Adult World News

Well, many readers may have heard of research being carried out by Professor Phil Hubbard on Sexual Entertainment venues. The initial results are in, and although the full results are not due until March 2013, I have been given permission to produce a synopsis of the report. I will say at the outset of this post that the majority of the report is not surprising and does no harm to the industry; there is one sticking point which I will discuss in more detail and explain why I feel that it is not likely to affect the industry.

There are 241 licensed premises regularly offering lap dancing or striptease in England and Wales. Nearly half (43%) of those applying for a Sexual Entertainment Venue (SEV) license have received no formal objections at all. This doesn't really come as much of a surprise: most people are not bothered about the venues and there tends to be only a small handful of complainants who may write in. Given that Portsmouth managed to obtain a massive response following a very vocal campaign by pressure groups to get the clubs shut down, with 113 against and over 3000 for the venues, the fact that some clubs receive no objections at all should not surprise anyone.

A survey of residents in towns and cities with lap dance clubs suggests that around one in five were not even aware there was an SEV operating in their town or city! Fewer than one in ten identified an SEV as a particular source of local nuisance, and in some locations this was considerably lower. Once again not a surprise, as we have seen previously from my report on crime that the belief that venues are an issue for police is a fallacy.

...Read the full article

The Senate last week passed a resolution exhorting Backpage.com to end publication of its adult entertainment section.

The measure was sponsored by Senator Mark Kirk and co-sponsored by Senator Richard Blumenthal.

Kirk spouted the hyped up bollox:

The numbers are rising, in part because it has become frighteningly simple to order a child prostitute on the Internet. One merely needs to look at the classified ads on Backpage.com, the leading Web site for prostitution advertising in the United States according to the Advanced Interactive Media, AIM, Group. Just a few clicks on this site easily enables 'johns' to purchase children for sex. Law enforcement believes that the existence of Backpage encourages the recruitment of victims for sexual exploitation because it allows traffickers to operate out of sight from police patrols.

Backpage.com argues that it works closely with law enforcement to identify, track down and arrest anyone trafficking minors through the site. One such criminal was convicted in Florida a few weeks ago.

The Minister for Women, Jo Swinson, has urged the police to investigate anyone suspected of taking advantage of students or forcing vulnerable women into prostitution.

In a written response to a question by the Labour MP and former minister Helen Goodman, Swinson said she was aware of the SponsorAScholar.co.uk website, which has now been taken down following an undercover investigation by The Independent.

The man responsible for the site, which offered students up to £ 15,000 a year in exchange for intimate encounters with wealthy businessmen or sponsors , was revealed this week to be Mark Lancaster, an IT consultant.

There is mounting concern that high student fees could be forcing people into sex work to cover their debt.

Swinson defended the Government's high fees policy:

No eligible student has to pay for their tuition up-front. Loans are available to meet the full cost of tuition charges at publicly funded institutions.

Update: We don't want people having fun or earning money now, do we?

14th December 2012. See  article from  independent.co.uk

Police investigating a website offering payment of tuition fees for female students in return for sex have arrested a man on suspicion of inciting prostitution.

After an undercover expose  by the Independent into a man who claimed to be an assessor for SponsorAScholar.co.uk, Mark Lancaster was detained by police from the Metropolitan Police's Trafficking and Prostitution Unit.

The computer consultant was questioned and released on police bail. He will return to Charing Cross police station in central London in February.

SponsorAScholar.co.uk offered female students aged 17 to 24 up to £ 15,000 a year in return for what it described as discreet adventures with businessmen in private flats or hotel rooms.

The Independent story followed mounting concern that rising student fees could be forcing young people into sex work to cover their debt with experts claiming the site was the tip of the iceberg .

Update: Trial

27th April 2013. See review from  independent.co.uk

Mark Lancaster, who was arrested by Scotland Yard officers following an investigation by The Independent into the SponsorAScholar website, was told that his case will be heard by a Crown Court.

He is accused of two offences under the Sexual Offences Act allegedly committed between 1 September and 30 September last year. One charge is an allegation of voyeurism and the second accuses him of trafficking a woman within the United Kingdom for the purpose of sexual exploitation.

Update: Jailed

20th July 2013. See  article from  independent.co.uk

Computer consultant Mark Lancaster has been jailed for 16 months for voyeurism and trafficking after using sex for fees website to dupe student into having sex with him

The prosecutors took the opportunity to inflate trafficking figures by adding a ludicrous trafficking charge on the grounds that the victim was duped into travelling to meet Lancaster, hence was 'trafficked'.

Google has  rolled out a change to its image search algorithm overnight that makes it tougher to stumble across adult pictures, whether or not you're searching for them.

Here's how a Google representative explains the change:

We are not censoring any adult content, and want to show users exactly what they are looking for -- but we aim not to show sexually-explicit results unless a user is specifically searching for them. We use algorithms to select the most relevant results for a given query. If you're looking for adult content, you can find it without having to change the default setting -- you just may need to be more explicit in your query if your search terms are potentially ambiguous. The image search settings now work the same way as in Web search.

In other words, if you have SafeSearch turned off, you can still probably find anything you're looking for by appending the word porn to your search.

An anti-prostitution vigilante group in Ukraine has attacked a Turkish man who had called for a prostitute by phone.

Thugs from the group Defacto, went and attacked the man at his address after he called a fake phone number for prostitutes that had been left by the group in a public place.

Defacto forced the unidentified Turkish man to wander around streets in Kyiv in a bathrobe with a placard saying Stop Sex Tourism on it. The group posted video footage of the incident on the Internet.

The Turkish man has not filed a complaint, but police have reportedly launched an investigation into the video footage.

Zurich council has approved a plan to build open drive-in sex boxes, which will, it hopes, provide a discreet location for prostitutes and their customers to conduct business when they open in August next year.

Located in an industrial area of the city, the row of garage-like boxes will have roofs and walls for privacy, and easy access for cars. The council estimates that around 30 prostitutes will meet clients at the site of the boxes, and use the drive-in slots on a first-come-first-served basis.

Michael Herzig, from Zurich's social welfare department, told Swiss Radio:

The big difference is that until now prostitution has been in the public space. Now we are going to change this, move it from the street to a private space in an old industrial area, which belongs to the city. This gives us the possibility to define the rules of prostitution in this area.

The prostitutes who use the boxes will also have to take out medical insurance and buy a £ 26 licence in order to work legally. They will also have to feed five Swiss francs, about £ 3.30, into a roadside ticket machine each night when they clock on.

The opening of the sex boxes will coincide with a major reform of prostitution laws in the city. Prostitution will be outlawed in certain areas of Zurich.

A conference to discuss the development of a law to legalize prostitution was held in Moscow under the motto legalize prostitution - collect taxes . The idea was supported by a State Duma deputy from the party United Russia Joseph Kobzon.

The initiative was originated by a group who have produced a draft federal law On state regulation and control of sexual services. This has suggested calling sex workers individual entrepreneurs engaged in providing sexual services, and their customers - consumers of sexual services. The bill addresses the relationship between entrepreneurs and consumers as well as tax and other government agencies.

Duma deputy Joseph Kobzon supported the idea of the bill with reservations. He noted that the bill was just an excuse to start a great debate, perhaps even a referendum. As soon as the State Duma starts drafting a law on prostitution, it will immediately raise the question of the need of its approval in the second reading by the government and presidential administration. Once the government feels that this law has a financial component, [...] that there will be a need to allocate money from the budget to combat prostitution, it will be voted down, said Kobzon. According to him, the money will be needed first of all for the maintenance of the new police unit - morality police.

Prostitution flourishes in Russia and the existing laws are considered obsolete. In the current Russian legislation Article 6.11 in the Code of Administrative Offences provides for a fine for prostitution between 1,500 and 2,000 rubles. There are two articles of the Criminal Code against pimps and keepers of brothels. They are Involvement in prostitution (up to a maximum of eight years in prison) and Organization of prostitution (ten years).

Female porn stars are psychologically as healthy or healthier than other women, according to a new study, which challenges feminist driven views about women in the adult entertainment business.

Adult entertainers were found to have higher self-esteem, a better quality of life and body image, and to be more positive, with greater levels of spirituality. They also had higher levels of sexual satisfaction and, perhaps unsurprisingly, many more partners than other women.

The American researchers, who report their findings in the Journal of Sex Research, said they found no evidence to support the damaged goods hypothesis that actresses involved in the porn industry come from desperate backgrounds and are less psychologically healthy compared with typical women. They said:

Some descriptions of actresses in pornography have included attributes such as drug addiction, homelessness, poverty, desperation and being victims of sexual abuse. Some have made extreme assertions, such as claiming that all women in pornography were sexually abused as children. Stereotypes of those involved in adult entertainment have been used to support or condemn the industry and to justify political views on pornography, although the actual characteristics of actresses are unknown because no study on this group of women has been conducted.

The psychologists compared data taken from 177 adult entertainment actresses with a sample of women matched for age, marital status and other factors. The actresses, all of whom had been paid to work on at least one X-rated movie, ranged in age from 18 to 50, with an average career in the industry of 3.5 years.

One of the main claims by commentators on the industry has been that actresses have frequently experienced sexual abuse in childhood, but the results show no statistically significant difference between the two groups of women.

The study also shows that the actresses sleep better and have more energy. On the negative side, industry workers had a history of more drug and alcohol use, and problems possibly linked to sensation-seeking personalities.

The study was undertaken by researchers at Shippensburg University, Texas Woman's University and the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation.

About 200 women's rights groups are calling for laws to make paying for sex a crime across the European Union.

Campaigners will present key policy recommendations for legislation to MEPs in Brussels on Wednesday. A campaign spokeswoman claimed:

Prostitution is a form of violence, an obstacle to gender equality and an open door for organised crime to develop.

The European Women's Lobby (EWL), which leads the campaign, wants EU member states to implement six key policies, including the criminalisation of all forms of procuring, and the creation of effective exit programmes for sex workers.

EWL spokeswoman Pierrette Pape ludicrously claimed to the BBC that even in totally consensual transactions:  imposing sexual intercourse with money is a form of violence that shouldn't be accepted,

So far 36 European MEPs are already supporting the proposal, Pape said.

Initial response by the English Collective of Prostitutes

Selected points from  article from  iusw.org

• At a time of economic crisis when poverty among women and children is rising throughout Europe (see EWL own research [1]) and more women, particularly mothers, are working in the sex industry to survive, the EWL chooses to mount an initiative against prostitution. To criminalise prostitute women's clients when all the evidence shows that this will push prostitution more underground and make it harder for sex workers to get protection from rape and other violence, shows a total disregard for the lives of women in the sex industry. Criminalising clients will not stop prostitution, nor will it stop the criminalisation of women. But it will make more dangerous and stigmatising for those of us who work as prostitutes.
   
• Faced with no benefit or job, or only the lowest-waged jobs, many women will sell sexual services. Are we less degraded when we have to skip meals or beg in order to feed our children; stay with a violent partner to keep a roof over our heads; or work 40 hours a week for under ?5 an hour unable to pay our bills? Is it surprising that many women would rather make three times as much working part-time in a brothel? Those who rage against prostitution have not a word for mothers struggling to feed their families. Since student fees were raised, many more women students are paying for their education by working in the sex industry. If governments are offended by the work we do, they should stop welfare reform, abolish student fees, reinstate resources for women fleeing domestic violence and bring in pay equity. With the urgent economic need women across Europe are facing, have women politicians nothing better to do than to attack sex workers?
   
• The EWL proposal for the prohibition of the purchase of a sexual act (accompanied by the suppression of repressive measures against prostituted persons ) follows the example of legislation introduced in Sweden which decriminalised sex workers and criminalised clients. Yet evidence shows that discrimination and stigma against sex workers has increased, that sex workers have been put more at risk of attack and are less able to call on the protection of the police and the authorities: We have also found reports of serious adverse effects of the Sex Purchase Act -- especially concerning the health and well-being of sex workers -- in spite of the fact that the lawmakers stressed that the law was not to have a detrimental effect on people in prostitution. Where is the outrage at the fact that a quarter of single mothers in Sweden now live in poverty, compared to 10% seven years ago.
   
• Existing legislation in all EU countries already prosecutes anyone who forces or coerces anyone into the sex industry. Why extend it to consenting sex? The EWL proposal for the criminalisation of all forms of procuring will result in anyone associated with sex workers being at risk of prosecution. Here in the UK there are laws against brothel-keeping, controlling and causing and inciting someone into prostitution, all of which are most often used against people who associate with sex workers rather than people who exploit sex workers. For example, women who place an advert on the web for another sex worker or who pass on a client.

A second bill to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia has been withdrawn from state parliament.

Status of Women Minister Gail Gago introduced the private members' bill in the upper house around the same time Labor backbencher Steph Key introduced an identical bill in the lower house.

Ms Gago says there is little point in proceeding with her bill after the lower house bill was narrowly defeated on a conscience vote earlier this month.

Both proposals sought to decriminalise most forms of prostitution including brothels and escort services while retaining soliciting as an offence in some circumstances.

One year after a clampdown on street prostitution in Vienna there are still relatively few areas where street prostitution is legal and no further zones have been legalised.

City Councillor Sandra Frauenberger said:

The more we succeed in pulling prostitution out of this social grey area, the better that the women involved will be protected from exploitation, violence and abuse The passing of a new law alone does not suffice -- it must be accompanied by various other changes.

At the centre of the law was the ban on street prostitution in residential areas. However there still are not enough safe areas for street prostitution to dissuade women from working in illegal brothels. Legal areas for street prostitution can be found near the Prater and Auhof regions of Vienna.

Since one year ago, no further zones have been legalised. Requests to have permitted zones in built up areas have been rejected. Hebein has criticised that the reaction from many districts is Not on my doorstep!

Less than 30 Viennese brothels currently have a permit for meeting the requirements set out in the new rules for local prostitution. 250 further brothels have applied for this permit, though it is estimated that there are over 450 such establishments and that this number is set to rise.

There are currently 2,800 registered sex workers in Vienna -- 400 more than one year ago.

Laws to decriminalise prostitution in South Australia have been defeated by one vote in State Parliament.

But the absence of eight MPs from the chamber at the time has prompted calls for the vote to be taken again and changes to the parliamentary system to give MPs more notice of conscience votes.

Labor MP Steph Key's Private Member's Bill would have decriminalised all forms of prostitution, including at home, in brothels, escort services and some street work, but retained soliciting as an offence where it occurred in the presence of other people.

But in a vote in Parliament's Lower House yesterday the proposed laws were defeated 20 votes to 19. 8 MPs were missing from the chamber, including two who were locked out after they failed to get there in time.

Ms Key said she would seek advice on whether she could recommit the legislation to another vote at a later date when all or more MPs were present. She said:

There were a couple of people that were caught outside for some reason and they were going to be supporting the Bill. And there were a number of people that were paired (out of the chamber) today that support the Bill. So people are saying this isn't a real indication (of the level of support for the laws).

Saunas across Edinburgh were business as usual after winning the first major challenge to their trade for more than 15 years. Licences are usually renewed every three years but 12 of the 15 premises were hauled before the committee because the challenge issued was the same across the board.

Establishments throughout the city were granted renewed licences after the objector failed to make a good case. Main objector Mike Anthony had  claimed that saunas and massage parlours are actually illegal brothels and that the authorities turn a blind eye to the sex trade. He even claimed councillors on the committee would be allowing a crime to take place should they approve the licences. He told a packed committee room at the City Chambers:

I accept most of the councillors on this committee are new but councillors have been colluding with brothel keepers to this day. The council and police have reason to believe they are brothels and therefore operating as criminal enterprises.

However, after taking legal advice members of the committee, led by SNP councillor and retired firefighter Gavin Barrie, rejected the claims after the first hearing. He said Anthony had failed to supply any first-hand evidence. Barrie said:

The committee is not convinced there is sufficient evidence not to renew the licences. There is no evidence here, you just gave us a few websites to look at.

Prior to the decision lawyer Alistair Macdonald, representing Iain and Charles Haig, owners of Scorpio Leisure on Albion Road, suggested the objections against his client were of a personal nature and not concerning the way the business is run. He added:

I would suggest this objection is vexatious and not in bona fide good faith. You have heard there are no objections from the police.

Europe's biggest brothel is set to open on the outskirts of Vienna ready to cater to more than 1,000 people a day.

The sex emporium will have 150 sex workers, a restaurant, beauty parlour, gym, sunbeds and hairdressers.

The 15-million-pound-brothel is the idea of local businessman Peter Laskaris, who said:

It's more than just a brothel. It will be more like a four star hotel with all the usual facilities - but of course with beautiful girls.

Developers are planning to locate the huge bordello - which will have a staggering 147 guest bedrooms as well as an on-site doctor - on the outskirts Austria's capital, Vienna.

The fun house also promises to host sex show festivals, orgies and swingers parties.

nding trafficking is perhaps the most well-known, well-resourced, well-loved social cause of the 21st century that doesn't require its proponents' agreement on what it even is they wish to end. What is trafficking ? How many people are trafficked ? Look beyond the surface of the fight against trafficking, and you will find misleading statistics and decades of debate over laws and protocols. As for the issue itself, the lack of agreement on how to define trafficking hasn't slowed campaigners' fight. Rather, defining trafficking has become their fight.

Accurate statistics on trafficking are difficult to come by, which does not stop some anti-trafficking groups from using them anyway. For instance, Shared Hope International, which is aggressively pursuing anti-trafficking legislation in 41 US states, claims at least 100,000 juveniles are victimized each year in the United States, and possibly as many as 300,000 -- a figure that has been cited (repeatedly) by CNN. In truth, the figure is an estimate from a University of Pennsylvania report from 2001 [pdf] of how many youth are at-risk of what its authors call commercial sexual exploitation of a child , based on incidences of youth homelessness. But it was not a count of how many youth are victims of trafficking , or involved in the sex trade.

Prostitution is often conflated with trafficking in these statistics, in part because the definition of trafficking that has been pushed to prominence refers exclusively to sexual exploitation . In fact, this conflation has found its way into the collection of data: according to a report from the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women:

[W]hen statistics on trafficking are available, they usually refer to the number of migrant or domestic sex workers, rather than cases of trafficking.

This purposeful conflation of sex work and trafficking distinguishes the many feminist and faith-based anti-trafficking groups that focus on sex-trafficking from groups that work directly with people who are involved in forced labor of all kinds, whether or not it involves sex work.

...Read the full article

It is an element of Edinburgh life that is hidden in plain sight. For years the city's sex industry has operated alongside businesses and homes in some of the wealthiest neighbourhoods without many being aware of its existence.

Edinburgh's licensed saunas, a discreet front for prostitution, are widely regarded as a pragmatic way of managing the sex industry. They sit side-by-side with shops and houses with little to suggest to passers-by that they are anything other than a convenient venue to enjoy a relaxing back massage.

Edinburgh's system is among the most liberal in the UK. Supporters of the system say it has kept many women off the streets and provided a safe environment for those engaged in sex work.

But this week 13 of the city's 15 saunas face a turning point. Their licences, which fall into the public entertainment category, are up for renewal on Wednesday and two objections have been lodged.

One long-time critic, Michael Anthony, has written to members of Edinburgh City Council's licensing sub-committee, pointing out that it is a criminal offence to operate a brothel.

It is well established that Edinburgh saunas are brothels, he wrote. It is a criminal offence to operate a brothel. Anyone assisting committing of crime also commits an offence. Accordingly, councillors cannot grant entertainment licenses, or any other permission to operate a brothel.

For now, the future of Edinburgh's unique method of handling prostitution hangs in the balance. The closure of all or some of the saunas would change the face of the sex industry. Councillor Joanna Mowat, a former committee member, said:

We don't look too closely at what goes on in properties that are licensed for massage. But we may be pushed to change if Mr Anthony has evidence.

Toronto city councillors have amended the no-touch rule by spelling out body parts that are off limits in lap dancing and strip clubs.

Under the changes approved Tuesday, council changed the bylaw to specify there be no physical contact with uncovered breasts, buttocks, genital, pubic, anal and perineal areas of a patron or any other person.

Council made a last-minute change at the request of Councillor Kristyn Wong-Tam that city staff and the police consult with gay entertainers on how the bylaw will work.

Wong-Tam supported the changes in the no-touch provisions, which carry a $250 fine for violators and said:

It's very difficult to police any kind of activity in these parlours. Should an entertainer or performer feel like they've been the recipient of unwanted touching, then they would at least be able to point to a bylaw that protects them.

Netherland's 'Justice' minister Ivo Opstelten is to revise some aspects of new restrictions on prostitution following concerns from the upper house of parliament.

Senators are concerned about how effective the law will be in practice, Nos television says.

The aim of the legislation is to repress prostitution by imposing a licencing system and setting up an official register of prostitutes.

The legislation will also ludicrously require customers to make sure they are visiting a legal prostitute. If the customer fails to check and the prostitute is unregistered he will have committed a criminal offence and could be fined.

This is the second time the senate has delayed the legislation, Nos says. Earlier senators wanted more information about the data protection aspects of the new law and the implications of human rights legislation.

The director of reality show in which a Brazilian student sold her virginity on the internet could be charged with sex trafficking crimes, if a nutter Brazilian politician gets his way.

Catarina Migliorini is set to earn £ 487,000 from the controversial sale after the online auction closed last Wednesday. She was taking part in a documentary by Australian film-maker Justin Sisely entitled Virgins Wanted . The winning bidder was identified as a Japanese man named only as Natsu.

The pair will reportedly consummate the act on board a plane between Australia and the US, in a bid to avoid prostitution laws.

But Brazil's attorney general, Joao Pedro de Saboia Bandeira de Mello, ordered an urgent investigation into the virgin auction, ludicrously claiming it amounted to people trafficking . And he called on authorities in Australia, where Ms Migliorini lives, to deported her back to Brazil and revoke her visa for the exercise of prostitution .

Sylvia Kristel (28 September 1952 -- 17 October 2012) was a Dutch actress, model and singer. Her most famous role is in the French film Emmanuelle . She died of cancer.

Kristel began modeling when she was 17. She entered the Miss TV Europe contest in 1973 and won. She spoke Dutch, English, French, German and Italian. She gained international attention in 1974 for playing the title character in the softcore film Emmanuelle which remains one of the most successful French films ever produced.

Kristel found herself typecast as Emmanuelle and often played roles that capitalised upon that image, most notably starring in an adaptation of Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981) and a nudity-filled biopic of the World War I spy in Mata Hari . Her Emmanuelle image followed her to the United States where she played Nicole Mallow, a maid who seduces a teenage boy, in the controversial 1981 sex comedy Private Lessons .

Although Private Lessons was one of the highest grossing independent films of 1981, Kristel saw none of the profits. She continued to appear in movies and last played Emmanuelle in the early 1990s.

Sylvia's Kristel's filmography included many reprises of the role over the following period

• Emmanuelle au 7ème ciel (1993)
• Le secret d'Emmanuelle (1993) (TV)
• Beauty School (1993)
• Le parfum d'Emmanuelle (1993) (TV)
• Magique Emmanuelle (1993) (TV)
• L'amour d'Emmanuelle (1993) (TV)
• Emmanuelle à Venise (1993) (TV)
• La revanche d'Emmanuelle (1993) (TV)
• Éternelle Emmanuelle (1993) (TV)
• Seong-ae-ui chimmuk (1992)
• Hot Blood (1990)
• In the Shadow of the Sandcastle (1990)
• Dracula's Widow (1988)
• The Arrogant (1988)
• Casanova (1987) (TV)
• Red Heat (1985)
• Mata Hari (1985)
• The Big Bet (1985)
• Emmanuelle IV (1984)
• Private School (1983)
• Private Lessons (1981)
• Lady Chatterley's Lover (1981)
• The Million Dollar Face (1981) (TV)
• Un amore in prima classe (1980)
• The Nude Bomb (1980)
• The Concorde
• Airport 79 (1979)
• The Fifth Musketeer (1979)
• Letti selvaggi (1979)
• Mysteries (1978)
• Pastorale 1943 (1978)
• Goodbye Emmanuelle (1977)
• René la canne (1977)
• Alice ou la dernière fugue (1977)
• La marge (1976)
• Une femme fidèle (1976)
• Emmanuelle: L'antivierge (1975)
• Le jeu avec le feu (1975)
• Un linceul n'a pas de poches (1974)
• Der Liebesschüler (1974)
• Emmanuelle (1974)

The Japanese AV (adult video) industry, whose revenue comprised more than 20% of worldwide sales according to a 2006 survey, continues to grow every year. And with that growth comes an increasing number of young women who aspire to work in the industry, as reported on RocketNews24 just a couple of weeks ago.

In an interview with Atsuhiko Nakamura, author of books such as The Nameless Women and interviewer of literally hundreds of AV actresses, Shuplay News uncovered some startling facts about the sex industry in Japan, in particular the life of the women who become involved in making adult movies.

The Japanese AV industry reportedly sees an astounding 6,000 newcomers each year and 20,000 titles produced annually. Most contract girls perform in three videos, two couples scene and one solo. The rates range from about $1,900 to $3,800 depending on the girl's experience and background. But most earn at the lowest end of the scale because of the competition.

But surely the risk of being seen on a video would be enough to dissuade any self-respecting young woman from doing such a thing? Nakamura explains:

With the huge number of girls working in the industry, cases of AV actresses being recognised while going about their daily lives are quite rare. There are plenty of cases of former AV girls who are now happily married and enjoying normal lives.

In many cases, girls do a short spell making XXX videos, and then, perhaps having earned enough to support themselves financially, or simply deciding that they have had enough, choose to leave and pursue a more orthodox lifestyle. However some get more locked inti the industry. Nakamura explains:

A lot of girls find themselves unable to return to regular jobs after working as an AV model. They have worked in an often lucrative business, some for many years, so to go back to a standard job for a much smaller salary is not easy. Around two thirds of retired AV models end up in the sex industry, working in hostess bars or even working as prostitutes in 'soap-land' bath houses.

Croatia's government has proposed fines of $1 700 - about twice the average monthly salary - for prostitutes and their customers, targeting the buyers of sex for the first time.

Current legislation in the Balkan state already outlaws prostitution, but only sex workers have been prosecuted, not their clients.

Attempts by some liberal groups to legalise prostitution have never been seriously considered in the strongly Roman Catholic country, which is due to join the European Union next July.

The bill proposed by the centre-left government would set fines of up to 10,000 Croatian kunas ($1,700) for both buyers and sellers of sex. The current fine for prostitutes is only 800 kunas. The law would also impose fines of up to 5,000 kunas for people who have sex or expose themselves in public places.

Vietnam will free about 900 sex workers next year from prisons, euphemistically named rehabilitation centres.

The sex workers  will be able to return home when a newly amended administrative law comes into effect at the start of July 2013, according to the Thanh Nien newspaper.

This is a big change of view on how to deal with prostitution, Le Duc Hien, deputy head of the government's department for social vices prevention, was quoted as saying.

Since July this year, sex workers have no longer been jailed when picked up by the authorities, but are now fined up to five million dong (US$240 dollars) instead, Thanh Nien said.

Vietnam has maintained special prisons for drug users and sex workers for years despite international calls for their closure. A report by US-based Human Rights Watch released a year ago said drug users were made to perform forced labour. It said the prisons were rife with physical abuse.

After ten years of crowded prisons and increased incarceration costs, the state of Texas is reconsidering its 2001 decision to send those charged with prostitution to prison after multiple convictions. Instead, the state may pursue sentencing that provides treatment, not jail time.

In 2001, Texas legislators voted to send people convicted of prostitution with three or more convictions to state prison or jail. Currently, a first-time offense is a Class B misdemeanor and a second or third offense is a Class A misdemeanor. If an individual is convicted three times, any subsequent charge is a felony that carries time in state prison or jail.

Currently, there are 350 individuals serving time for convictions of prostitution due to the 2001 law.

Texas pays $18,538 every year to house each of these incarcerated individuals.

Texas Prostitution Law Needs Reform Due to budget constraints and the questionable success of these tough laws, Texas is now reconsidering its decision to imprison people convicted of prostitution.

Not one, but two consultations advocating “the Swedish solution” to make criminal the purchase of sexual services have been announced in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

The first, in Northern Ireland, is part of the Human Trafficking & Exploitation (Further Provisions & Support for Victims) Bill presented by Lord Morrow. While CAAN is against all forms of non-consensual behaviour – including trafficking for the purposes of sex slavery – CAAN is firmly of the issue that criminalising the purchase of sex is not the way forward.

The second, in Scotland, is a stand-alone bill ( Criminalisation of the Purchase of Sex (Scotland) Bill (2) from Rhoda Grant MSP) that follows in the footsteps of the earlier bill from Trish Godman.

Both of these bills amount to hate legislation against prostitution, an effort to drive the industry underground in a flurry of fear and disgust brought on by the fact that the acts involve sex. They may be couched in terms of saving the poor and unlucky victims of trafficking, and may have lofty goals of gender equality, but they will do nought but bring further harm to prostitutes in Northern Ireland and Scotland.

How is this different from the last few times that prostitution has been challenged? This time the anti-sex campaigners are riding a rising right-wing tide across the Western world that has led to discussions outlawing prostitution in France and Ireland. Denmark has also seen prostitution under attack, although the Danes in general were sceptical of criminalising prostitution. The current consultations also seem to be marginally better researched, now that more time has passed since Sweden passed their law.

In both of these consultations, numbers matter. CAAN encourages you, as an individual, to put forward your opinion on these new consultations. You may just have the one argument that turns the tide against the sex-negative campaigners. Your voice counts!

The Northern Ireland Consultation closes 5pm on Thursday 18th October 2012.
You can read the consultation in full with all directions of where to send it here .

The Scotland Consultation closes 14 December 2012.
You can read the consultation in full with all directions of where to send it here .

PLEASE FORWARD THIS TO ANY PARTIES YOU FEEL WOULD BE INTERESTED.