Sex workers consultation day - June 30

Yes, CRIMSON COALITION is having a sex workers’ consultation day!

Brisbane 30th June 2009

The consultation day is to let sex workers know what is going on and get some feedback on what we have planned so far in our work with Queensland Health to develop a new state-wide organisation to replace SQWISI

The new organisation – United Sex Workers – will be managed and staffed by past and present sex workers to deliver education and support on sexual health and other issues relevant to sex workers.

We need a lot of past or present sex workers keen to get involved on a voluntary basis and/or provide feedback.

So a consultation day is being held in Brisbane on 30th June 2009 and we’d like you to come

We especially encourage male, transgender, Chinese and Thai sex workers to attend, as well as all you other working ladies, old and young, wherever you work!

Contact us for an information kit by June 14, 2009

Morning, afternoon tea and lunch provided / some transport costs can be reimbursed

This is a sex workers only event


Phone Candi on 0421569232 or email crimsoncoalitionqld@gmail.com

Webcast of Scarlet Alliance public symposium

The Scarlet Alliance Public Symposium has been webcast for the first time!

It was held in Brisbane in November 2008 with the topic being "nothing about us without us: recognising sex worker expertise, leadership and self-determination"

http://demos.codificastream.com/ramp/Catalog/?cid=4fed8152-12cf-4145-9654-3eb836747d9a

Can private workers in Queensland have a receptionist?

In a word - NO, not yet.

There have been a few requests for info about this recently because the State Government have decided to go ahead with the Crime and Misconduct Commission recommendations from the REGULATING OUTCALLS review which included a proposal to allow private sex workers to have a receptionist. However, the government haven't changed the law yet and there's no way of telling how it will be changed or when.

So the legal situation for private sex workers in Queensland is still that you have to work alone unless you hire a bodyguard (with a Crowd Controllers' Licence) but this bodyguard cannot place your advertisement or answer your phone or take the money.

You can also pay a driver to do outcalls.

Crimson Candi

Sexual Health Awareness Week Feb 14 - 21

Hey Sexy

Wanna get your rocks off but stay safe? Do yourself a favour and see a sex worker!

Did you know that:

• Sex workers use safer sex techniques with their clients and know all about how to use condoms, dams and lubes to maintain their own sexual health as well as their client's?
• It's against the law in Queensland for a client to ask a sex worker to provide a sexual service (vaginal sex, anal sex, oral sex) without a condom or dam?
• There has been no documented case of HIV transmission by a sex worker to a client (or vice versa) in Australia?

Sex workers are safer sexual health workers!

Contact Crimson Coalition

Email: crimsoncoalitionqld@gmail.com

Phone: Candi 0421569232

PO Box 2470 New Farm Qld 4005

We especially want to hear from sex workers (past and present) who are interested in getting involved in developing a funded sex workers organisation for Queensland to replace SQWISI

Legal private worker harassed by neighbours

The story below from a local Briz rag on 14th January has been picked up by wider Briz media, including the Courier Mail.

We got a call to make a comment on ABC 612 radio (20th January) where I said that:

* people in Queensland needed to realise that it has always been legal for a private person to do sex work from their own residence or from an apartment/hotel room that they rent for the purpose and that the current laws which protect private sex workers from discrimination have been in place for over 5 years now (Queensland Anti-discrimination Act 1991 - 2003 reprint)

* people, including landlords and neighbours, who try to deny accommodation to or harass private sex workers in any way might well find themselves facing the Anti-discrimination Tribunal.


The Brisbane City Council has urged people to contact them if they have concerns - Crimson Coalition urges sex workers who feel they are being discriminated against to contact us and we will tell you how you can make a complaint to the Anti-Discrimination Tribunal.

Crimson Candi xx

http://quest-news.whereilive.com.au/news/story/this-is-not-a-brothel1/

This is not a brothel!
Quest Newspapers
14 Jan 09 @ 06:36am by JOHN SIMPSON
Brothel fury ... Ron Viney

MEN looking for sex are making the lives of residents in a quiet Acacia Ridge street a misery. Homeowners in (STREET NAME REMOVED) are pestered around the clock by callers mistaking their houses for a sex worker’s address. And they appear powerless to stop the legal business conducted in their street. Individual sex workers are deemed sole operators and are permitted under Queensland law to conduct a business from a private premises. Resident Ron Viney said he feared for the safety of his wife and daughter. “On several occasions they’ve had people knocking on the door (asking about sex) (Like they wouldn't just ask for the name of the person that they are expecting to see, would the neighbours get upset if someone came to the wrong door if it was a hairdresser/lawyer/massage therapist next door? - Crimson Candi) A lot of these guys are on drugs. (What?!! the clients are on drugs?? where did that come from - Crimson Candi) That concerns me a lot.” Another resident said: “None of us really like it being here, but what can you do?” Another said: “We know guys come around all the time. We’ve complained about it. The police said it’s legal.” “We get sick of the traffic coming up here. We’ve got kids living in the street so it’s not really appropriate for them to see men coming out doing up their zips. (Excuse me?? They leave the premises doing up their zips? What a crock! Most clients would take a shower and get dressed and leave like a 'normal' person - Crimson Candi) It’s not very nice,” a resident said. The Southern Star asked Queensland Police for responses to several questions, including if it was aware of the business or the complaints made against it. Instead we received this statement: “Whilst any police officer can investigate a complaint from a member of the public relating to prostitution, the QPS Prostitution Enforcement Task Force conducts specialised investigations of this nature.” The Southern Star approached the female occupant of the house in question and she denied she was running a prostitution business. However, a call to a phone number in an “adult services” classified advertisement was answered by a sex worker who confirmed she was based at the address. A Brisbane City Council spokesman said the council had not received any complaints about the business, but said that any residents who had concerns could contact them on 3403 8888.

Queensland nurses are also sex workers

Check it out - apparently the Health Minister, Stephen Robertson, is "disappointed" that Queensland nurses are taking on other jobs because he says they are among some of the highest paid in the country.

How about being proud that Queensland sex workers are so highly skilled?

Crimson Candi

http://news.ninemsn.com.au/national/702530/fed-up-nurses-turning-to-prostitution-reports

News from New Zealand

Mystery client focus of murder inquiry

The Press Christchurch

Police are now focusing on the last client to pick up slain prostitute Mellory Manning on the night she disappeared and want to speak to a young male seen near where her body was dumped in the Avon.

Please read from Monday's news paper

http://www.stuff.co.nz/4800033a6009.html>> http://www.stuff.co.nz/4800034a6009.html>

'Sex Slave' Hairdresser gets 5 years

Well it doesn't sound like Keith Dobie was a very nice guy - probably got his come-uppance, as they say, but I don't know about this 'sex slavery' hype.

Let's just hope the Thai workers manage to make some money before they get sent home now that the trial is over!

Crimson Candi

http://www.news.com.au/heraldsun/story/0,21985,24837641-662,00.html

The Herald Sun 23/12/08

A GOLD Coast hairdresser who forced two Thai women into sexual slavery to pay off debts to violent loan sharks has been jailed for five years.Keith William Dobie, 48, was the first person in Australia charged with people trafficking under new laws brought in two years ago to clamp down on international sex slavery, the Courier Mail reports. The former hairdresser yesterday pleaded guilty in the Brisbane District Court to two counts of people trafficking, one count of handling proceeds of crime, and four counts of presenting false documents. Dobie lured the women to Australia to work as prostitutes with promises of easy money and generous working conditions, but turned into an abusive and demanding pimp after they arrived, the court was told. Prosecutor Peter Flanagan, SC, said Dobie secured visas for the women by presenting false immigration documents to Australian officials in Thailand. He said Dobie was desperate to pay back money he had borrowed from Gold Coast loan sharks to finance his hairdressing salon and gambling addiction. The women were both mothers and saw the trip as an opportunity to set up their families financially, Mr Flanagan said. But on arriving on the Gold Coast, the women were forced to see as many as five clients a day, even when they were in physical pain from frequent sex and were menstruating. Mr Flanagan said Dobie earned up to $1000-a-day from the women, giving them the use of a room and $20 dollars a day for food and expenses in return. He sent as little as $600 in total to each of the womens' families. Mr Flanagan said Dobie was verbally and physically abusive, telling one of the women she "had to work whether she liked it or not", and told them they would be arrested by immigration officials if they tried to escape. Judge Leanne Clare told Dobie his treatment of the women had been "particularly demeaning and callous". "Your true intention was to make as much money from these women by working them as often as possible so you could pay off your own debts," she said. "In your numerous appearances before me I have seen no indication of remorse for your crimes or the suffering they have caused." She sentenced him to five years. He will be eligible for parole after serving 22 months.