Monday, December 04, 2006

Don't count on Roxanne putting out the red light

This is one of the funniest things I have read in a while. Amersterdam is dimming (some) of the red lights in order to crack down on crime. Yahoo News:
AMSTERDAM, Netherlands - City officials say they will turn off the red lights and shutter a third of the prostitution "windows" in Amsterdam's famed Red Light District, where scantily-clad ladies of the night have beckoned customers for hundreds of years. The move is part of a crackdown on crime in the area.

"We're not knights on a morality crusade, and this is intended to target financial crime, not prostitution per se," city spokesman Martien Maten said Thursday. "But we do think it will change the face of the Red Light District." The Dutch government legalized prostitution in 2000 to make it easier to tax and regulate.

Maten said the city was now making use of a new law to revoke brothels' licenses when it suspects operators have used them for money laundering or other illegal financial activity. "In concrete terms (that) means that those involved won't be able to continue their businesses" after the measures takes effect on Jan. 1, the city said in a statement.

But advocacy groups for prostitutes said the move was misguided, since it will hurt the women who act as independent contractors renting space behind the windows. Brothel owners said they would appeal the decision in court. "The biggest problem we have is with pimps on the street, not the people who own the windows," said Mariska Majoor, a former prostitute who now runs the Prostitution Information Center in the heart of the Red Light District.
No comment, but does this ever crack me up, and so much for the legalization of prostitution 'saves hookers from the not-so-tender mercies of their pimps and other sundry lowlifes' argument.

5 comments:

Anonymous said...

So you think making/keeping prositiution is a better idea for the women?

K. Shoshana said...

Jose,

I think you are missing the sarcasm. Those who support the legalization of prostitution frequently employ the following points in their argument.

1. Prostitution is a victimless crime.

2. If you legalize prostitution women will no longer be exploited by pimps.

3. One needs to legalize prostitution in order to disassociate it from other forms of criminal/deviant behaviour.

4. If you legalize it you will be able to tax and regulate the profession.

But if you read the article, you should note the Prostitutes have union who cannot protect them from being exploited and blames the pimps/brothel owners for victimizing the prostitutes for the “financial crimes” that plague the red light district. So much for victimless crime. Interesting to note that trafficking in humans is now classified as a “financial crime”. The Union Pimps have no power to protect the prostitutes but they are willing to take their cut too. Despite the efforts of the Dutch state, it has yet to accomplish all of the above points according to the article.

Albert4,

I live in Canada and I am bombarded by people telling me how civilized and enlightened the Dutch are for legalizing prostitution and we should do it too. As a matter of fact, at least once a term in my local municipal politics some councilor tries to float the idea of establishing a red light district in order to accomplish all four points. The Dutch have failed to meet those above noted benchmarks and then some.

What no one wants to admit is that prostitution is socially deviant behaviour and goes hand in glove will all other kinds of socially deviant behaviour because birds of a feather flock together. As far as I am concerned Albert4, I would rather live in a society that recognizes prostitution for it actually is and actively work to eradicate it.

Please note – I realize that prostitution is legal under Canadian law but solicitation for the purposes of prostitution is illegal.

EarlW said...

"What no one wants to admit is that prostitution is socially deviant behaviour"

Sex is socially deviant? or are you objecting to the exchange of money?

If I want to have sex with a prostitute, why is that any of your business?
If a woman likes sex, should receiving money in exchange make it illegal?

Anonymous said...

Aside from the lengthy anti-prostitution rant, the story concerns shutting down brothels that are fronts for money laundering. This has little to do with the 'working girls' or their union.

K. Shoshana said...

Look EarlW, I suspect your baseline literacy skills need some work as well as your sense of style – furthermore, your lame (as in limp) attempt to twist the meaning of what I wrote comes up short.

But your response does suggest that I have hit a nerve so I will let you in on a little secret. Women do not become hookers because they like sex.

I realize all the hookers you may have carnal knowledge of may have told you that is why they got into the “business’, but its all a act designed to get you to shell out and to keep shelling out on a regular basis. It’s just as much a lie as when they told you what a stud you were.

If prostitution is not socially deviant behaviour why don’t we encourage all our daughters to grow up to be hookers? Why don’t mothers pray & wish for their sons to all marry trollops? Why don’t most wives encourage their husbands to spend time and money on the local “working girls?”

Furthermore, why do you suppose the levels of alcohol and drug addiction is so incredibly, outrageously high, among prostitutes? Time to keep it real EarlW.

Finally, it’s my business as long as hookers and their skankie johns keep invading my property and privacy – not to mention bring down the property values and ruin the general view of my street.