FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) Prostitutie 1

De FAQ (Frequently Asked Questions) uit de nieuwsgroep alt.sex.prostitution. Bevat heel veel informatie, maar is jammer genoeg wel gedateerd. De laatste update dateert van eind 1997. Op deze pagina vindt u deel 1 en deel 2. Deel 3 en deel 4 staan op een volgend blad. Hier en daar werd de tekst ingekort. Vooral de passages over de werking van nieuwsgroepen werden ingekort omdat deze weinig of niets met prostitutie zelf te maken hebben. Veel leesplezier.

***** Welcome to Alt.Sex.Prostitution! *****

We're glad that you've found us. Please take a moment to read this Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) file, as it will help you understand the standard etiquette (netiquette) for this newsgroup.

The FAQ is divided into 4 parts as follows:
Part 1: General information about the newsgroup and the World Sex Guide.
Part 2: Questions and information about prostitution in general, plus information on fighting spam.
Part 3: List of organizations that support prostitution or prostitutes or are working to decriminalize prostitution.
Part 4: Suggested reading list on prostitution and prostitutes' rights.

A special thanks to Ms. Margo (co-founder of alt.sex.femdom) for originating this FAQ and to AGentleMan for adding to it, shaping it, and improving it in many ways. Thanks also to Catherine La Croix of COYOTE/Seattle and Carol Leigh of the Prostitutes’ Education Network for supplying additional material, and a special thanks to all of you who have made comments and suggestions.

***** What Is Alt.Sex.Prostitution?
Alt.sex.prostitution was chartered as an unmoderated newsgroup intended for discussion and information exchange about all aspects of prostitution, including but not limited to the legal situation in different countries, prices, reviews of brothels, bars, clubs, massage parlors, escort services, call girls, street prostitutes, and requests for information. It was newgrouped in August 1995 to replace the dying alt.sex.services and alt.sex.brothels.

If your internet provider does not carry alt.sex.prostitution you can usually get them to do so by simply making a request (you can try email to webmaster@your.site, i.e, your internet provider address, not the words "your.site"). Meanwhile, you can also find it at Deja News (see below).
This newsgroup supports prostitution and encourages efforts to decriminalize it (see definition in Part 2), but discussion of other viewpoints, including anti-prostitution viewpoints, is also welcome.The newsgroup charter also states that commercial ads are not allowed, but obviously in an unmoderated newsgroup this is impossible to enforce (efforts to discourage ads are discussed below). It will unfortunately be necessary for you to wade through the ads and spams (irrelevant cross-postings to multiple groups) to get to the good information in this newsgroup. The quickest way to do this is to look for articles with [ASP] at the beginning of the subject line. For more information, see the section on "How Can I Help Readers Find My Posts?"
This is not an appropriate group for discussion of strip-clubs or phone sex, and it is not appropriate for posting of advertisements, binary files, or fiction stories. There are specialized newsgroups for these types of items (see below).

***** Where Can I Get Laid in ...(Mytown, the Place I’m Going to Visit, etc. etc.)?
This is, quite naturally, the most frequently asked question in this newsgroup. The first place you should look for answers is the World Sex Guide, maintained by Atta and located at: http://www.paranoia.com/faq/prostitution/. It is also available by email using instructions given below, or it can be downloaded via ftp as a large (>800Kb) gzipped tar file at < ftp://sunsite.unc.edu/pub/electronic-publications/twsg>.
The bulk of the World Sex Guide consists of a compilation of posts from this newsgroup about where to find prostitutes and at what price. The World Sex Guide is updated irregularly every two or three months when Atta has a free weekend to devote to the task. The "From" lines and the signatures are always deleted before an article is archived in the World Sex Guide. If you send something in and you specifically want your email address to be left in, please indicate this. If you specifically do not want your article archived at the web site, feel free to mention that as well.
New people are encouraged to check the World Sex Guide before posting requests for information to this newsgroup. Often the information you are looking for will already be there. The World Sex Guide also contains articles giving general advice on how to deal with escorts, massage parlors, streetwalkers, etc. Such articles can be found at the beginning of the United States section and at the end of the JayHawk report. There is also some information about the legal status of prostitution around the world, and other general information about prostitution. Virtually every prostitution-related resource on the internet should be accessible from there.

***** This Is Cool! How Can I Help?
Simple: Post your reports on the availability of various sexual services in your area or areas you visit. If you are a geographer and you just discovered the lay of the land, let us know. If you got ripped off, expose the rip-off artist here (it’s a good way to get even). Pooling our information is, after all, the only way we get the information at all. This newsgroup is only as good as its participants. As in any form of social intercourse, politeness goes a long way. A number of people who have posted here have been swamped with semi-literate requests for more information instead of with Thank You’s or, much better yet, a posting of more information. Show your appreciation for what other people post by posting what information you obtain.
Information of the type being sought here often gets out of date very quickly. Please do your part by contributing regularly anything you know that would be useful to others in the group. That is the best way to help create a healthy group where you can also find the information you want. (...)

***** Are There Other Prostitution-Related FAQs?
There is an FAQ specific to legal prostitution in Nevada (U.S.A.) maintained by Bashful and located at: http://www.paranoia.com/~bashful/. Other prostitution FAQ files, some of which are area-specific, are posted from time to time by various users, so keep your eyes open for them. These will also be added to the World Sex Guide website whenever it is updated.

***** Is Alt.Sex.Prostitution Archived Anywhere Else?
Yes. All newsgroups are archived at Deja News < http://www.dejanews.com >. This is a good place to search for articles that have not yet been archived in the World Sex Guide. Go to Deja News and click on "Power Search." Then click on "Create a Query Filter" and put alt.sex.prostitution in the field. Then specify the dates you want the search to include and submit the query filter. Then initiate a search for the city or country you are interested in. If you would like to pull up all articles for the past month or so, go to "Power Search" and put "~g alt.sex.prostitution" (without the quotation marks) in the field. Better yet, do a search for "~g alt.sex.prostitution and ~s ASP". This will pull up only relevant articles and no ads or spams. Very slick! Use the help files at Deja News if you need more help. (...)

***** Do Any Sex Workers Read this Newsgroup?
Yes, there are several sex workers who regularly read and sometimes post to this newsgroup. Their input is particularly valued and if you see one post, please don't swamp her mailbox with wannas (wannafucks) unless she asks for them. Sex workers are strongly encouraged to post to this group. Please feel free to post anonymously if it makes you feel more comfortable about posting here. (...)

***** Where Is Prostitution Legal?
It is hard to summarize this because the legal status can be complicated. In regions where prostitution is "legal," it is often only a small portion of prostitution activities that are allowed, and much or even most of it may remain criminalized. In some countries prostitution itself may be technically legal, but virtually all forms of practicing it are not (such as Italy and England). In other countries it may be technically illegal, but widely tolerated (such as Thailand and Japan). Even in places where prostitution is "legal," the restrictions on it may be such that the majority of prostitution in that area still occurs illegally. The World Sex Guide gives some details where available, but the information is incomplete and knowledgeable reports are always welcome. In North America: Prostitution is illegal in all of the U.S.A. except in Nevada, where licensed brothels are legal in counties that do not include the major cities (it is not legal in Las Vegas itself). In Canada, prostitution itself is legal, set at the federal level. It is illegal, however, to communicate in public (i.e. solicit), to work for or own or patronize a brothel, or to live off the avails or procure for the purpose of prostitution. In short, this means that only independents who take calls at home (not on a cell phone), and then go on an outcall, are not breaking any laws. (For more information on the legal situation in Canada, check the web site for SWAV, the Sex Worker’s Alliance of Vancouver, at <http://www.walnet.org/swav/law/index.html>.) In Mexico, prostitution is legal in special "zones of tolerance." Cab drivers always know where these are located. Elsewhere (a sampling): At least some forms of prostitution are legal in many continental European countries such as France, Germany, Switzerland, Scandinavia, and the Netherlands (where they even have a union). In England it is technically legal but it is not legal to solicit or to advertise, nor is it legal to run a brothel. It’s legal in much of Australia, in Singapore, and in several South American countries including Brazil and Venezuela. If you are in an area where prostitution is illegal and you have any doubts as to whether the person you are dealing with might be a law enforcement officer, think with the big head instead of the little one and walk away from the situation.

***** What Is the Difference between "Legalizing" and "Decriminalizing" Prostitution?
Although there is no official definition of legalized or decriminalized prostitution, most references use the term "legalization" to refer to any system that specifically allows some prostitution. Many (or most) societies that allow legal prostitution do so by giving the state control over the lives and businesses of those who work as prostitutes. Legalization often includes special taxes for prostitutes, restricting prostitutes to working in brothels or in certain zones, licenses, registration of prostitutes and government records of individual prostitutes, and health checks which have historically been used to control and stigmatize prostitutes. Prostitutes' rights organizations (e.g., COYOTE, North American Task Force on Prostitution) use the term "decriminalization" to mean the removal of laws against prostitution, in whole or in part. Decriminalization is usually used to refer to total decriminalization, that is, the total repeal of laws against consensual adult sexual activity, in both commercial and non-commercial contexts. In decriminalized systems, prostitution businesses would be regulated through civil codes (including business and labor codes, standard zoning regulations, occupational health and safety codes, etc.) just as they are applied to any other businesses, so that prostitutes and clients could conduct business either in brothels or through private arrangements if they choose. Existing criminal laws targeting abuse, coercion, etc., would also be applied in cases of violence or exploitation if associated with prostitution. A well-researched paper on the legal issues regarding prostitution can be found at <http://www.walnet.org/swav/law/sdavis.html>. It’s 200Kb in size and takes a few minutes to load. The World Charter of the International Committee for Prostitutes’ Rights calls for decriminalization of all aspects of adult prostitution resulting from individual decision, stating that there should be no special law which implies systematic zoning of prostitution, and that prostitutes should have the freedom to choose their place of work and residence and provide their services under conditions determined by themselves and no one else.

***** What Is the Risk of Catching HIV from Prostitutes?
A medical doctor who is a regular contributor to this newsgroup has compiled a review of the medical literature on this subject, entitled "Prevalence Of HIV In Sex Workers And Risk To Customers: A Brief Review." The entire report can be found on the World Sex Guide at <http://www.paranoia.com/faq/prostitution/hiv.txt.html>. The concluding paragraph is as follows: "The results of these studies are fairly consistent and indicate the following: Outside of East Africa, the prevalence of HIV in sex workers is generally only a few percent, and not significantly different than the HIV incidence in the population as a whole. While prostitution per se is not a significant risk factor for acquiring HIV infection, i.v. drug use is, and a significant proportion of sex workers are also i.v. drug users. Men who use prostitutes do have a higher risk of acquiring HIV, but only if they have other STDs, or engage in other high risk behaviors (e.g., anal sex without a condom). If you have no STDs, use a condom, and avoid sex workers with needle marks in the arms, your risk is probably no greater than your risk of getting AIDS from your girlfriend or mistress. If you have a history of STDs, don't use a condom, and use sex workers who are known i.v. drug users...good luck!" These conclusions there are consistent with those found in the other references on HIV in the bibliography in Part 4 of this FAQ. For information on safe sex see the Safer Sex Page at <http://www.cmpharm.ucsf.edu/~troyer/safesex.html>.

***** What Is the Risk of Catching Another STD from Prostitutes?
Fairly small if you use a Condom. You should use a condom at all times, including when you recieve Oral Sex. You should avoid giving a prostitute Oral Sex. You may not like this advice, but you are taking a big risk if you go unprotected. In any case, if you frequent prostitutes, get regular checkups from a Doctor. Tell your doctor that you are engaging in behaviour that "puts you at risk for Sexually Transmitted Disease". You don't have to give him any more details, but he needs to know this much.

***** Isn’t Prostitution a Degrading and Demeaning Activity? There is nothing inherently degrading about consensual (non-coerced) adult sexual activity just because money is exchanged. It would depend on the people and circumstances involved. "Degrading" is in the eye of the beholder. Some sex workers feel they are subjecting themselves to "voluntary rape," and some enjoy their work. For many it is probably "just a job," as many other jobs are. One particularly good answer to this question comes from Norma Jean Almodovar in her book "Cop to Call Girl: Why I Left the LAPD to Make an Honest Living as a Beverly Hills Prostitute": "That really depends on the individual involved or how one views sex. It was not degrading to me because I think that sex is a positive, nurturing act, and whether it is given out of love or rendered as a service, as long as it is consensual it is still positive. I cannot fathom how one could think that making another human being feel good for a fee could be degrading or demeaning unless it is degrading to make other people feel good." Sex worker and writer Veronica Monet wrote that "the popular feminist view that a woman is degraded by a paid sex act with a man is in itself inherently sexist. If a woman can be degraded by sex, then she is a piece of property which loses value with use. A human being never loses value by engaging in a productive, profitable, and pleasurable act."

***** Are There Any Organizations that Support Prostitution/Prostitutes or Are Working to Decriminalize Prostitution?
Yes, there are many such organizations and groups around the world, and they are deserving of your support. A list of these organizations is in Part 3 of this FAQ so those without web access can obtain it. It can also be found at the excellent web site run by one of these organizations, COYOTE/Seattle (Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics), located at: http://www.coyotesea.org Also check out the Prostitutes’ Education Network web site located at: http://www.bayswan.org/penet.html At this highly recommended site you will find (among other things) the complete text of the Final Report (1996) of the government-sponsored San Francisco Task Force on Prostitution, which recommends that the city repeal all laws against prostitution and not enforce any state laws against prostitution.

***** Are There Any Suggested Readings on Prostitution and Prostitutes' Rights? Yes. These are listed in Part 4 of this FAQ (and also at the COYOTE/Seattle web site listed above). You will also find interesting readings at the other web sites mentioned in this FAQ. Remember, always treat your sex worker with respect!

If you belong to any industry associations, list them here.