November 29, 2007
Prostitute auctions sex for charity
SANTIAGO (Reuters) - A Chilean prostitute has auctioned 27 hours of sex to raise money for the country's largest charity during an annual fund-raising campaign.
Maria Carolina became an overnight celebrity in the conservative Roman Catholic country, making news headlines and appearing on talk shows since she made her unusual donation to the televised charity event, which runs for 27 hours starting on Friday evening.
"I've already auctioned off the 27 hours of love," Maria Carolina told Reuters on Wednesday, saying she had raised about $4,000. "One of my clients already paid. It seemed like a good deed to him."
Adult prostitution is legal in Chile. Chile's two-day Teleton fundraiser is endorsed by television stars and aims to raise funds for poor, disabled children.
Speaking about Maria Carolina's unusual donation, campaign organizer Mario Kreutzberger said he would not encourage "immoral" activities, but said he would accept her pledge.
"Everyone can do what they want, but if someone tells me that they'll do something immoral ... I'm not going to encourage it," Kreutzberger, who as "Don Francisco" hosts the long-running "Sabado Gigante" program on the U.S. Spanish-language Univision network, told local media.
But Maria Carolina, who advertises her services on the Internet, defended her money-raising scheme.
"There are people who are going to be donating money that's a lot more questionable than mine," she said. "The only thing I did was publicize it."
Posted by ronnie at 07:24 PM | Comments (0)
November 10, 2007
Bishop backs brothel regulation
LONDON (Reuters) - A Roman Catholic bishop in the southern English port city of Portsmouth is backing a campaign to legalize brothels without in any way condoning them.
The Right Reverend Crispian Hollis supported the local branch of the Women's Institute which wants to license brothels.
"If you are going to take a pragmatic view and say prostitution happens, I think there is a need to make sure it's as well regulated as possible for the health of people involved and for the safety of the ladies themselves," Hollis said.
"That's not to say I approve of prostitution in any way. I would be very much happier if there was no prostitution in Portsmouth," he told The Portsmouth News.
"But it's going to be there whatever we do and it has been from time immemorial. So I think that is something we have to be realistic about."
His comments won praise from Rachel Frost, from the International Union for Sex Workers.
"The bishop should be commended for having the guts to come out and say that," she said.
Posted by ronnie at 05:04 PM | Comments (0)
October 27, 2007
Man, being a cop just gets worse and worse!
BRUSSELS (Reuters) - Police patrolling the red-light district of the Belgian capital have been ordered to stop visiting brothels and drinking in bars when on duty.
A letter sent to officers in Brussels' northern police district, and published in a Belgian daily Tuesday, urged them to set a good example and earn the public's respect.
"These officers think their duty hours are to be used to drink alcohol in bars, practice sports..., visit brothels or massage parlors, and entertain (intimate) relationships with residents of the neighborhood during their patrol," said the letter from a local police chief.
"It is only by setting a good example that the police can make itself respected," the letter said, urging officers to adopt more conservative behavior.
A police spokesman confirmed the letter was authentic, but said the police chief had only reacted to rumors of officers behaving badly while on duty.
"There was no concrete evidence to substantiate any wrongdoing by police officers ... If there had been, they would have been prosecuted," said spokesman Roland Thiebauld.
Posted by ronnie at 11:56 AM | Comments (0)
June 30, 2007
Britain to delete term "prostitute" from law books
LONDON (Reuters) - Britain is proposing to remove the term "prostitute" from the criminal statutes because it carries too much stigma.
Instead, a new bill that the Justice Ministry has drafted refers simply to persons who sell sex persistently -- defined as twice or more in three months.
"We just wanted to remove the stigma of the label 'common prostitute'," said a spokeswoman for the Justice Ministry.
"It's been around since 1824, so it was a bit outdated. It just wasn't really helpful to label people."
The new bill introduces measures to try to get sex workers out of the industry, and in effect decriminalizes prostitution for those who are not considered persistent.
Posted by ronnie at 12:23 PM | Comments (0)
March 05, 2007
Tax from prostitutes? No thanks, says Indian state
KOLKATA, India (Reuters) - An Indian state on Friday rejected a proposal by prostitutes to pay tax to the government in return for stopping police raids on brothels and checks on soliciting clients.
Officials in the eastern state of West Bengal said since prostitution was illegal, the government could not tax sex workers.
"Tomorrow, criminals will say we will pay taxes so don't catch us," Raj Kanojia, a top state police officer, said.
On Thursday, the Durbar Mahila Samanwaya Committee (DMSC) -- an umbrella group of 65,000 sex workers in West Bengal -- announced that prostitutes would charge clients extra to help them pay tax.
"Even if we collect one rupee from each client it would boost the exchequer," Smarajit Jana, DMSC's chief adviser, said. "Let the government collect taxes legally, as prostitutes in any case pay the police hefty amounts to get away."
About four million clients visit red light areas under the control of DMSC every month in West Bengal.
Sex workers say they are harassed by police and picked up from brothels, hotels and nightclubs and jailed. They often have to pay bribes to officers to continue working.
Under Indian law, sex workers cannot solicit customers in public. Authorities tolerate brothels in some areas although police often raid them to rescue minors or to prevent women from being forced into the profession.
Posted by ronnie at 10:06 AM | Comments (0)
September 28, 2006
Prostitute nabs crooked cop with his own badge
BOSTON (Reuters) - A prostitute forced repeatedly into having sex with a Boston policeman said she feared the abuse would never stop -- until she stole his badge.
When the officer, Michael LoPriore, telephoned her to get it back, the FBI was tuning in to their conversation, the 19-year-old's lawyer, John Swomley, said on Wednesday.
LoPriore, 37, was charged in federal court on Tuesday with depriving the woman of her rights by using his position as a police officer to force her to perform sex in his car in September 2004.
Under a plea agreement, the 12-year veteran of Boston's police force will plead guilty, resign and never seek another job as a police officer in Massachusetts. Prosecutors are recommending that he serve a year in prison.
Swomley said LoPriore had stopped the teenager in a downtown red-light district known as the "Combat Zone" while he was off duty and in his personal car.
After showing her his badge, he ordered her into the car and drove to several locations where he forced her to perform oral sex, he added.
"She told me the badge was stuffed in a little cubby in the front console. His head was back and he wasn't really paying attention to where her hands were," he said.
Posted by ronnie at 07:27 AM | Comments (0)
July 12, 2006
Australian sex workers complain of Asian competition
SYDNEY (AFP) - Australian sex workers are feeling the pinch of Asian competition, the national news agency reports.
Brothel owner Mary-Anne Kenworthy said cut-price Asian sex workers are flooding the Australian market, stealing the "bread and butter" from the more expensive local prostitutes.
The madam, from the West Australian city of Perth, told the Australian Associated Press she had spent thousands of dollars investigating Asian women who listed their sexual services in local newspapers.
She found hundreds of them working out of illegal suburban brothels for half the going hourly rate of 250 dollars (188 US).
"Most of these aren't being run as businesses, they are just a complete cash economy," she said, adding that the majority of these prostitutes were working illegally on tourist and student visas.
"And I think that is unfair. We're doing the right thing, paying our taxes. It costs me 50,000 dollars a year for special checks on everything to make sure my property is safe and above-board.
"They are stealing the bread and butter of Australian sex workers."
Kenworthy said some of the women travelled to Australia, worked every day for six months and then returned home to live comfortably on the proceeds for several years.
Posted by ronnie at 12:50 PM | Comments (0)
July 07, 2006
India sex workers rewarded for HIV checks
NEW DELHI (Reuters) - Prostitutes in southern India are being given discount shopping cards in return for having regular checks at a sexual health clinic as part of a project to raise HIV/AIDS awareness.
UNAIDS, the United Nation's AIDS-prevention agency, recently said India has the highest HIV caseload in the world, with an estimated 5.7 million people living with the virus.
"They were very particular about us including a sari shop. Presentation is very important for them," said Sushena Reza-Paul of the Karnataka Health Promotion Trust.
Shops and restaurants in the city of Mysore were at first hesitant about being associated with the sex workers' project, but eventually relented after being convinced that 500 card-carrying sex workers would lead to a steady stream of paying customers.
Reza-Paul said being able to flash a credit card-sized piece of plastic was also giving an unexpected boost to the sex workers' self-esteem.
"They tell me that only rich people can normally have these kind of cards -- so it gives them a sense of pride and belonging," she said.
Posted by ronnie at 12:08 PM | Comments (0)
June 28, 2006
Hungarian court rules hookers must have tax number
BUDAPEST (Reuters) - Hungarian prostitutes will have to get used to doing more paperwork after a court ruled they must have a tax number to pursue their trade.
A court in the southern town Pecs rejected a prostitute's appeal against a 50,000 forint (125 pound) fine by the tax authority and said she should have had a tax number, judge Roza Meszar told the national news agency MTI.
The claimant, who was unnamed, argued a treaty signed by Hungary banned the registration of prostitutes, but the court ruled they still needed to pay taxes, must have a tax number and an entrepreneur's licence.
Posted by ronnie at 07:34 PM | Comments (0)
June 06, 2006
The naked and the dead...
SYDNEY (Reuters) - There's a time and place for everything, local Australian governments have ruled as they move to stop brothels opening near cemeteries.
Local governments in the northern state of Queensland have called on state authorities to establish an exclusion zone banning brothels opening within 200 metres (220 yards) of cemeteries.
It follows a decision by a council in Ipswich, just outside the Queensland capital Brisbane, to reject a proposal for a brothel to be built across the road from the local cemetery.
Ipswich Mayor Paul Pisasale told Australian Broadcasting Corp. radio Tuesday that cemeteries were places for quiet reflection by families who should not have to put up with "a brothel going on next door."
"It's totally inappropriate. There's a place for brothels and a place for cemeteries and we don't believe the two mix," he said.
Posted by ronnie at 05:17 PM | Comments (0)
May 04, 2006
Helpline created for prostitutes during World Cup
BERLIN (AFP) - An organisation fighting forced prostitution, Solwodi, has launched a 24-hour helpline for prostitutes in trouble during the World Cup 2006.
The helpline will be operational until July 31, three weeks after the final of the June 9 to July 9 football extravaganza which is being hosted by 12 German cities, Solwodi said.
It will be staffed by 20 women who are able to take calls in English, French, German, Polish, Russian, Romanian, Spanish and Ukranian.
Some 40,000 prostitutes, mostly from eastern Europe, are expected to come to Germany for the World Cup and non-governmental and religious organisations have expressed concern that the event could see a rise in trafficking in women.
Solwodi, which stands for Solidarity with Women in Distress, was founded in Kenya in 1985 by a German Roman Catholic nun, Lea Ackermann.
Posted by ronnie at 07:46 AM | Comments (0)
April 05, 2006
Swedish call to boycott World Cup over forced prostitution
STOCKHOLM (AFP) - Sweden's football squad should boycott the 2006 World Cup in Germany to protest against a feared rise in forced prostitution, the Swedish ombudsman for gender equality said.
"We should distance ourselves and say that we will not accept such a situation and for that reason we do not want to participate," the ombudsman, Claes Borgstroem, told Swedish Radio on Monday.
"It's a good opportunity to do something effective ... targetting modern-day slavery," he said.
A number of non-governmental organizations have warned that up to 40,000 women from eastern Europe could be smuggled into Germany by criminal gangs to work as prostitutes during the tournament that takes place in 12 cities in June and July.
Prostitution is legal in Germany, where some 175,000 women are already involved in the sex trade.
Sweden introduced legislation in 1999 making it illegal to buy sex but decriminalizing the sale of sex, in a bid to stamp out demand.
"Maybe in 10 years, we will be remembered for having been the first to put a foot down and say 'no, we don't want to be a part of trafficking'," the ombusdman's spokesman Magnus Jacobson told AFP.
"It could be 10,000, 40,000 women ... These are often women who have been grossly abused and who have lived in terrible conditions," he said.
Meanwhile, the deputy head of the Swedish Sports Confederation, Birgitta Ljung, said the ombudsman's boycott proposal was "extremely naive", Swedish news agency TT reported.
"That would mean that an entire country would be disappointed during the World Cup and in addition, we would probably be suspended from the next one," the head of the football federation, Lars-Aake Lagrell, told TT.
According to the head of the European Parliament's women's rights commission, Anna Zaborska of Slovakia, prostitution tends to skyrocket during sporting events and large international conferences.
Posted by ronnie at 03:57 PM | Comments (0)
April 03, 2006
Prostitutes retrain as nurses, tele-marketers
BERLIN (Reuters) - German prostitutes are signing up for a career change, training to become nurses to tend to the country's aging population or working phones as tele-marketers.
Thirty prostitutes have enlisted in a church-funded project in the state of North-Rhine Westphalia and more are on a waiting list, project coordinator Gisela Zohren said.
"Competition in prostitution is fierce and the days when one could make a decent living out of it are long gone, especially once you hit the thirties," Zohren said.
She said prostitutes' fees had hit rock bottom and they were well suited to jobs on offer in the retraining program.
"After years of prostitution, they know how to listen, look after people and are savvy in selling over the phone," she said.
Experts in the care industry for the aged also welcomed the initiative.
"We have more and more old and fewer and fewer young people, so there is a strong demand for people working in care professions," said Franz Wagner, head of the German association of care professions.
Posted by ronnie at 10:52 AM | Comments (0)