Supreme Court of Catalonia ruled that police speculation was not sufficient grounds to dampen the libido of paying customers. The ruling was not surprising in Spain, a traditionally Catholic country that has long tolerated prostitution.

Moreno, denies he is exploiting women: They are adults, they know what they are here for, and that's all that I ask of them .

The women refused to comment to the horde of reporters at the opening. We come to Spain for sex, said one of the men: In France, this is illegal. The girls are very pretty, another man said with a nervous giggle.

Alarmist predictions that tens of thousands of sex workers would descend on South Africa to cater for football fans at this year's World Cup were debunked this week by a survey showing there had been no surge in prostitution.

The survey carried out by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA) and the Cape Town-based lobby group Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) among 663 sex workers in Johannesburg, Cape Town and Durban, found no major increase in demand during or since the World Cup.

The survey also showed that the proportion of foreign sex workers decreased rather than increased during the tournament.

Before the World Cup, several local and international media outlets had quoted an official from South Africa's Central Drug Authority as saying that up to 40,000 foreign sex workers were expected at the tournament.

Although our survey revealed a small increase in the number of sex workers advertising online during and shortly after the World Cup, our findings do not provide evidence for the massive increase in supply of sex work around the World Cup, as anticipated by the media, the researchers said.

The survey also found no evidence of a surge in the trafficking of women and children for sex work - as had also been predicted by some agencies.

Whether to legalize the sex industry was once again the focus of discussion at the Taiwanese legislature after the Ministry of the Interior the day before announced its policy direction on the controversial subject.

Following a public hearing on the matter, the ministry said in a statement that most participants were inclined to allow sex workers to work in what it called independent studios of three to five people, which would avoid corporate control of the sex industry.

The statement said most participants did not want to see the development of red light districts and would rather that certain neighborhoods — such as school zones or areas in the vicinity of religious institutions — be designated by local governments as off-limits to the sex industry.

The ministry has been in serious discussions with various groups and academics about ways to legalize prostitution after the Council of Grand Justices declared a clause in the Social Order Maintenance Act banning -prostitution unconstitutional and said it would become invalid in November next year.

Minister of the Interior Jiang Yi-huah said at the Internal Administration Committee meeting yesterday that although the ministry had yet to make a final decision on how the sex industry would evolve after next year, the majority view expressed at a hearing would help shape the policy.

Newspapers which publish sex adverts could face prosecution by the Metropolitan Police.

As part of an investigation into sex trafficking, the Croydon Guardian reports that a senior police officer saying editors who continue to run adverts for brothels could be arrested.

Vice squad detective inspector Kevin Hyland told the paper: It is an offence to advertise for prostitution. If newspapers do run adverts there is a possibility of prosecution. The legislation we are thinking of using is aiding and abetting offences of controlling prostitution for gain, offences of trafficking under the Sexual Offences Act 2003 and possibly money laundering.

A Croydon Guardian article claims sex adverts were estimated to be worth more than £44m for the regional press in 2006.

A spokeswoman for the Metropolitan Police Service said its Human Exploitation and Organised Crime Command was a specialist unit tackling trafficking and prostitution and a number of people had been jailed in recent months. She said: In many of these investigations, the organised criminal networks have sought to advertise through local newspapers or advertising journals.

It is important that everyone plays their part in trying to reduce the opportunity of criminal networks to continue their illegal activities and their exploitation of vulnerable people through advertising sexual services. The MPS is working with the media to tackle this.

Outside a branch of Tesco in central London, 30 people in pyjamas, nightgowns and fluffy slippers have gathered to campaign against lads' mags. All are members of the activist group Object and they are here to take part in the monthly Porn Versus Pyjamas campaign. They dart down the dairy aisle to the display of lads' magazines, which they mark with their own slogans. FHM is put in a paper bag emblazoned with: For Horrible Misogynists , while Maxim is hidden behind the phrase MAXIMum Sexism .

The women start a conga-line through the supermarket, chanting Hey, ho, sexist mags have got to go , alerting security guards to their presence. Eventually they're ushered out, but not before depositing pamphlets, entitled Porn v Pyjamas: Why Lads' Mags Are Harmful, in customers' baskets.

Their campaign began earlier this year, after Tesco ruled that customers wouldn't be allowed to shop in pyjamas because this could make other people feel uncomfortable. Object bit back by accusing some Tesco stores of ignoring the voluntary codes of conduct that suggest lads' mags should be covered up and repositioned on the top shelf, alongside pornographic content.

The Tesco demonstration is part of its Feminist Fridays campaign – monthly events where activists protest against lads' mags and other forms of sexism. After being ejected from Tesco, the demonstrators spend three hours outside the store, distributing 1,500 leaflets.

Lads' mags are an example of the mainstreaming of pornography, says Anna van Heeswijk of Object. The whole tone is of complete contempt [for women]. They are made up of photographs that come straight from pornography and would have been thought of as hardcore 50 years ago. But now the boundaries have been pushed to such an extent that they are considered an appropriate part of lads' mags and soft porn.

Environmental organisations have expressed outrage over a plan by local authorities in the Abruzzo region of central Italy to combat prostitution with deforestation.

For decades, local law enforcement and politicians have struggled to police the Bonifica del Tronto road, a haven for the sex trade that runs inland for more than 10 miles from the Adriatic coast alongside the river Tronto. Over the years, cameras have been installed, raids mounted, 24-hour patrols implemented and the mayors of towns near the road have signed bylaws imposing fines on prostitutes' clients. All to no avail.

At the end of last month, the regional government's public works chief, Angelo Di Paolo, announced that the time had come for drastic measures. He said he had agreed with provincial and municipal representatives to cut down all the vegetation around and along the banks [of the river Tronto] , in which the prostitutes ply their trade.

In a statement three environmental groups, including the WWF, said that the scheme would destroy 28 hectares (69 acres) of woodland vital to local ecosystems. The authorities, they added, had not even taken into account mitigating circumstances . Among these are having absorbed thousands of tonnes of carbon dioxide and given man precious oxygen, they said. They also prevented fertiliser and pesticides from reaching the river.

A census this month by an NGO found almost 600 prostitutes at work on the Bonifica del Tronto.

The Santa Fe City Council has unanimously approved a rewrite of its indecency ordinance.

Mayor David Coss and Councilors Matthew Ortiz, Ronald Trujillo and Carmichael Dominguez introduced the ordinance to prevent a repeat of an event last June that was part of the World Naked Bike Ride. The new law largely mirrors Albuquerque's ordinance, which had led protest organizers from Albuquerque to hold their event in Santa Fe.

The new law replaces the existing ordinance, which only outlawed women from going topless in places where alcohol is served or if they were engaged in lewd behavior.

The new law specifically bans men or women from exposing their buttocks or genitalia.

Artist Tamara Lichtenstein, who opposed the change, wore a two-piece bathing suit under a black robe and skeletal mask and briefly exposed her backside to the councilors, prompting some groans as well as laughter from onlookers.

Lichtenstein said that because her normal bathing suit exposed her hips, it might be considered illegal under the rewritten ordinance: The burden of living in a diverse democracy with freedom of expression and not in a theocracy is that we are practically guaranteed to be exposed to expressive speech and actions that we don't like, and even things that deeply offend us, she said. If we all agree that no one was ever offended, we wouldn't need a First Amendment.

Gilbert Pino, a board member of the New Mexico Catholic Coalition, found nothing funny about the demonstration. Some of the people in the audience believe it's a laughing matter, he said. I don't. I'm very serious about it. ... All my life, Santa Fe has been the city of the holy faith. Of recent times, it's sad to say that were not the same city we were.

Raymond Joggerst questioned whether the ordinance would apply to his 14-month-old daughter who pulls up her shirt just because she thinks it's funny.

Marcos Martinez, the assistant city attorney who drafted the ordinance, said it does not designate an age at which someone is subject to the restrictions. He said the state Court of Appeals upheld the Albuquerque ordinance, finding that its provision banning toplessness for women, but not for men, did not discriminate against women. Two similar laws in Indiana and Pennsylvania have been upheld by the U.S. Supreme Court, he said.

Canadian prostitution laws that were struck down by an Ontario judge last week will be extended another month.

When Justice Susan Himel handed down her decision Sept. 28, she also delayed her order from taking effect for 30 days. Now, the grace period is going to be extended an extra 30 days.

Alan Young, the lawyer who argued the case for the winning side, said that he's agreed to a Crown request for a longer grace period.

Simply because they look like they're panicking and in disarray and I feel somewhat sorry for them and I imagine if you've had a bad law for 30 years, another 30 days isn't going to make a huge difference, Young told Global News: After that, I put the gloves back on for the fight.

Young said the Crown will likely go to the Court of Appeal to try to get another stay. But they don't have good evidence for it, because they're going to say the sky is going to fall if they don't have the law. They tried that in the hearing itself and the judge didn't buy it.

The order will be officially signed on Tuesday. It gives the federal government until the end of November to decide upon its next step.

Police have been ordered to protect doggers and arrest anyone suspected of committing a hate crime against people taking part in outdoor sex.

A new Hate Crime Guidance Manual has been handed to officers warning them that they must not ignore doggers being abused or verbally taunted in any way - as it can cause them to suffer from post traumatic stress.

It states that even though outdoor sex is unlawful , people who take part in dogging or cottaging still have rights - which protect them from becoming victims of hate crime.

The manual, issued by the Association of Chief Police Officers in Scotland, last week, states that people who take part in open-air sex are more susceptible to hate crime and can suffer post traumatic stress and depression if they are abused, Police Review revealed.

The guide states: The issues surrounding public sex environments can be complex and consequently provide a challenge for the police. Whilst complaints regarding consensual public sex must be considered and responded to, it must also be noted that people engaging in such activity are potential targets for hate crime perpetrators.

It states that doggers can be reluctant to report victimisation in outdoor sex environments and says this is due to a misconception that the police will primarily be interested in why they were there, as opposed to tackling hate or prejudice motivated crime. It goes on to say that hate crime can have a 'lasting impact on individual victims , adding that crime targeted at an individual's core identity also has the potential to undermine entire communities and damage community confidence in the police .

The guide adds: Research has shown that any victim of crime can suffer symptoms of depression, anger, anxiety and post traumatic stress

Recently Hackney council invited residents to have their say about a nil policy being proposed for adult entertainment in Hackney. In essence it means no more licenses will be granted nor will existing ones be renewed, when they come up for renewal.

According to Cllr Chris Kennedy: The Licensing Committee is proposing a 'nil' policy on licensed sex establishments as we do not believe they fit with the character of our town centres and neighbourhoods.

The consultation which began last month will end December 13th and will ask the Council to adopt the revised policy on January 26th.

Currently Hackney has a total of 5 adult establishments, all located on the southwestern tip of the borough bordering on the City of London financial centre.

Four of them offer strip tease and lap dancing, totally nude. They are long established and famed: The White Horse,  The Rainbow Sports Bar both on Shoreditch High Street, Browns and Ye Olde Axe on Hackney Road. The fifth venue is a discreet adult store – Expectations on Great Eastern Street that caters more to the gay community.

To the best of my knowledge none of them have ran afoul of vice laws such as prostitution, which would usually guarantee criminal prosecution, revocation of license and closure. So why is Hackney Council proposing a nil policy for adult entertainment venues?

Pauline Briscoe owner of The White Horse on Shoreditch High Street says: If a nil policy is introduced, we will have to let go of our staff, who depend on us for a living. That will be more people claiming benefit. Our establishment has never been a problem.

Briscoe, who closes her club, The White Horse, at midnight says her flat above the White Horse is next to a bus stop and she is awoken at 4 am when clubbers are pouring out of the night clubs. She said the noise and chaos can be quite unbearable.

Regardless of who frequents lap dancing clubs, there are women who depend on the money they earn. One of them who spoke to Hackney Hive is a 21 year old Uni student said: This is worrying for me as I find I can fit dancing around my education easier than other part time work. I also don't have to work as many hours as I would have to in a more tradition job, to make the money I do.

Hackney Council Out of Line

Based on article from  hackneycitizen.co.uk

It is not clear that Hackney Council's nil policy is in line with changing trends in public opinion. A survey carried out as part of the 27 September Sunday Morning Live discussion on BBC1 showed overwhelming public support for accepting prostitution, with 71% of the British public in favour and only 29% against.

This echoes a government funded Ipsos MORI poll in June 2008: 59% agreed that prostitution is a perfectly reasonable choice that women should be free to make.

In the Sunday Morning Live debate, Catherine Stephens of the International Union of Sex Workers (IUSW) called for policy that solves problems based on evidence and reality, rather than on ideology, dramatic individual cases and stereotypes. She argued that stigmatisation of sex work plays a large part in violence and trafficking.

According to the IUSW the clients are not the problem; they cite evidence showing that the majority of robbery, abuse and physical or sexual violence experienced by sex workers comes from those who do not pay for sex. Many assailants express hatred of sex workers and appear to feel their actions are legitimated by the social attitudes of abhorrence for commercial sex.

Stephens says, It's time to start treating women with respect and equality, regardless of their sexual behaviour. It's time to give people in the sex industry the same human rights as other citizens, so we can work together for safety, and call the police without fear of arrest. It's time to decriminalise prostitution.

More and more Koreans are buying or selling sex overseas in more diverse, bolder, and sophisticated ways. Hong Jung-wook of the ruling Grand National Party has accused the government of being negligent in taking action against them, according to

At a National Assembly interpellation session to audit the Ministry of Foreign Affairs and Trade, Hong said that much evidence of the overseas sex trade is scattered on the Internet and some agencies are openly recruiting girls for prostitution.

For instance, a tourist agency posted schedules for sex tours — which included information about types and number of times of prostitution, and prices ranging from 1.2 million won to 2.2 million won — on online community websites.

Another website recruited Korean women to work as prostitutes abroad, with the ads claiming that women can earn up to 45 million won per month in New York.

Rep. Hong visited Phnom Penh in Cambodia, popular for sex trade among Korean men, and found that they were the main target of the prostitution businesses there.

He went to three Phnom Penh brothels, and he found all of them were looking for Korean tourists. One of them hired minors, he said.

Despite this rampant overseas sex trade involving Koreans, he accused the government of being lax in cracking down. The government has confiscated passports of those who are caught buying sex and restricted the issuing of new passports since 2008. However, only 16 people were punished in 2008; 16 in 2009; and 38 in the first half of this year.

The government needs to come up with stronger measures against those who trade in sex abroad, which could severely harm the national brand of Korea, Hong said: The government could have cracked down on such websites mediating prostitution abroad, but they seem to have given up doing so.

From January of 2011, a revision to the section of the Japanese adult-entertainment law that pertains to love hotels will come into force.

The weekly tabloid, Shukan Asahi Geino, reports, that the industry will be in for a shake up. The revisions are intended to remove prostitution and porn shoots from hotel premises.

There are two types of love hotels, explains journalist Akihira Otani. Those operating under the approval of the Law Regulating Adult Entertainment Businesses and those operating as lodging entities under the conventional lodging law, just as with any hotel or ryokan you may see.

Giso (camouflaged) love hotels operate under the conventional lodging law yet provide adult-oriented gear, such as dildos, he continues. In both cases, one can go straight to a room without being seen. This is believed to be a contributing factor to crimes for which this revision is designed to counter.

The revised law will extend the list of requirements for love hotels to become eligible, says a reporter who covers social issues. Most notably, guests will be asked to register personal information at the front desk. Other measures mainly deal with the establishment's facilities and layout.

Infrastructure must be in place to ensure that room fees are clearly shown and automatic room-fee payment machines are situated in every guest room, continues the source. Further, the entire building must be designed so that guests will not be visible by staff members in common areas. These latter requirements are to specifically impact pseudo-love hotels, which contain nearly standard hotel rooms and open hallways and common areas.

A male guest laments the move. Checking in and facing the staff members defeats the whole point of the love hotel, he says. It's intended to be a discrete environment.

The wrong kind of horny

A herd of bulls could be released into a field to deter people from using it for sex.

Surrey county council has had more than 300 complaints by Puttenham residents about the field nears the Hog's Back lay-by on the A31.

They said the area was being used for sexual activity including dogging.

The council has refused to close the lay-by, saying it would be unfair on legitimate visitors , but is considering measures including police patrols and bulls in the field.

However, Tory councillor Tony Rooth said: It will probably make people even more excited.

Council leader Andrew Povey said there had been several mad ideas to stop people having sex in the field but that the bull option was viable .

Update: Studying Wildlife

29th March 2012. See article from getsurrey.co.uk

A new project is set to 'improve' part of the Hog's Back and transform a well known dogging hotspot into a wildlife area.

Puttenham Parish Council requested £ 3,500 from the borough council towards a scheme dubbed the Hog's Back Wildlife Conservation Project. The proposal aims to provide a safe community area and encourage wildlife to re-establish.

At Guildford's local committee meeting, members agreed Councillor Simon Gimson could spend part of his budget on the scheme.

Thousands of women from India's north-east have been hired by escort agencies for the Commonwealth Games, a rights group has claimed.

Impulse NGO Network says it fears the girls will be pushed into prostitution. The group said nearly 40,000 women were hired from seven states with promises of lucrative pay.

Authorities said they were unable to confirm the number.

Escort services advertise in newspapers and are suspected to be fronts for prostitution.

Hasina Kharbih, chairperson of Impulse NGO Network, a rights group that rescues women trafficked from north-eastern states, said they had closely monitored the large-scale hiring of women from the north-east for the Commonwealth Games. We are indeed very worried for our girls because so many of them have been recruited for escort services. They have been lured by good money and future jobs, said Ms Kharbih.

Free Wi-Fi and widespread availability of Web-based adult-entertainment viewing may be contributing to pressure on LodgeNet, which provides various electronic guest-services to 1.9 million hotel rooms.

LodgeNet gets more than half of its revenue from providing hotels with guest services, including movies and entertainment viewing, Interactive TV, high-speed Internet access, and other connectivity solutions.

The decline in per room revenue continued to be driven by conservative consumer buying patterns as well as less popular theatrical content during the quarter as compared to the year-earlier period, LodgeNet stated.

Adult-entertainment viewing undoubtedly is a big-ticket item for LodgeNet and other vendors in their in-room, on-demand offerings, and the widespread availability of porn on guests' laptops these days may be contributing to the less popular theatrical content which LodgeNet referred to.

Overall, LodgeNet has been hurt by the slump in business travel and materially lower purchases by consumers.

Prostitution laws in the Australian Capital Territory (Canberra) will be reviewed for the first time since being introduced 18 years ago.

The review has been partially prompted by a letter from a coroner who conducted the inquest into the death of 17-year-old Janine Cameron who was found dead in a Fyshwick brothel two years ago.

Attorney General Simon Corbell says the coroner's comments will form part of the terms of reference for the review: Whilst the coroner made no adverse findings in relation to that matter, the coroner has drawn to my attention his view that it would be worthwhile for the Government to look at the issue of proof of age and to make sure people working in brothels were requiring a higher level of proof age and identity before they commenced work.

Corbell says the Government remains committed to a regulated sex industry: It's a good thing. It keeps it out in the open. It keeps it public and transparent and it stops black market and illegal activities occurring within the industry.

But there are I think areas for some potential improvement. Those include issues potentially around proof of age to make sure people who are working in the industry are appropriately demonstrating that they are 18 years or older.

There may be other issues arising as well that stakeholders want to express a view on and this review will allow that to occur.

The Government will move a motion in the Legislative Assembly next month referring the Prostitution Act 1992 to a committee.

The Opposition has welcomed the move. Shadow attorney general Vicki Dunne said: There have been issues raised as to whether or not individual sex workers should have registration, compliance inspections and the level of police activity around brothels in the ACT and what developments there may have been both interstate and overseas that have moved on public discussion about the regulation of prostitution.

Canada-based Ashley Madison, the world's largest infidelity website, is launching its services in Britain, and its founder who is a faithfully married businessman denies doing anything wrong, The Times newspaper reported.

Noel Biderman, the founder of Ashley Madison, a dating website was visiting London to promote the launch of his website with its slogan Life is short. Have an affair! The slogan used to be When monogamy becomes monotony.

He argues that launching services in Britain is not based on business expansionist motives but rather on growing client desires and interests, citing a number of 60,000 Britons seeking to join the dating website. He expected one million Londonians to join in after the launch.

A trendy hotel offering guests a range of complimentary sex toys in their rooms has been criticised, but staff say customers love the move.

The Berns Hotel in Stockholm, Sweden recently expanded the range of items it offers guests from tea and coffee, minibar drinks and a Bible, to include sex toys such as vibrators, handcuffs and stockings.

Miserable local authorities, who have been working with the city's hotels to stamp out prostitution, are furious over the move. The hotel is trying to glorify something that we are working to de-glorify, local police officer Tom Eckerling told the Sweden's The Local news.

However the hotel remains defiant, insisting that it has received a positive response from guests. It has no plans to remove the items from guest rooms. However staff usually remove them from rooms used by families, the hotel said.

There is nothing ugly with sex, that is something that we want to show, the hotel's reception manager Andreas L'Estrade said.