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European parliaments votes to recommend the criminalisation of men who buy sex
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 | 27th February 2014
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| Thanks to MichaelG See article
from theguardian.com |
The European parliament has voted in favour of a resolution to criminalise the purchase of sex. On Wednesday, 343 MEPs backed a report proposed by the London MEP and Labour spokeswoman for women in Europe, Mary Honeyball, which recommends legalising
selling sex but criminalises buying it. Some 139 MEPs voted against;105 abstained. The yes vote formally establishes the EU's stance on prostitution and puts pressure on member states to re-evaluate their policies on sex work. However it was not a
binding vote that requires states to enact new laws. Comment: Why the European Parliament Has Got the Sex Trade All Wrong See
comment from huffingtonpost.co.uk
by Marina Yannakoudakis, Conservative MEP for London, Spokesman on Women's Rights and Gender Equality
I recognise that a great number of those working as prostitutes are doing so as a result of having being trafficked. The trafficking of human beings is akin to slavery, it is a criminal offence and every one of us has a moral duty to fight against it.
But the problem with the proposals which will be put before the European Parliament this week is that they don't acknowledge that some women - and men - choose to sell sex for a living. Whether we approve or not of such an
activity, it is the case that some people enter into prostitution freely and without coercion or violence. I don't believe that the EU should be telling anybody what to do and that includes what they do with their bodies. What's
more EU member states have long held differing legal views on prostitution and it is not the job of Brussels to interfere in the legal matters and decisions of sovereign nations. ...Read the full
comment |
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26th February 2014
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Kent Police spout bollox about a supposed Safe Exit Scheme for sex workers See article from
huffingtonpost.co.uk |
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La Strada International comment on Mary Honeyball's miserable report recommending the criminalisation of buying sex across the EU
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| 25th February 2014
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| See article [pdf] from
lastradainternational.org |
La Strada statement ahead of the vote in the European Parliament on the Report of the Committee on Women's Rights and Gender Equality on sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality La
Strada International (LSI), the European NGO Network against Trafficking in Human Beings, and its partners in the LSI NGO Platform, united against trafficking in human beings, strongly oppose the report by the FEMM committee, prepared by Rapporteur Mary
Honeyball, which calls for criminalisation of clients of sex workers (the so-called Swedish model ) as the only prostitution policy that successfully combats human trafficking and protects the rights of trafficked persons. The partners of the LSI NGO Platform have supported many women and men who were trafficked in the sex industry in the past nearly two decades. We know from experience that criminalisation does not solve any of the problems that our clients face, nor does it prevent or stop human trafficking.
Criminalisation stigmatises and marginalises both domestic and migrant sex workers and it deprives them of the tools to protect themselves from violence and seek redress. It drives the sex industry even more underground, which
results in less access to health, social and legal assistance for sex workers, and significantly lower chances to identify individuals who have been trafficked. We do acknowledge that the sex industry is one of the economic
sectors in which human trafficking occurs, as it does in many other industries, in particular those where workers are invisible, unprotected, excluded and disempowered. Therefore, we believe that sex workers rights organisations, just as trade unions,
are important allies in the efforts to protect workers from exploitation, violence and abuse and to prevent trafficking in human beings. By equating sex work to trafficking in persons, the very complex phenomenon of human
trafficking is narrowed down to a moral issue, an approach that fails to address the economic, political and social root causes of trafficking. Moreover, by doing so, trafficked persons in all other industries are not recognised and remain unprotected.
The conflation of sex work and trafficking in persons leads to inadequate counter-trafficking policies and to counter-productive prostitution policies. The two issues are both complex and need their own individual approach and
policy. Furthermore, it leads to a polarisation in the international counter-trafficking debate, which takes away the focus from what is needed now the most: the protection of the rights of those who have been exploited, violated and abused.
The partners of the LSI NGO Platform - united against trafficking in human beings, therefore call on Members of the European Parliament to vote against Ms Honeyball's report on sexual exploitation and prostitution and to support the
Alternative Motion for a Resolution on Sexual exploitation and prostitution and its impact on gender equality.
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Nasty people in Northern Ireland push for men to be locked up just for wanting to get laid
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 | 21st February 2014
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| See article from
belfasttelegraph.co.uk |
The Northern Ireland police force has withdrawn its opposition to proposals to criminalise men who pay for sex -- but stopped short of backing the plans, as they could deter people in the sex industry from giving information to the police. The new law
being proposed for Northern Ireland is based on repressive Swedish legislation. Senior officers have also pointed out that most convictions in Sweden are achieved through phone tapping and surveillance of suspects -- which would not be allowed in
Northern Ireland. Giving evidence at a justice committee meeting yesterday, Assistant Chief Constable Drew Harris said: We don't oppose it... if the Assembly passes this legislation, we will use it to the best
effect we can.
However, he pointed out that men who paid for sex were already risking ridicule and knew they were taking a risk so it is difficult to assess how much effect the threat of prosecution would have . ACC
Harris and Chief Superintendent Roy McComb, who also gave evidence, pointed out that it was already an offence to have sex with a person who had been trafficked and that ignorance was no defence. Six men have so far been arrested for this offence,
but none of them have been convicted because of a legal time limit on how long police have to bring charges. That limitation is now being removed and police are hopeful it will help secure future convictions. |
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Spanish sex workers to protest in Madrid about plans to fine their customers
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 | 18th February 2014
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| 14th February 2014. See
article from google.com
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Sex workers in Spain will demonstrate in central Madrid against a plan to fine street walkers and their customers. The sex workers' rights group Hetaira said it would rally on Saturday fearing that the plans will force them to work in dangerous
conditions. The demonstration will take place at the foot of Calle Montera, a street next to Madrid's central Puerta del Sol square where prostitutes habitually stand waiting for customers. Madrid city hall has drawn up proposals to fine those who
pick up prostitutes in the street, while the national government plans to fine those offering or soliciting sex near schools or other children's areas. The Madrid proposals would fine a person caught soliciting sex in public up to 750 euros, or up
to 3,000 euros if it is done near schools or shopping centres. Update: Protest report 18th February 2013. See
article from libcom.org
Around 150 sex workers demonstrated on Saturday 15th Feb 2014 in Madrid, protesting against the criminalisation of prostitution and against the city government's Civil Space Ordnance and the Interior Ministry's proposed Law of Civil Safety. Under
the slogan, No to persecution, bargaining space now! the prostitutes marched and called for a space to work in peace, without disturbing and without being disturbed in the city, according to Karolina Hernandez, spokesperson for the Hetaira
Collective and sex worker. She condemned the new state and municipal regulations that damage prostitutes' working conditions. They also called for the Commission to meet with the organisation: We'd like the
local government to meet us, they talk about us a lot, all the world seems to know all about prostitution but very rarely do they talk to the people involved and one of those is us.
In reference to the local government campaign
against sex workers' clients, Hernandez says: I work freely in the streets, I have decided to do this on my own terms. I and many companions have freely decided to do this work. When campaigns punish our clients, this
also affects me. It's absurd to say that it's in my favour, it's completely the opposite, it worsens my working conditions and my ability to negotiate with the client.
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Sweden's gender extremists consider how best to further deprive men of the simple pleasures of life by jailing them
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14th February 2014
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| See article from
google.com |
Men who are prosecuted for paying prostitutes in Sweden need help to prevent them re-offending, according to a government-commissioned report. Anti-prostitution work needs to focus even more on men's role, according to the report entitled Men and Equality
. Tthe authors of the report claim that more needs to be done to target men who continue to pay for sex. Their recommendation to do more to prevent men going to prostitutes contrasts with Prime Minister Fredrik Reinfeldt's call for a tougher
approach, including the enforcement of prison sentences. |
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China gets nasty about sex work in Dongguan and watches sex workers flee to Hong Kong
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12th February 2014
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| See article from
theguardian.com See
article from
advocacy.globalvoicesonline.org |
Authorities in the southern Chinese province of Guangdong have announced an impending three month-long anti-prostitution campaign, after a television expose in Dongguan prompted an oppressive raid. The expose' and heavy-handed response have proved
surprisingly controversial in China , where prostitution is technically illegal but practically ubiquitous. Internet users and human rights groups have criticised authorities for shaming and intimidating female sex workers rather than offering them help.
The UN estimates that four to six million women work in the country's sex industry nationwide, many of them in brothels thinly disguised as hair salons, massage parlours and karaoke bars. In the expose, aired by state broadcaster CCTV,
undercover reporters visited a range of upscale hotels and karaoke bars in the city of Dongguan, known as a prostitution hot spot. In one segment, a reporter enters a room divided by one-way glass; on the other side, two scantily-clad women dance
provocatively to a Lady Gaga song. A venue employee identifies them by their numbers, prices, and hometowns. The city responded to the broadcast by dispatching 6,525 police officers in a raid. They arrested 67 people and closed 12 entertainment
venues. Pictures posted online showed lines of men and women kneeling on the floor in the middle of a hotel lobby, their heads down and their hands cuffed, surrounded by scores of uniformed police. Guangdong authorities will now launch a
three-month, province-wide crackdown on prostitution. Local police officers who are found protecting the sex industry or who organise sexual services will be severely punished, said Li Chunsheng, the province's vice-governor. In addition to
a news feature on China Central Television about the corruption of the sex industry in Dongguan, the official Sina Weibo published an eight-hour population in-flow and out-flow map of Donguan city, which has been interpreted as the escape path of prostitutes
and prostitution clients during the crackdown. Generated by Baidu Qianxi with data from Baidu map, the map indicated that most people fleeing the crackdown escaped to Hong Kong. Originally, Baidu Qianxi was designed as a
visualization tool that could map population flows during the Chinese Lunar New Year. But as Luo Changping at Letscorp pointed out [zh], the fact that Baidu Qianxi was able to appropriate the data surrounding the prostitution crackdown suggests that
authorities are using mass surveillance to track these patterns, rather than only targeting criminal suspects, and thereby violating the personal privacy of untold numbers of citizens. The use of geolocation tracking technology in this crackdown
by the party propaganda authority indicates to the public that the police authority, through Baidu and other mobile application developers, is capable of tracking mobile phones and thus the real identity of individuals, as nearly all mobile numbers are
linked with the owner's identity card. In reaction to this threat, many Hong Kong netizens said that they planned to shut down their mobile when traveling in China. Update: Police chief sacked 15th February 2013. See
article from theguardian.com
The Chinese government has sacked the police chief of Dongguan following a report by the main state broadcaster, China Central Television (CCTV), on the underground sex industry there, the Xinhua news agency has reported. Yan Xiaokang,
who was also Dongguan's vice mayor, was removed from his posts for dereliction of duty, Xinhua said, quoting Communist party officials in Guangdong province. Yan's dereliction of duty led to the persistent illegal sex trade in Dongguan, which
has reflected very badly on the city, both domestically and internationally, Xinhua reported, citing a party statement. It added that another seven Dongguan officials were also sacked in relation to the case. |
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A new museum opens in Amsterdam about the modern realities of sex work and window shopping
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 | 8th February 2014
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| See article from
windsorstar.com |
Each evening thousands of tourists stroll down the narrow canal-side streets of Amsterdam's famed Red Light District, gawking at ladies in lingerie who work behind windows. Now a small new educational museum in the heart of the district shows the reality
from the other side of the glass. Organizer Melcher de Wind says the Red Light Secrets museum is for those who want to learn more about how the area works. I The museum focuses on the era since 2000, when prostitution became legal in the
Netherlands. Yolanda van Doeveren, who manages the city's prostitution social programs, says the district is regulated by police officers, social workers, health workers, tax authorities and civil rights groups. A new girl who appears in a window will be
noticed in a matter of hours and must be able to show that she's old enough and has approval to work. The legal age to work as a prostitute in Amsterdam has recently been raised from 18 to 21. Very few women who work as prostitutes ever earn more
than a middle class income at best. Ilonka Stakelborough, an escort who heads a sex-workers union called the Geisha Institute, says it's not the prettiest or youngest girls who get the most customers or earn the most. And escorts and high-end
brothel prostitutes don't necessarily do better, they have fewer customers, longer sessions and lots of costs, for taxis or splitting profits with brothel owners. A window typically rents for 150 euros ($202) for a half-day. Given the standard cost of
about 50 euros ($70) for a 15-minute session, their take-home pay before taxes is only 150 euros after seeing six clients, or 250 euros ($338) after eight. The Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution is located on the Oudezijds Achterburgwal
60-62 in Amsterdam. The museum is open daily from noon to midnight. Admission cost: 7.50 euros. |
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Legendary adult actress from the Golden Age of Porn dies
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 | 5th February 2014
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| See article from en.wikipedia.org
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Legendary adult actress Gloria Leonard passed away Monday evening of complications from a stroke. Leonard began appearing in hardcore pornography in 1974; She appeared in approximately 40 film/projects from 1976 to 1984, in films including:
- The Trouble With Young Stuff,
- All About Gloria Leonard (both of which were written and directed by Joseph W. Sarno),
- The Opening of Misty Beethoven (directed by Radley Metzger),
- Fortune Smiles and
- Taboo: American Style. [3]
She worked with actresses Constance Money, Leslie Bovee, Sharon Mitchell, Jennifer Welles, and Samantha Fox before retiring from the screen in the 1984. She also directed several porn films. She served as administrative director of the Adult
Film and Video Association of America, the adult film industry trade association, from 1989 to 1992, until that organization merged with the Free Speech Coalition. In 1998, she was elected president of the FSC She was also president of the AFVAA in 1986.
All About Gloria Leonard 1978 US adult film by Joe Sarno Based on the memoirs of Gloria Leonard, from the producers of Inside Jennifer Welles, this erotic classic lets us see the lifestyle and memories of one
of the most erotic and powerful women in the adult film industry. Directed by Joe Sarno, though, as was his usual MO, he gives credit to the film's star. Stars: Ming Toy, Gloria Todd, Valerie Vance, Gloria Leonard, Jamie Gillis, George Payne, R.
Bolla, David Morris, Marc Stevens, Peter Andrews, David Pierce, Bobby Hollander See details
from hotmovies.com
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Edinburgh's licensed massage parlours under threat
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 | 4th February 2014
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| 3rd February 2014. See article from
bbc.co.uk |
Proposals to scrap the licensing of saunas and massage parlours in Edinburgh will be considered by councillors today. The number of parlours has already been reduced after recent police raids. Edinburgh is the only Scottish city to operate a licensing
scheme, part of a tolerant approach to the sex trade. If all are withdrawn, the saunas could stay open, subject to trading standards and public health rules. Speaking last week, Gavin Barrie, City of Edinburgh Council's convener of the
regulatory committee, said it was no longer appropriate to consider saunas and massage premises for a public entertainment licence. Update: Licenses terminated 4th February 2013. See
article from heraldscotland.com
Edinburgh City Council have announced that six saunas which had previously been granted entertainment licences would lose that protection in 28 days. The council has terminated the licences of six establishments: Paradise, The New Gentle
Touch, the Dundas Street Sauna, Scorpio Leisure, Blair Street Sauna and New Town Sauna. The move marks a change in the city's long-standing tolerance of the sex trade and it follows a number of police raids, which were widely regarded as a sign
that the policy of turning a blind eye to such premises over the past two decades had come to an end. But during a meeting yesterday, the council said the arrangement was no longer effective and decided it would be scrapped. This does not
mean the saunas will close but they will now be open to more frequent raids by the police. MSP Margo MacDonald, who supports the licensing of saunas, said that the raids flew in the face of promises to keep policing local after the merger of the
eight distinct forces. Representatives of sex workers said the decision not to license saunas could put them more at risk. The charity Scot-Pep, which campaigns for the rights of sex workers, said it was disappointed by the council's decision. Its
spokeswoman said: This will mean women are working in constant fear of traumatising and counterproductive raids on their workplaces. Premises will be driven underground, away from service providers such as health
workers.
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Porn production company uses digital effects to erase the condoms
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 | 25th January 2014
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| See article from
theverge.com
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Porn production is struggling in California. Since the passage of Measure B in 2012, which strictly imposes the use of condoms on all porn sets in Los Angeles, adult movie production has largely begun to move out of the San Fernando Valley. However, gay
porn company Falcon Studios is now attempting to hearken back to the days before the measure was passed. In their latest release California Dreamin' 1 , the studio filmed all its scenes with condoms but managed to digitally remove the
prophylactics in post-production. Director Tony DiMarco stated on the Falcon Studio blog that the film is meant to tap into fantasies of bareback sex in the 1970s and 80s, while also aligning with the safe sex ethos that is currently being
enforced in LA: With this movie I really wanted to capture the essence of that time, when life seemed more carefree and spontaneous. In keeping with this concept, I felt that condoms need to be addressed. The decision
to go with this technique appears to strike a middle ground between Measure B and the porn industry's belief that scenes without condoms are a better sell with consumers.
Nevertheless, while Falcon Studios seems committed to their new
style of filming, it's unclear if it will catch on. The company doesn't make clear how expensive it is to painstakingly remove condoms during sex scenes.
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European Parliament gender equality committee unsurprisingly passes report recommending Europe wide criminalisation of men who buy sex
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 | 24th January 2014
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| See article from
ibtimes.co.uk |
The European Parliament's Women's Rights and Gender Equality Committee has voted through a report that recommends the adoption of the Nordic Model of prostitution laws. Put forward by Mary Honeyball, Labour MEP for London, the report recommends
the EU takes on the Swedish model of prostitution laws, which punishes the clients of prostitutes, rather than the sex workers themselves. Fourteen of the European Parliament committee members voted in favour of the Swedish model, with two against
and six abstentions. The report can also now be put forward to the full European Parliament to vote on. This will take place at one of the Strasbourg plenary sessions in February, most likely during the week starting the 24th. Commenting on
the vote, Honeyball said: This is a fantastic outcome. It will form a key part of the sea-change taking place in the way we view prostitution across Europe. We are now a step closer to an approach which recognises the
fundamental injustice that takes place when a man buys a women's body. Related
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Winners of the adult Oscars
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 | 22nd January 2014
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| See article from
business.avn.com |
The following are a small selection from the many winners of the 2014 AVN Awards and the 2014 AVN Fan-Voted Awards: Best Cinematography, Francois Clousot: Best Director, Brad Armstrong: Best Drama: Best Screenplay: Movie of the
Year: Underworld by Brad Armstrong for Wicked Pictures
Best Actor: Tommy Pistol Best Actress : Remy LaCroix Best All-Girl Release Meow! 3 , Jennaration X/Jules Jordan Best All-Sex Release Slutty & Sluttier 18 , Manuel Ferrara/Evil
Angel Best Amateur Release 100% Real Swingers: Meet the Rileys , Vivid Entertainment Group
Best BDSM Release The Submission of Emma Marx , New Sensations Erotic Stories Best Comedy Band Sluts , BurningAngel/Vouyer Best Foreign Feature
The Ingenuous , Marc Dorcel/Wicked Best MILF Release
MILF Revolution , Lisa Ann/Jules Jordan Best New Starlet Mia Malkova Best Parody -- Comedy Grease XXX , Adam & Eve Pictures Best Parody -- Drama Man of Steel XXX , VividXXXSuperheroes
Best POV Release The Hooker Experience , Jekyll & Hyde/Evil Angel
Best Romance Movie The Temptation of Eve , New Sensations Erotic Stories Director of the Year Axel Braun Female Performer of the Year Bonnie Rotten Female Foreign Performer of the Year Anissa Kate
Mainstream Star of the Year James Deen Male Foreign Performer of the Year Rocco Siffredi Male Performer of the Year Manuel Ferrara Fans' Favorite Female Porn Star Riley Steele Fans'
Favorite Male Porn Star James Deen Fans' Most Promising New Starlet Christy Mack |
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XBiz Conference Will Cover Everything From Feminist Porn To Condoms, 3D And Virtual Reality
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 | 22nd January 2014
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| See article from
huffingtonpost.com |
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| 20th January 2014
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Mariana Popa was fatally stabbed on her beat. Fellow sex workers say a Met police campaign to drive them off the streets had forced her to work on her own, leading to her murder See
article from theguardian.com |
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Ibiza sex workers cooperative claims to be the first in Spain
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 | 17th January 2014
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| See article from
zeenews.india.com |
Sex workers on the Spanish tourist island Ibiza have formed a cooperative to pay taxes and gain social security benefits - the first such group legally registered in Spain, they say. Eleven women registered with local authorities as working
members of the Sealeer Cooperative providing sexual services, said their spokeswoman, Maria Jose Lopez. She told AFP: We are pioneers. We are the first cooperative in Spain that can give legal cover to the girls.
Like any workers' cooperative, Sealeer members declare their income and pay taxes, which entitles them to public healthcare, a pension and other benefits. |
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10th January 2014
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Feminists and religious fundamentalists shouldn't mix. If they do find common cause, it's often a sign that ideological fanaticism has become more important than what happens to real people in the real world. See
article from prostitutescollective.net |
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Canadian Province of Saskatchewan legalises striptease in bars
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 | 2nd January 2014
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| See article from
cbc.ca |
Strip shows and wet t-shirt contests in bars are now legal under provincial law. The latest move to loosen up Saskatchewan's liquor laws went into effect New Year's Day. It's the end of an era in a province where the combination of alcohol and
stripping has long been banned. Performers still cannot be fully nude: women will still have to cover their nipples and full frontal nudity is not allowed. It's good news for Anna Scott, who is artistic director for the Bottoms Up Burlesque Club.
Her dancers are burlesque performers, in contrast to exotic dancers that work in bars. However, before the change, her dancers could not even remove a glove or feather boa in a licensed facility, she said. It's not known if any bars are planning
to immediately start strip shows or wet t-shirt contests. |
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