Will Probably Impact On Mammoliti's Plans For Toronto Islands...

Wednesday, December 21, 2011

Amsterdam: an end to the red light district?

It may not spell the immediate demise of the louche British stag weekend in Amsterdam, but the Dutch capital has decided to crack down on the brothels and cannabis shops of its infamous red light district.A ten-year scheme, known as Project 1012 for the city postcode containing the red light district, kicked off in 2008 with the aim of making substantial cuts to the number of window brothels and drugs shops. But it's only now that the city is beginning to see some tangible results.200 of a total of 480 window brothels are slated to go. The city has managed to close down half of these; a zoning and compulsory purchase plan will be drawn up to tackle the next 100. Of the 76 cannabis shops in the area (usually known as "coffeeshops"), 26 will close their doors.There is a feeling in Amsterdam that the City Council is finally determined to get to grips with a burgeoning sex, drugs and money laundering industry in the red light district increasingly controlled by eastern European mafias, particularly from Bulgaria and the Ukraine.With the encouragement of the authorities, in recent months reputable entrepreneurs have started to invest in the area. Warmoesstraat, traditionally a sleazy district, now boasts a deli, florist and baker.Meanwhile, ordinary Amsterdammers have been shocked by an upsurge in cases of human trafficking of girls for the sex industry. There is a strong sense in the city the exploitative reality of the red light district has little to do with traditional Dutch tolerance."There had been warning signs starting in the 1990s that organised crime was basically using the area as its living room," says Lodewijk Asscher, deputy mayor of Amsterdam and the head of Project 1012."Amsterdam has always been a free and tolerant city, but we want to place more emphasis on museums and culture. We want to attract more families and encourage visitors to spend an extra night here."The vast majority of tourists spend no more than two nights in the city. Many stag parties – known locally as "vertical" tourists – contribute little to the city's formal economy.In the very heart of medieval Amsterdam, the red light district also feels like a missed opportunity. Its canals, particularly the parallel Oudezijds Voorburgwal and Achterburgwal, are flanked by some beautiful seventeenth-century townhouses. And in spite of the sex and drugs industry, they have not suffered from rampant commercialism to the same degree as nearby Damrak which – with its amusement arcades, fast food joints and exchange booths – presents a poor first impression to a visitor stepping off a train at Centraal Station.A good example of change in the red light district is the square around the thirteenth-century Oude Kerk, the city's oldest church, which was the venue for The International Organ Festival that finished in September.The Oude Kerk is ringed by brothel windows and a cannabis shop and, since April, a new and surprising arrival: the 106-cover Anna restaurant (www.restaurantanna.nl/en), which serves dishes such as truffle risotto and sautéed monkfish in a sleek, minimalist setting.Its owner, local entrepreneur and former DJ Michiel Kleiss says that he likes the "edge" of the red light district but feels the area "could do with a better mix"."Gentrifying the red light district is not the intention," says Kleiss. "But things have got out of hand. The British should be welcome here in the neighbourhood to have a drink, but stag parties are not only tacky and sometimes overwhelming, they are also a waste of a great medieval city.

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Mainstream Media Has Moved On From Senate Page To Dominitrix! Congrats...

...welcome home Christie

A frank talk about the sex trade is long overdue

Christie Blatchford: My new friend, who is the only working girl I know, should be down at the Ontario Court of Appeal this week. 'People say they don’t want us next door,' she says. 'Well, we’re already there'

National Post editorial board: Fixing our broken prostitution laws

How Do Ensure They Are Not Exploited...

...by biker gangs, gangstas and criminals associated with East European and Oriental organized crime.

Globe editorial


Liberalize prostitution laws to protect women

Allowing prostitutes to use drivers and bodyguards, to screen their clients and to work indoors will dramatically increase their safety. Apr 10, 2011 8:14PM EDT 0

More Power To This Soccor Mom...

...and I will wait for an invitation to her child's school on Career Day! She might be able to assure me that the woman plying her profession in my apartment building, especially if she is from eastern Europe, is not being exploited or the young girl giving me a manicure at the local mall chose her career and is free to leave and become a soccer mom.

Today’s letters: What is good for these women is good for us all


Re: Prostitution Ruling Stayed In Ontario, Dec. 3.

Today I am a soccer mom. I am also a former prostitute, with over 20 years of experience in the sex industry. Canadian laws do nothing to curb prostitution, as they are rarely enforced and the penalties for “communicating for the purpose in public” are laughable (a conditional discharge or small fine).

If these laws are struck down, the idea that hundreds of young women are suddenly going to take to the streets to sell their bodies is ridiculous. Street prostitution is confined to the margins of society. Mentally ill, drug addicted and homeless — people who are not terribly concerned about spending a couple hours in jail for selling sex in order to get through one more day.

The vast majority of prostitutes today work indoors. There is a brothel in nearly every strip mall, and an incall spot in nearly every apartment building. You will never really know they are next door, because it’s bad for business to be anything other than extremely discreet. Read More »

Anyone Got An Answer?

John Ivison: Try as the government might, the refugees will keep coming

Brian Hutchinson: Making Canada a little less alluring

By Brian Hutchinson

DELTA, B.C. — Who wouldn’t trade their Third World hell for this? A healthy river, full of life, bending through a modern, free metropolis. A background of new towers and green mountains. Crisp and clear autumn air; brilliant sunshine.

It might almost have seemed cruel, using such an inviting scene to launch a proposed immigration and refugee system crackdown.

Almost. Tied up behind two tough-talking federal Cabinet ministers Thursday was the Ocean Lady, that infamous, non-seaworthy rust bucket.

...and it would appear LEGAL immigrants are paying the price:

Immigration waiting times cause frustration


Fri Oct 22 2010

Ottawa should “equalize” processing times of sponsorships of parents and grandparents, says a grassroots advocacy group.


Read More »

Cutting Thru All The Crap...

...pimping becoming a legalized cottage industry and CRA And McGoonty will want their pound of flesh.

Coming Up: Post columnists Barbara Kay and Lorne Gunter on prostitution laws


Tomorrow at 11 a.m. EST, Barbara Kay and Lorne Gunter will join host Matt Gurney to discuss and debate Canada’s prostitution laws and what the changes mean for Canada. Is sex work ever respectable? Should the Tories appeal the Court ruling decriminalizing the world’s oldest profession? Watch FullComment.com for a link to the live debate tomorrow morning, and join us with your questions and comments in real-time.

See you all at 11!

The Law Is An Ass...

Sex workers still not protected

Despite admiring the courage of Ontario Superior Court Justice Susan Himel for striking down some of Canada's prostitution laws ­-- leaving judicial authorities across the country begging the feds to follow through on their plan to appeal -- we must take her to task for her naivety.

The Winners...
* Pimps
*Madams
*Human Traffickers

Victimless Crime?

...ask business owners in areas where street prostitution is prevelent, ask the spouses of johns and janes, ask the immigrants who are brought to this country specifically to dance in strip clubs and massage parlors, etc.

Hogtown a hooker haven?


For a good time, call the number below. Ask for Mikey. Reasonable rates.

Cops rail against prostitution ruling

By TAMARA CHERRY, Toronto Sun

Toronto-area cops who use key anti-prostitution laws to crack down on exploitive pimps said Tuesday it will be business as usual until someone tells them to stop doing their jobs.

Barbara Kay: The end of prostitution laws as we know them

Prostitution ruling will make things worse for many


Corbella: Far be it from me to argue with a dominatrix about anything, let alone prostitution. But something Terri-Jean Bedford said Tuesday about Canada's anti-prostitution laws needs to be whipped into shape, or at least bound and exposed as partly untrue. MORE...