Operation Quest - What do you think?

AARRRGH

Hey,

So the gardai are clamping down hard on lap dancing clubs and escort agencies in their so called "operation quest".

What do you think of this?

Personally, I think there is nothing wrong with lap dancing clubs or escort agencies as long as everyone is there by choice.

Last Sunday the Sunday World published a bull**** story about a prostitute being decapitated in Ireland. This is not going to help matters.

When will Ireland get with the times and realise sex is NOT evil and that some people want to pay for it/make a living from it.

Kazu

sounds like you work in the trade is this personal knowledge

flogen

I dont think they're cracking down on the clubs because of the belief that sex is evil, rather that some lap dancing clubs here have a reputation to a) be full of illegal immigrants and possible slaves of the industry and/or b) that for the right price, they can be more than just dancing clubs, if you know what I mean

I welcome any crackdown on these activities, I have no problem with lap dancing clubs, and something like this will help clean it up and make it an honest business rather than the retreat of criminals and human trafficers.

flogen

Sleepy

I think the sooner we get rid of the Catholic guilt the better. Paying for sex isn't my bag, but if someone else wants to, where's the harm? Were we to legalise and regulate the industry (and it is a multi-million euro industry) it would ensure the safety for both the girls and their punters.

Sure it might outrage the moral minority but tbh, fúck 'em. No one has the right to tell another what to do with their life as long as they're not harming others. If anyone wants to read more on this from the horse's mouth (so to speak) http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/ is the blog of a London call girl and has some interesting views on it...

fiacha

i think their focus is more on the people who are making a lot of money out of these girls.

not sure if regulating it would make a difference. no doubt the legal brothels etc would be a lot more expensive than the illegal ones, and I'm sure a lot of people would be happy to save money.

at least if it was legalised the men/women involved would have to get regular health checks and would have rights etc.. although i'm sure they would get screwed by Benefit In Kind...

ballooba

Sleepy wrote:

If anyone wants to read more on this from the horse's mouth (so to speak) http://belledejour-uk.blogspot.com/ is the blog of a London call girl and has some interesting views on it...

That thing is a piss take.

Was written by some author who got a prize for the most embarassing love scene in a book. As i he described it like you would washing the dishes or something.

He started 'belledujour' to prove he could write or something.

jill_valentine

Personally, I'm all for a safe regulated industry. It's there, it'll always be there, the sooner we all admit it, the safer everybody will be. Sure the legal ones might be more expensive, but if you're paying for sex anyway, wouldn't you go that extra mile to be sure?

Sleepy

I doubt it would be all that much more expensive for the punters to be honest. As it stands, a lot of these girls are working under pimps that have smiggled them into the country illegally etc. With the facts that their job is illegal, they are probably here illegally in the first place and that they can't compete in a genuine market as those with lower prices can hardly advertise the fact I'd imagine that, if anything, prices would probably drop somewhat.

Operation Quest, to my mind is a disgraceful waste of tax-payers money. The Gardai's resources would be far better spent patrolling the streets at night, carparks near bars for drink drivers (prevention being better than another death for the statistics), investigating real crimes than playing moral watchdog. Yes, you can argue that many of the dancers/prostitutes don't have work permits but in reality, are we naieve enough to believe that this is why the guards are clamping down? Balderdash. They're clamping down on the clubs because Mr Martin's wife doesn't like the fact that these places exist...

Flukey

A lot of people are making an awful lot of money out of this at the expense of often vulnerable people, who are also putting their own lives in danger. That is why it needs to be cracked down upon and regulated to some extent.

jill_valentine

Sleepy wrote:

Operation Quest, to my mind is a disgraceful waste of tax-payers money. The Gardai's resources would be far better spent patrolling the streets at night, carparks near bars for drink drivers (prevention being better than another death for the statistics), investigating real crimes than playing moral watchdog. Yes, you can argue that many of the dancers/prostitutes don't have work permits but in reality, are we naieve enough to believe that this is why the guards are clamping down? Balderdash. They're clamping down on the clubs because Mr Martin's wife doesn't like the fact that these places exist...

Well said. Yes, I think you're right. Though there is a certain degree of dangerous crime associated with the industry, resources would be better spent elsewhere.

monkeyfudge

I think their needs to be a clear division made between lap dancing and prostitution. As they are very different things.

The majorty of the girls in the lapdancing clubs are from the new EU ascension states. And they make very good money at this job too, in Lapellos, the girl gets 50% of each dance, a dance costs €30 and lasts about 4 minutes. There is no exploitation going on.. at least in any of the reputatble clubs. I don't know enough about the new ones that have cropped up recently, but the new one on Dame Street, Le Paradis, has alot of English and Irish girls in it. (This makes it pretty lame actually). But there certainly no chance of getting 'more than just a dance'.

And if you're dating a lapdancer, she has to actually be very carefull, as the club would sack her if she was found to be involved with a customer.

A friend of mine was planning on getting married to a lapdancing girl from Croatia, so that she could continue to work here. She was going to pay him €5000 for this... personally I thought taking the money was a bit tacky..

Sleepy

To be honest, there's **** all difference between lap-dancing and prostitution. Both sell services of a sexual nature. One gives better value for money, granted, but they're still both positions within the sex industry.

To take the argument into a slightly different area (but to my mind still the same as it's simply another position within the sex industry): why is it legal for a studio to pay an "actor" and "actress" to fuck on film for a "lovers' guide" video or the like, whereas it's illegal for some sad, lonely and probably quite pathetic person to pay someone to fuck him?

The only difference I can see is down to the fact that the studio and actors pay tax, which I'm sure most prostitutes would be happy to do to avoid the persecution of the law.

Kone

I just have one comment to make...........

GET IT ALL OUT IN THE OPEN!

Prostituation, Lapdancing, Drug Use, Pornography, EVERYTHING!

then we can deal with it in an mature adult manner without the fear of prosecution or recrimination from big scary gangsters.....

monkeyfudge

Sleepy wrote:

To be honest, there's **** all difference between lap-dancing and prostitution.

Well, Prostitution is illegal and run by some pretty vicious criminals. And we're talking about a Garda operation that is targeting them both at the same time, they might as well tag on book clubs as well.. some of those books could be pornographic in nature.

Gurgle

Kone wrote:

I just have one comment to make...........

GET IT ALL OUT IN THE OPEN!

Prostituation, Lapdancing, Drug Use, Pornography, EVERYTHING!

then we can deal with it in an mature adult manner without the fear of prosecution or recrimination from big scary gangsters.....

What he said!

Drugs and prostitution are illegal for the old puritan reasons. If legalised they could be regulated & controlled, like porn & lapdancing.
(No more soap then Kone)

Sleepy

monkeyfudge wrote:

Well, Prostitution is illegal and run by some pretty vicious criminals. And we're talking about a Garda operation that is targeting them both at the same time, they might as well tag on book clubs as well.. some of those books could be pornographic in nature.

That's the most facetious argument I've ever read on boards (and that's saying something)

monkeyfudge

Sleepy wrote:

That's the most facetious argument I've ever read on boards (and that's saying something)

Fair enough. I wrote the book club statement while I was rushing off to a meeting and didn't quite think through the analogy.

But the fact remains that the only illegal activity taking place in a lapdancing club is that some non-national girls might be working without a permit. And this is a completely different crime to prostitution, and certainly shouldn't be part of the same operation. McDonalds has far more non-nationals working in it anyway.

Johnny Versace

OK - I know for a fact pretty much every Asian in Burger King is illegal. In spite of this, the Gardai have not set up "operation hamburger".

Lots of people in India read college advertisements from "Dublin Business School" advertising quality education with small classes, but when they get here they are stuck in completely overcrowded class rooms with sub standard educations. There is no "operation university".

The Gardai are taking a stance against lap dancing clubs and brothels because they think it is immoral.

It's exactly like when they recently tried to get pub closing hours brought much lower on a Sunday. The Gardai know Sunday night is gay night in Dublin. This move again was a moral one.

As someone said earlier, LET'S GET THINGS OUT INTO THE OPEN. Legalising and controlling is the way to go. Trying to put a stop to something wanted by the punter and wanted by the prostitute will never work.

For people interested in the law about prostitution in Ireland - http://www.irishstatutebook.ie/1993_20.html.

[slight edit here]

...

As you can tell, I think prostitution is fine once all parties involved are in agreement.

Tommy Vercetti

Kone wrote:

I just have one comment to make...........

GET IT ALL OUT IN THE OPEN!

mmm outdoor sex

nah you're right though, although when I look into my crystal ball, I can see a return flight to Amsterdam, couple of whores and some drugs is cheaper than 10 minutes with a legal Dublin ho.

Blisterman

Prostitution, why is it illegal?
It's fine to give away sex, but to pay for it is Illegal? What else is like that?