PERB hits the national wire services

[Makhno]

Doug Alexandser's artice which appeared in yesterday's Vancouver Sun is on Canwests national wire service. An abbreviated version was published in today's Edmonton Journal (see below). PERB is mentioned.

Neighbourhood microbrothels hard to bust, police say

Doug Alexander
Vancouver Sun; CanWest News Service
Thursday, September 16, 2004

VANCOUVER - They're called microbrothels, and they may be coming to a neighbourhood near you.

They're run out of houses, condos and apartment buildings in residential neighbourhoods. They use Asian women, some in the country illegally. They're highly mobile operations that, at any sign of trouble, can shut down on a moment's notice and rise like a phoenix in another location.

These elusive operations are bringing the sex trade to new neighbourhoods, angering advocacy groups who link them to human trafficking, and frustrating police, who claim they don't have the resources to fight them.

Microbrothels that employ Asian women are a growing phenomenon across North America and are linked to human trafficking rings. However, a Simon Fraser University criminologist who has studied prostitution says neighbourhood bawdy houses are nothing new.

"The truth is, most people do not recognize the prostitution that is going on in their midst on a daily basis," said John Lowman.

"The imagination has this lineup of men coming to the front door and winding down the street," he says. "It's not like that ... the truth is most people don't even know they're living next door to one when they are."

It's a crime in Canada to operate a brothel -- defined in the Criminal Code as "keeping a common bawdy-house" -- and to entice persons into such places for prostitution. Canadian laws also make it illegal to live off prostitution or conceal people in a bawdy house.

Last month, Vancouver police raided a microbrothel in a well-kept, nondescript ranch-style home guarded by security cameras. Seven Korean women were arrested and eventually deported.

In Richmond, B.C., RCMP busted four brothels in downtown apartment buildings -- all employing Malaysians in Canada on visitors' visas -- between 1998 and 2000.

RCMP and police suggest that much of this is related to organized criminal networks that operate here and in Asia.

The Internet offers a glimpse into this hidden world.

One website, Pacific Escort Review Board, has a thriving discussion board where clients openly swap information about Vancouver's sex industry.

The RCMP notes that in countless studies and interviews with prostitutes around the world, more than half of them say they were seduced into the business.

© The Edmonton Journal 2004

 

[Commander Chode]

This one is worse then his longer Vancouver Sun piece. It's boiling over with fear inducing language, the minimal substance evaporated away.

Yes, we here openly trade information. Mr. Alexander has looted this board for his own profit. Nothing against the law about it, but it is against the spirit in which the information was published in the beginning.

Now that you have finished your 'research', go clear cut somewhere else. I hear there are thriving internet groups where they openly swap information about the breeding and care of disease transmitting cats.

 

[_Ruffian_]

we should find the bunghole who wrote the article and scare the $h!t out of him somehow.

 

[dirk_dog]

thats a good one there guy.

you complain about the publicity and then threaten the guy.

im sure you or the mods will delete the post. but you better hope that the reporter or anyone else didnt read it or record it.

wait till the story comes out in saturdays paper about your threats. especially when they link to your home page.

now thats funny.

we should find the bunghole who wrote the article and scare the $h!t out of him somehow.

 

[Sultan]

Thanks Makhno. Just yet another example of how the corporate controlled news media and the police work together to whip up public hysteria against people they don't like, whether it's prostitutes, poor people, panhandlers, social activists or people who use or sell politically incorrect drugs.

In the case of prostitution, it's a hold-over from a snivelling 19th century moralism.

A recent series of articles appeared in the Calgary Sun attempting to "expose' the evil sins of prostitution in the Domincan Republic. This series was even sillier, with constant reference to 'girls' and 'children' yet the ages cited were no younger than 17.

I hope people realize that stories in the mass media don't just appear by accident, they don't fall from the sky and they are not the only events that happen that day. Stories are carefully selected and chosen, and then written in such a way as to reinforce and reflect the morals and stereotypes of the status quo. And this refers to the actual news articles as well as editorials or opinion columns. It's ALL edtorial.

Is it any wonder that the public hates corporate news journalists and always rates them in survey after survey on the same level of trustworthyness or below as that of politicians ?

 

[KingGeorge]

The Sun article trots out all the media cliches about the SP business -- organized crime, people smuggling, slave trade. Yet, the threads about microbrothels on PERB all talk about women who are here on tourist or student visas and who say they are working the trade for a few months to make some cash to take home.

The turnover of SP's at microbrothels seems to bear this out. From all reports, most come and go within a few weeks.

Too bad the Sun can't find some reporters who will get up from their desks and do some real reporting.

 

[Commander Chode]

Please don't threaten anyone with violence, physical or otherwise. Not only is it against the law, but it doesn't help our case.

Publishing his photo is also not a good idea. Even though he has it up for the world to see, putting it in a thread where someone has hinted on taking actions against is inappropriate.

I also want to point out that Mr. Alexander's article does touch on some serious issues. Human slavery, illegal entrance into Canada, and forced prostitution are all very real problems and should not be trivialized.

My guess is that when Mr. Alexander went to write on these topics he soon found out that they were very well reported.

So what's a hip writer to do make sure his article is not buried in the back of the paper? Find an way to spice up these well reported topics. In Mr. Alexender's case he found two.

First is the oldest trick in the book. He cranked up the fear factor. Fear sells.

Second is that he looted PERB. He didn't have to talk to anyone, and didn't have to apply any journalism skills. Read and regurgitate.

When he combined the two his headline changed from "LE unable to keep up with human slave rings and forced prostitution" to "Microbrothals are in your neighbourhood, be afraid, be suspicious".

The problem is not the microbrothals. Prostitution has always occurred in residential neighbourhoods, and always will. The problems are human slavery and forced prostitution. I take exception to Mr. Alexender not staying focused on the real problems, and his misuse of information found on PERB.

He's just a guy trying to get by. He just happened to be the first to exploit PERB to get his article published. If he didn't do it someone else would have.

 

[stryker]

Well said commander

 

[Phoenix]

wait till the story comes out in saturdays paper about your threats. especially when they link to your home page.

LMFAO, I see _Ruffian_'s homepage link is gone.
You chickenshit.

 

[Calgary69]

All these articles do is try to stirrup shit but what the writers (won't call them reporters cause they really are not) fail to realize is the side effects that writing the article causes. Those that feel its morally wrong to participate in this hobby will pretty much remain with those feelings. Those that participate in the hobby will pretty much continue with their line of thinking.

Where people like Mr. Alexander fail to realize is the effect they have on those that are sitting on the fence. If you are curious about this hobby but never knew where to go for information about this hobby now know where to get the information need. They may come to PERB or other boards like it, lurk for a while and get information. By hanging around here getting to know the terminology and the "persona's" on the board it becomes easier to make the decision to enter into the hobby. Had they not found the information, they probably would not have started.

Many moons ago, I became curious about this hobby but never really knew anything about it. Thanks to news articles in the paper and news reports on tv, I knew where to go. Crusin the strip(s) lead to trying and many moons later........ it gets harder to quit. It took some doing to finally retire from this hobby.

 

[Fred Zed]

Second is that he looted PERB. He didn't have to talk to anyone, and didn't have to apply any journalism skills. Read and regurgitate.

He did talk to me - he did not publish what I said.
I found that odd ( but not surprising )

 

[HaywoodJabloemy]

The National Post has also printed a version the article.

The 'juicy stuff' is news and the rest isn't. A lot of SPs and guys doing business without any problem isn't news because it's not interesting, much like a million planes taking off and landing safely are not news, but one crashing is.

It's pointless to contact any media people, particularly writers, who hold an opposite viewpoint to yours. You're not going to change their minds, and they will probably make you look bad.