Adult World News

The government  of the Australian state of Victorian will move to decriminalise sex work and regulate the sex industry through standard business industry laws following a review that heard the current system left many unprotected.

The review was conducted by the Reason party leader, Fiona Patten, in 2020 and is currently before the state government. The government is expected to release the report and table proposed legislation by the end of the year.

The change would see Victoria join the Northern Territory and New South Wales as jurisdictions that have decriminalised sex work. The consumer affairs minister, Melissa Horne, said decriminalisation was the best option to make sex workers safer and to reduce the stigma and fear of criminal repercussions. She said:

Sex work is a legitimate form of work and should be regulated through standard business laws, like all other industries in the state. Decriminalising sex work in Victoria will ensure it's safe work 203 a basic human right that everyone deserves. We're working towards this as a priority and will have more to say in due course.

Victoria currently has a licensing system for sex work that is regulated by the police. It requires service providers who operate a brothel or an escort agency and sex workers who operate independently to apply for a licence and be registered through the department of consumer affairs. Sex workers who work at a brothel do not have to register.

The move is based upon the realisation that when rules prove too restrictive, and sex workers end up working outside of the rules, then the sex workers are endangered as they are unable to call for help from the police lest they be arrested themselves.

OnlyFans is attempting to attract new investors and brands by moving away from its reputation for adult content and material as it aims to reach a $1 billion valuation.

Bloomberg reports that the company is particularly focusing on getting more athletes and celebrities on the site, along with other backers who can help it become a more mainstream media platform and lessen its reputation for porn and NSFW content.

The London-based website has seen astronomical growth in the last year and a half, with the platform growing at a rate of 100% a year, with more than 100 million users.

Update: Just a rumour

28th June 2021. See article from gizmodo.com.au

OnlyFans has confirmed to Gizmodo Australia that it is not banning adult content. OnlyFans told Gizmodo:

OnlyFans will always be an inclusive home for all creators -- including adult

The fear comes after Bloomberg reported that the company is aiming to become more of a mainstream media site and lessen its reputation for adult content. However, it's worth noting that this doesn't mean OnlyFans will ban, remove or even punish sex workers on the platform. Rather, it appears that OnlyFans is just trying to diversify its creator base and remind people that it's not exclusively for porn.

There is a steady stream of mostly Labour politicians who put forward law proposals to criminalise men for buying sex.

A private members bill from Labour MP Diana Johnson titled the Sexual Exploitation Bill sought to criminalise buying sex ran out of parliamentary time this year and has therefore been abandoned.

The latest attempt this week was by another miserable Labour MP, Sarah Champion. She sought add a clause criminalising men for buying sex to the Police, Crime, Sentencing and Courts Bill.

But the Conservative Government have bravely rejected the clause explaining that similar legislation in other countries has tended towards making sex workers lives more dangerous.

Victoria Atkins The Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State for the Home Department explained in her speech:

I am grateful to the hon. Lady [Sarah Champion] for putting the case for new clauses 76 to 82 on behalf of the hon. Member for Kingston upon Hull North [Diana Johnson], who in the last Parliament had a ten-minute rule Bill on the issue.

The Government's long-standing policy towards sex work and prostitution has been focused on tackling the harm and exploitation that can be associated with prostitution, as well as ensuring that those wishing to exit sex work are appropriately supported. These six new clauses seek to make significant changes to the legislative regime governing prostitution and sex work. In summary, they would impose what is known as the sex buyer law, or Nordic model, which would criminalise the buying but not the selling of sexual services, the profiting by third parties from sexual services and the advertising of sexual services.

Under English and Welsh law currently, the buying and selling of sexual services are not necessarily unlawful in themselves. In other jurisdictions where the buying of sex has been criminalised, such as France, Northern Ireland and Sweden, there has been no conclusive evidence to show that the criminalisation of the demand for sex has either led to a significant decrease in the demand for sexual services or improved the conditions in which sex workers operate. Indeed, there is some evidence to suggest that criminalising the purchasing of sexual services worsens the conditions in which prostitutes and sex workers operate. It may change the profile of buyers of sexual services, distilling the demand down only to those willing to break the law to purchase such acts and forcing prostitutes and sex workers to engage in forms of prostitution associated with higher levels of harm. In the absence of unequivocal evidence, the Government have therefore maintained their line that we are focusing on trying to exit people and trying to reduce the harm and exploitation that they face.

Atkins then pointed out there are already laws against any sex work involving trafficking and Sarah Champion went on to withdraw her proposed clause.

Apple on Monday updated its App Store Review Guidelines to emphasise some existing policies and add new requirements for apps. One of those changes, guideline 1.1.4, bans 'hookup' apps that include pornography or are used to facilitate prostitution.

The revised guidelines, as Pink News noted, would ban overtly sexual or pornographic material, defined by Webster's Dictionary as explicit descriptions or displays of sexual organs or activities intended to stimulate erotic rather than aesthetic or emotional feelings.

Apple's new rules around dating apps won't affect non-sexy platforms like Grindr and Scruff.

 Comcast Cable (owners of the Xfinity brand)-- the largest cable television company in the United States with close to 20 million pay TVsubscribers is banning cable channels and streaming services owned by Mindgeek (owners of Pornhub).

A Comcast representative said that they were deeply concerned over the growing number of reports against MindGeek for unlawful business practices, including minors being exploited on their sites. As a result of this increasing evidence, Comcast decided to drop all MindGeek content from their cable systems. As of April 2021, all MindGeek material has been removed.

Furthermore, Comcast disabled new subscription video on demand (SVOD) signups and notified all their existing SVOD customers of their decision to remove content and cease distribution of MindGeek's SVOD services. Existing customers were informed of Comcast's decision through bill messages. Once the subscriber notification process was completed, the SVOD content became unavailable on their cable channels.

Remastured is an innovative project employing the latest technology to restore some of the oldest -- and steamiest -- erotic films ever produced. With the help of artificial intelligence, you can colorize even the most antique footage.

However, when it comes to the subtle shades of nipples, penises, and all the turn-of-the-century bush, the algorithms simply lack the experience. That's why we used machine learning and 100,000 adult videos and images from Pornhub to give our AI a sexual education and teaching it a new dirty trick: how to colorize vintage porn for a modern audience.

So, come take a trip down mammary lane to enjoy erotica from a bygone era. And who knows? Maybe you actually can learn something from your elders.

Offsite Comment: Modernising Vintage Erotica

1st June 2021. See article from reprobatepress.com

PornHub has been getting a bit of a bashing recently, and far be it from us to join in, especially when their heart seems to be in the right place -- but the company's new Remastured project seems to be a good idea, mishandled.

 See article from reprobatepress.com

Ebay has amended its censorship policy

Restricted adult items policy

Adult and sexual wellness items must be listed in the correct category and must follow our guidelines.

Most adult items are subject to some form of restriction or prohibition. We'll review the content of the listing description, images, and categories, to determine if an item is allowed.

What is the policy?

Sexually-oriented adult material is not allowed. This includes the following:

• Adult films and video games with a rating of X, XXX, R18 (the statement appears on the UK site and so presumably refers to the BBFC pornographic rating rather than the Australian general 18 rating), or unrated for an adults-only audience

• Sexually explicit anime, comics, books, films, animation, manga, hentai, yaoi

• Adult magazines, nudist publications, or adult anime/manga that include sexually-explicit content, nudity, or sexual stories

  • The following magazines and books can be listed as long as the listing and product don't contain nude images or explicit content: Playboy, Playgirl, Mayfair, and Penthouse

• Listings containing nudity (other than nude art)

  • eBay defines nudity as male/female genitalia, anus, or female breasts where the areola or nipple is visible

Sex toys and sex accessories can be listed in the Health & Beauty > Health Care > Sexual Wellness categories, and must follow these guidelines:

• Sellers must be pre-approved.

• Items must be new and in the original packaging

• Listings must not offer international postage

• Listings must not include images of nudity or sexual content

Nude art listings must include the item specifics attribute Subject: Nudes , and can only be listed in the Art categories, or the following Collectibles categories:

• Photographs > Contemporary (1991-Now)

• Photographs > Modern (1940-1990)

Activity that doesn't follow eBay policy could result in a range of actions including for example: administratively ending or cancelling listings, hiding or demoting all listings from search results, lowering seller rating, buying or selling restrictions, and account suspension. All fees paid or payable in relation to listings or accounts on which we take any action will not be refunded or otherwise credited to your account.

Why does eBay have this policy?

We want to make adult items available to those who wish to purchase them and can do so legally, while preventing those who do not wish to view or purchase these items from easily accessing them.

Condom sales have jumped in countries including China where lockdowns are easing, says Durex maker Reckitt.

It reported a double-digit increase in Durex sales in the first quarter of 2021, compared with one year ago.

At the start of the pandemic last year, the firm said people were having less sex because of the coronavirus crisis. Conversely, the company said sales of Durex jumped when social-distancing rules were relaxed in the summer.

The city of Amsterdam said this week it would consider the Haven-Stad district as another possible location for a high-rise erotic center that could serve as an new location for sex work in the capital.

The council does not like the high profile red light area in De Wallen and has previously suggested  seven other locations including Amstel III (Zuidoost), Arenapoort (Zuidoost), Sloterdijk 2 Zuid (Nieuw-West), Sloterdijk Noord (Nieuw-West), Zuid / Rai (Zuid), Hamerkwartier (Noord), Eenhoorngebied (Oost).

In a market survey presented by the Amsterdam Mayor, it was also revealed that the erotic center should have about a hundred workplaces for sex workers, some of which would be windows similar to those in the Red Lights district. The workers will also have access to private break rooms which only the workers can access. Several bookable hotel rooms will be considered for visitors who previously made online appointments. Additionally, two catering establishments, a workspace for medical care providers and erotic entertainment facilities were planned.

A consultancy project will be carried out over the next three months to determine how best to proceed with the project.

Thailand is very liberal about real sex but is bizarrely very uptight about porn and sex toys.

In fact sex toys are totally banned in the country with prohibition laws backed up by serious jail time and fines. The penalty for anyone caught selling, buying, or possessing sex toys is up to three years jail time or a fine of up to 60,000 Thai baht (£1500), or both.

According to Wisit Piemjai, the director of the Postal Customs Service Division, the customs department confiscated over 4,000 sex toys in 2020 alone. Wisit said:

Thailand is a Buddhist country and this is a generational issue. Older people still cannot accept sex toys and nothing can be done to change [that]. The law will remain in place for now,

A sex toy seller named Natasha, told VICE World News that the COVID-19 pandemic has made sex toys one of the hottest selling items online. Sex toys are sold openly in Bangkok's red-light districts, like Nana, Silom, and Patpong. In June 2020, the police raided an adult toy warehouse in a province just south of Bangkok and seized about 1 million Thai baht ($32,000) worth of illegal goods.

There have been efforts to change Thai society's perception of sexual wellbeing. In 2018, activist Nisarat Jongwisan pioneered the movement to legalize sex toys when she spoke out publicly against the Ministry of Culture in a TV program, sparking a debate about sex toys in the country.  In 2018, Nisarat launched a petition asking the government to legalize sex toys. She now plans to launch a new petition following the Thai parliamentary mechanism wherein she'll have to gather 50,000 signatures to submit a bill for a parliamentary vote.

Celebrity nudity site MrSkin.com has announced the winners of its 22nd annual Anatomy Awards. And the winners are:

• Best Breasts - Beatrice Barichella, We Are Who We Are
• Best Full Frontal - Matilda De Angelis, The Undoing
• Best Butt - Jurnee Smollett, Lovecraft Country
• Best Lesbian Scene - Saoirse Ronan, Kate Winslet, Ammonite
• Nude Debut - Elle Fanning, The Great 25/04/2021
• Best Nudecomer - Anna Maria Sieklucka, 365 Days
• Best TV Show - P-Valley Breast Picture - We
• Best Inverted Nipples - Zahia Dehar, An Easy Girl
• Best Bottomless Bird-Flipping - Ida Engvoll, Love & Anarchy
• Best Thong - Julia Fox, Uncut Gems
• Most Niptastic Nips - Ana de Armas, Wasp Network
• Best Merkin - Alison Brie, Horse Girl 25/04/2021
• Best Orgy - Johanna Wallmeier, White Lines
• Best Nude Selfie - Daisy Edgar-Jones, Normal People
• Best Trans Nudity - Lola Rodríguez, Veneno
• Best Butt Bongos - Brandee Evans, P-Valley
• Best Mukbang - Madeline Zima, Perry Mason 25/04/2021
• Best Fuzzy Tentacle Sex - Jamie Chung, Lovecraft Country
• Best Backburger - Laura Houvenagel, The Book of the Antechrist
• Best Group Shower - Vasilisa Perelygina, Viktoria Miroshnichenko, Beanpole
• Best Burning Bush - Amy Molloy, Animals
• Hottest Mask Nudity - Camille Vanlerberghe, Yummy
• Best Public Nudity - Alexandra Turcan, Emily in Paris
• Lifetime Skinchievement - Demi Moore

Mastercard has taken another step along the path to a dystopian world where moralists and US corporate monsters can dictate how people can spend their money. Mastercard explains:

Enhancing requirements for adult content, preventing anonymous content

This month, we are extending our existing Specialty Merchant Registration requirements. The banks that connect merchants to our network will need to certify that the seller of adult content has effective controls in place to monitor, block and, where necessary, take down all illegal content.

You might ask, "Why now?" In the past few years, the ability to upload content to the internet has become easier than ever. All someone needs is a smartphone and a Wi-Fi connection.

Now, our requirements address the risks associated with this activity. And that starts with strong content control measures and clear, unambiguous and documented consent.

Other updated requirements include:

• Documented age and identity verification for all people depicted and those uploading the content

• Content review process prior to publication

• Complaint resolution process that addresses illegal or nonconsensual content within seven business days

• Appeals process allowing for any person depicted to request their content be removed

In 2016, France passed a law, the Prostitution Act that made it a crime to pay for sex. Now a new study by researchers at the Center for International Studies in Paris recently released a report deeming the law a failure.

In fact, in just six months leading up to February of 2020, 10 French sex workers were murdered, as part of an overall uptick in violence against sex workers, according to the group Decrim Now, which advocates full decriminalization.

The Center for International Studies report notes that shifting the criminal responsibility for sex work offenses from the providers to the purchasers has actually given clients more power over sex workers. The drop in client numbers has increased clients' power to negotiate acceptance of unsafe sexual practices. In fact, sex workers pointed to client criminalization as the main factor in their loss of power due to a decrease in income, which was reported by 78% of respondents, the report states.

The law itself had not even succeeded in its stated purpose, of deterring clients from purchasing sexual services, according to French Senator Annick Billon, president of the senate's delegation for women's rights. Billon told the German news agency DW that in the four years that the Prostitution Act has been in effect, only 5,000 fines have been imposed on prospective customers, though France is estimated to have a sex worker population numbering 40,000.

The law is currently being challenged at the European High Court of Human Rights.

New York Assembly Member Rebecca Seawright has announced bill A6540 which defines consent to sex as a freely given, knowledgeable and informed agreement obtained without the use of malice such as forcible compulsion, duress, coercion, deception, fraud, concealment or artifice.

If passed, this would be the first time lawmakers formally define the meaning of consent in the state's penal law for sexual assault and all crimes.

Seawright menacingly threatened in a statement:

The United States Bureau of Justice Statistics reports that a sex crime is committed every 73 seconds. We must stop this rising trend by clearly defining consent, thereby empowering our police and prosecutors to take action. The proper definition of consent in New York's laws will clarify lawful sexual conduct, guide behavior, and make it possible to hold sexual predators accountable.

Offsite Comment: If lying to get yourself laid is made a crime, no one will ever want to have sex again

10th April 2021. See article from rt.com by Charlie Stone

Being less than truthful to get your leg over could become a criminal offence if New York lawmakers get their way. This crazy intrusion into private lives ignores the fact everyone tells white lies to impress potential partners.

If you want to have sex with someone new these days, you'd better draw yourself up a contract... or you could end up in jail.

...See full article from rt.com

Anti porn campaigners have been cataloguing porn titles on Pornhub, XVideos and xHamster and claim that one in eight have titles describing sexually violent acts. Their use of the term 'sexually violent' is a little bizarre though, and inevitably has been redefined to include non-violent material that the authors deem to be violent totally at odds with normal people's use of the English language.

The campaigners analysed 131,738 titles of videos that appeared on the front page of the tube websites (without specifically searching for anything nor allowing the site to build up a profile of preferences).

The campaigners claimed that

• 8,421 (6.4%) titles included terms for family relationships and 5,785 (4.4%) titles described sexual activity between family members - the most common category of 'sexually violent' material identified in the survey
• 5,389 (4.1%) titles referred to physical aggression or the depiction of forced sexual activity (acknowledging that performers had likely consented
• 2,966 (2.2%) titles described image-based sexual abuse, including hidden cams and upskirting
• 2,698 (1.7%) titles described as coercion and exploitation

The campaigners excluded BDSM material as they seemed to have gotten confused about whether the term 'violence' applies to the genre that seems to be higher more PC than other genres.

Pornhub's owner Mindgeek recently removed millions of videos that had been uploaded by users who had not been verified after claims of hosting illegal content. But it commented on the clips it has allowed to remain online:

Consenting adults are entitled to their own sexual preferences, as long as they are legal and consensual, and all kinks that meet these criteria are welcome on Pornhub.

Academic Clare McGlynn who co-authored the survey, said:

It's shocking that this is the material that the porn companies themselves are choosing to showcase to first-time users.

Collegue Fiona Vera-Gray and co-author of the survey, said:

Sexually violent material eroticised non-consent and distorted the boundary between sexual pleasure and sexual violence.

The survey, titled Sexual violence as a sexual script in mainstream online pornography, is published in the latest issue of The British Journal of Criminology. with its abstract reading:

This article examines the ways in which mainstream pornography positions sexual violence as a normative sexual script by analysing the video titles found on the landing pages of the three most popular pornography websites in the United Kingdom. The study draws on the largest research sample of online pornographic content to date and is unique in its focus on the content immediately advertised to a new user. We found that one in eight titles shown to first-time users on the first page of mainstream porn sites describe sexual activity that constitutes sexual violence. Our findings raise serious questions about the extent of criminal material easily and freely available on mainstream pornography websites and the efficacy of current regulatory mechanisms.

Offsite Comment: Academic Click Bate: The War On Porn Continues

7th April 2021. See article from reprobatepress.com by David Flint

The study makes big claims that were inevitably picked up and repeated uncritically by media outlets like the BBC. But even a cursory glance at the evidence and the conclusions might make a more open-minded person raise their eyebrows. If ever there was a study that set out in search of evidence to back up a belief already held, this is it.

See article from reprobatepress.com

Offsite Comment: British Journal of Criminology Study on Violence in Porn

10th April 2021. See article from avn.com

If you only read headlines about a new study from the British Journal of Criminology you might think that large quantities of criminal videos of sexual violence on tube sites are warping most children's minds, turning them into sexual violators.

But this isn't even close to true. The coverage of the study is misleading and exaggerated. But the study itself is extremely flawed.

First, the researchers included everything from stepmom to ploughed in the category of sexual violence. Defined that broadly, it's shocking the study found only one in eight videos depicted sexual violence.

See full article from avn.com