6 March 2011

Sex Industry asks for brothels all over town [with poll]

| johnboy
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The Canberra Times has a report on the sex industry’s submission to the review of the ACT Prostitution Act.

Unsurprisingly they want to be allowed to operate brothels in nicer surrounds than Fyshwick and Mitchell.

Would brothels in town centres be a bad thing?

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brothels hidden in industrial area seem largely staffed by exploited foreigners – perhaps not directly exploited by the brothel in any illegal way, but I imagine 80% of the workers are doing it because they think it is their only choice not because they love having sex all day every day with multiple strangers and getting paid for it is just a nice bonus. Many are young, poorly educated OR reasonable/average/standard level of education that was obtained in another language in another culture and so does not give the same level of advantage in this country as a fluent speaker of English with an average/standard level of education would. Some are essentially sex slaves, not many in Canberra (i hope) but it definitely happens – even if it is indirect, as in the real abuser is a boyfriend or drug dealer or someone else that has the girl trapped in an addiction or dependent on them for money or the drug they have become addicted to or whatever it may be… Anyhow I am going on a bit but my point is not to say it should all be shut down, that just makes it worse, it should be brought into the city and town centers in a tasteful, legal, protective and above all highly regulated and strict employment rules. The brothels should be required to send every single staff member to an oversight authority for an interview and investigation to ensure they are not doing something they don’t want to because they think there is no other option. That may be too expensive to administrate and I understand people not wanting their tax dollars spent on running brothels but it is about protecting human life and dignity. Another way would be to develop a better mechanism for workers or the public to ask for an investigation, rather than spending money to investigate everyone every time – in order for it to work there would have to be some sort of system to keep workers/reporters anonymous, not just from the person/group they are making a complaint about, but from other government agencies such as immigration – a lot of these illegal immigrants people are so scared of end up in sex slavery pleasuring white racist Australians that turn around the next day and complain about all the boat people coming into the country. Make it legal, make the workers proud to be in the industry and make sure people who do not want to be in don’t have to be in order to survive (for illegal immigrants that doesn’t just mean dropping the threat of deportation or detention but also allowing them to work in the rest of the economy and perhaps even collect welfare payments if they are needed (yes I know, the dreaded foreign doll cheat – it would cost nothing compared to the welfare money that is wasted on other things (not welfare recipients but redundant and incompetent public servants, job network providers that do nothing but collect commission when you finally find yourself employment without any help from them at all .. anyways completely off point now in conclusion; Consenting adults are allowed to have sex, they are also allowed to buy and sell, therefore they should be allowed to buy and sell sex! Of course it needs to be regulated to protect the workers and society in general. HIDING THEM IN FYSHWICK DOES NOT PROTECT ANYONE! All it does is keep them out of sight which generally leads to less safety and more exploitation. Bring them into the open and lets all accept that it happens and start treating these people as fellow human being that deserve the same respect and protection that everyone else in society has.

nobody said :

fabforty said :

nobody said :

Hang on, Town Centres can supply cancer causing cigarettes, people can buy and consume alcohol until they’re falling over, people can buy a range of drugs, aggression and violence are on display most nights, but purchasing a nooky at a regulated establishment in a Town Centre still makes some Commenters uneasy. Why are drugs and violence accepted, but sex still makes some people uncomfortable.

What makes you assume drugs and violence are acceptable ? Both are illegal in certain circumstances which kind of implies they are not.

You might not find prostitution of any more consequence than buying a pack of ciggies, but frankly, the whole concept is sad and degrading. Human beings should not treat each other like that.

I don’t like the drugs and violence in our Town Centres either, but it is all over the place every night, and in my book sex is better than drugs and violence. Of course prostitution has more consequence than buying cigarettes, but it has been around since humans discovered barter, and will be around for a lot longer yet. Better it be visible and regulated instead of hidden and squalid.

Someone paying to have sex with someone is the definition of squalid. It is not even accurate to put it in the simple category of sex, as there is a vast difference between sex based on mutual desire and as a commercial exchange. But as people have said, better regulated and hopefully a little safer than where it is illegal.

Keep it out next to the caryards and furniture warehouses. I don’t care at all about the clients’ convenience.

gentoopenguin6:51 pm 01 Jan 12

If you want to partake in such activities, you should be forced to do the drive of shame to Fyshwick/Mitchell…

fabforty said :

You might not find prostitution of any more consequence than buying a pack of ciggies, but frankly, the whole concept is sad and degrading. Human beings should not treat each other like that.

While putting aside the realities of how the “sex industry” actually functions, I have always found it a difficult philosophical question to draw the line between the many shades of grey which exist in jobs where people use their bodies to entertain another person in exchange for money.

location never stopped my ex-husband from travelling out to the industrial areas…”have dick, will travel”

fabforty said :

nobody said :

Hang on, Town Centres can supply cancer causing cigarettes, people can buy and consume alcohol until they’re falling over, people can buy a range of drugs, aggression and violence are on display most nights, but purchasing a nooky at a regulated establishment in a Town Centre still makes some Commenters uneasy. Why are drugs and violence accepted, but sex still makes some people uncomfortable.

What makes you assume drugs and violence are acceptable ? Both are illegal in certain circumstances which kind of implies they are not.

You might not find prostitution of any more consequence than buying a pack of ciggies, but frankly, the whole concept is sad and degrading. Human beings should not treat each other like that.

I don’t like the drugs and violence in our Town Centres either, but it is all over the place every night, and in my book sex is better than drugs and violence. Of course prostitution has more consequence than buying cigarettes, but it has been around since humans discovered barter, and will be around for a lot longer yet. Better it be visible and regulated instead of hidden and squalid.

mp2615 said :

Well, I always thought 2 story brothels were a bad business. Way too much f***ing overhead

😀 Gold.

Good to see that there’s so much common sense here.

screaming banshee3:40 pm 31 Dec 11

Perhaps putting a brothel in the triangle could be just the thing needed to encourage the uptake of public transport.

No longer would the pubes be able to complain that they need free parking because they have to drive to work so they run their…ahem…errands.

nobody said :

Hang on, Town Centres can supply cancer causing cigarettes, people can buy and consume alcohol until they’re falling over, people can buy a range of drugs, aggression and violence are on display most nights, but purchasing a nooky at a regulated establishment in a Town Centre still makes some Commenters uneasy. Why are drugs and violence accepted, but sex still makes some people uncomfortable.

What makes you assume drugs and violence are acceptable ? Both are illegal in certain circumstances which kind of implies they are not.

You might not find prostitution of any more consequence than buying a pack of ciggies, but frankly, the whole concept is sad and degrading. Human beings should not treat each other like that.

Won’t happen.

The Greens will back the proposal but for the libs and ALP it would be political suicide.

But no one in this town votes line anyway, so it would make no difference. And labor always win, I would say even if they supported it.

The comment a few posts ago about keeping the triads in Fyahwick interests me though. How often to immigration do visa checks out there?

I thought a lot of working girls were Uni students trying to make a few extra $. Perhaps that was 20 years ago. If they’re discreet, I have no problems with suburban brothels.

Hang on, Town Centres can supply cancer causing cigarettes, people can buy and consume alcohol until they’re falling over, people can buy a range of drugs, aggression and violence are on display most nights, but purchasing a nooky at a regulated establishment in a Town Centre still makes some Commenters uneasy. Why are drugs and violence accepted, but sex still makes some people uncomfortable.

Not to mention the violence in the DVDs on sale everywhere.

Brothels, eh? Anyone who, um, is aware of the scene knows that there are almost none left with non-asian girls. Almost all of ’em – with the exception of brave holdouts ToC and Exotics (same owner) are full of people-smuggled teenaged asian hookers with broken “suckee-suckee fifty dollar” english.

The reason for this is that working in a brothel is a bad deal. Anyone with an ounce of sense goes private – maybe working a brothel briefly to get a clientelle. Girls working privately may already work anywhere.

So, although I basically approve of liberal sex laws, I say screw ’em. The triads can stay out in Fyshwick.

facet said :

Yep used to be one on Barry Drive in the city (opposite the Country Women’s Association).
Nowadays there is just Lawyers and Financial Advisers, not a big improvement as you still get screwed.

Boom-boom-tssst….

Mate, pure gold!

facet said :

used to be one on Barry Drive in the city (opposite the Country Women’s Association).

That was the old Touch of Class, operated out of a normal house. There was one at O’Connor shops, too, had a fancy door.

I really can’t see a problem with it, at all. Provided they don’t have heaps of horrible brothel-esque signage and XXXX everywhere like the ones at Fyshwick and Mitchell, it’s just another business, hopefully run on business lines.

Well, I always thought 2 story brothels were a bad business. Way too much f***ing overhead

enrique said :

For those old enough to remember, Canberra used to have brothels out in the suburb shopping centres.

I recall there used to be a brothel in Weston Creek above the old ‘Great Australian Ice Creamery’

Yep used to be one on Barry Drive in the city (opposite the Country Women’s Association).
Nowadays there is just Lawyers and Financial Advisers, not a big improvement as you still get screwed.

Pommy bastard8:11 am 07 Mar 11

zephyr9673 said :

I think prostitutes should be able to work where ever they are comfortable and it is convenient.

On their backs?

I rather think that work colleagues friends and associates would prefer to keep visiting Brothels away from their work and city areas and more importantly, away from suburbs/residential areas where spouses’ friends are able to easily report about their visits.

Okay for the unattached, not a great idea for the attached.

For those old enough to remember, Canberra used to have brothels out in the suburb shopping centres.

I recall there used to be a brothel in Weston Creek above the old ‘Great Australian Ice Creamery’

I think prostitutes should be able to work where ever they are comfortable and it is convenient. That said, I think the industry needs a massive overhaul. Prostitutes who are working off heroin habits for dealers need protection. It would be cool to get the ACT Brothel free. Make it a Youth Safe State, The drug lords and lordettes wouldn’t like that though, and the Liberals muck factory would have to find some other lives to F**k up and control the left.

georgesgenitals5:29 pm 06 Mar 11

I-filed said :

… it won’t go down well.

Tee hee…

gospeedygo said :

Delightful, who wouldn’t want to go out for a cup of coffee, a haircut and a blowjob?

One stop shopping at its finest?

More seriously, if its kept discreet, clean, safe, and well-regulated, I don’t care so much.
So long as everyone is legal, pays taxes, and doing it because they want to, its not really my business.
But satisfactory regulation and adequate enforcement of regs certainly hasn’t been a strong point of this Government…

Time and place Ladies, time and place.

Delightful, who wouldn’t want to go out for a cup of coffee, a haircut and a blowjob?

1. Not a good idea unless sound research can establish for certain that, if more “naice” middle-class boutique brothels are brought into the ‘burbs, the industrial site brothels will not stay where they are and attempt to keep their market share by becoming “edgier”. The “zero” vote for getting rid of brothels altogether indicates that a reasonable balance has been struck. 2. The Eros Foundation should be cautious about rocking the boat again. Of course, illegal brothels functioned perfectly well in suburban shops in the old days – pretty much out of sight. There was one at the Ainslie Shops for more than a decade – one of their best clients was a famous local ANU professor – and no-one minded because it was discreet. If Eros agitates for brothels with signage, it won’t go down well.

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