Eideard

A dominatrix has won a landmark legal case which could overturn Canada’s prostitution laws after she argued that banning brothels puts women at risk.

Terri-Jean Bedford, 50, ran a brothel called the Bondage Bungalow, which was raided and closed by police in the 1990s. She claimed the country’s laws were forcing sex workers to walk the streets and leaving them vulnerable to violent predators.

Ontario Superior Court Justice Susan Himel ruled in her favour and said prostitutes’ constitutional rights to “life, liberty and security” under the Canadian Charter of Rights and Freedoms were being violated.

In a 131-page ruling, the judge said: “I find that the danger faced by prostitutes greatly outweighs any harm which may be faced by the public.”

The ruling “decriminalises” prostitution by allowing for pimping, the operation of brothels and open communication between sex workers and clients.

Following her court victory, which was unexpected, Miss Bedford cracked a riding whip at a press conference and said: “It’s a great day for Canada. It’s like emancipation day for sex trade workers.

“How am I going to celebrate? I’m going to spank some ass.”

Technically, prostitution isn’t illegal in Canada. In practice, federal and provincial law surrounds the practice with sufficient roadblocks to make any trade illegal.

And, yes, I hope you didn’t think Canada’s Conservative government was going to let this decision stand without an appeal.

The Germans have always been one step ahead of the rest of us when it comes to the environment. They are European champions when it comes to wind power, recycling rates and installing combined heat and power boilers. The German chancellor, Angela Merkel, is a former environment minister.

So it should come as no surprise to learn that a German businessman has pushed the concept of green rebates to the next logical level: Thomas Goetz, owner of a Berlin brothel called Maison d’Envie, is currently offering a discount to any customer who arrives by bicycle or public transport.

“The recession has hit our industry hard,” Goetz told Reuters. “Obviously we hope that the discount will attract more people. It’s good for business, it’s good for the environment – and it’s good for the girls…”

In the name of research, I had a quick look around the brothel’s website to verify that the offer really does exist, and, yes, there it is in black and white. “The Maison d’Envie offers one major advantage over other establishments: it is perfectly accessible by public transport. Both S-and U-Bahn stations are within walking distance and well-maintained bicycle paths also allow for a more environmentally friendly journey. And because we want to reward your green commitment, we have – and it’s unique in Berlin – an environmental discount.” It’s the sort of statement you might expect to hear from your local council, not an establishment – very much legal in Germany – that offers the services of “nice, motivated models” in a “very pleasant, almost family atmosphere”.

It seems to be working, though, as Goetz says the offer is attracting three to five new customers every day, adding that the incentive has helped to reduce traffic and parking congestion in the local area.

Is this the kind of economic incentive required to get you to act, uh, Greener?

House of Divine in glamorous Milton Keynes tweeted to say that Lucia and Karol were working on Sunday while another message offered a “Twitter Discount”. The operation has been exposed in The Sun newspaper, which trumpets: “A BROTHEL is touting its services via social networking site TWITTER.”

Since “adult services” have previously managed to use other communications systems — postal services, telephones, shop windows, email, the web, advertisements in tabloid newspapers — this shouldn’t come as a huge surprise, but brothel stories are probably good for raising your circulation (fnar fnar).

Whether Twitter is good for business is another matter; the @DivineMK account only has 72 followers at the time of writing, and some of them don’t look like potential customers. Since any Twitter user can see who is following an account, this is hardly private. An email circular would provide a more useful and more confidential information network…

The Sun briefly conveyed its outrage with a quote: “Lib-Dem MP Julia Goldsworthy labelled the brothel’s use of Twitter ‘cynical and inappropriate’.” However, @jgoldsworthy — MP for Falmouth and Camborne, which is some way from Milton Keynes — wasn’t outraged enough to comment on her own Twitter account or, so far, her own web site. Nor has she taken up my invitation to DM me.

Har!

Authorities in central Taiwan have turned off the red light at the county’s last legal brothel after the death of its pimp aged 87. Ai-Le was the last legal brothel in Nantou county in central Taiwan, and police revoked its permit because the 48-year-old business could not be transferred.

Prostitution has been illegal in Taiwan since 1997, and licensing of new brothels stopped in 1974, but isolated illegal brothels can be found all over the island. Brothels licensed prior to 1974 were allowed to keep operating.

The closure effectively leaves Ai-Le’s two prostitutes, aged 40 and 50, jobless.

Hookers that old should be working in Florida, anyway.