Porn Stars and the Naked Truth

Women in the industry are healthy rather than exploited, claims new study

Female porn stars are psychologically as healthy or healthier than other women, according to a new study, which challenges widely held views about women in the adult entertainment business.

Adult entertainers were found to have higher self-esteem, a better quality of life and body image, and to be more positive, with greater levels of spirituality. They also had higher levels of sexual satisfaction and, perhaps unsurprisingly, many more partners than other women.

The American researchers, who report their findings in the Journal of Sex Research, said they found no evidence to support the "damaged goods hypothesis" that actresses involved in the porn industry come from desperate backgrounds and are less psychologically healthy compared with typical women.

"Some descriptions of actresses in pornography have included attributes such as drug addiction, homelessness, poverty, desperation and being victims of sexual abuse," they said. "Some have made extreme assertions, such as claiming that all women in pornography were sexually abused as children. Stereotypes of those involved in adult entertainment have been used to support or condemn the industry and to justify political views on pornography, although the actual characteristics of actresses are unknown because no study on this group of women has been conducted."

The psychologists compared data taken from 177 adult entertainment actresses with a sample of women matched for age, marital status and other factors. The actresses, all of whom had been paid to work on at least one X-rated movie, ranged in age from 18 to 50, with an average career in the industry of 3.5 years. More than one-third were either married or in a serious relationship, and 44 per cent were single.

One of the main claims by commentators on the industry has been that actresses have frequently experienced sexual abuse in childhood, but the results show no statistically significant difference between the two groups of women.

The study also shows that the actresses sleep better and have more energy. Almost 70 per cent gave enjoyment of sex full marks, compared with 33 per cent of the other women; and they had first had sex at a lower age: 15 rather than 17. On the negative side, industry workers had a history of more drug and alcohol use, and problems possibly linked to sensation-seeking personalities. The study was undertaken by researchers at Shippensburg University, Texas Woman's University and the Adult Industry Medical Healthcare Foundation.

Cynthia Graham, senior lecturer in health psychology at Southampton University, said: "This study really challenges views about women who engage in sex work and the porn industry. Although the study had limitations, it is one of very few that has included matched controls."

The feminist commentator Dawn Foster criticised the study: "It is dangerous to generalise about a huge industry: women who are successful and in control of their careers in one pocket don't speak for women in the less scrutinised parts. The study's main objective seems to be to prove that not all women in porn are exploited: no one has argued that. But glossing over the exploitative aspects helps no one."

Source: The Indendent

Porn-actor teacher moved to new school

A German teacher has been suspended and moved to a different school after students discovered he had starred as a “luscious lad” in two porn films easily accessible on the internet. 

The man, who the Fuldaer Zeitung said had been teaching at the Richard-Müller school in Fulda, Hesse, only admitted his involvement after the school director told him he could be clearly identified in the films, one of which was called “Luscious Lad” after the teacher’s character. 

Although the teacher had not broken any laws, as a public servant, he has a duty to behave in an upstanding fashion in his free time as well as while at work. 

A disciplinary investigation will be held into his activities, which is likely to result in a fine and an official note of disapproval. 

He will be transferred to a different school in another town, the paper said, and will start working there from Monday.

“This is an unpleasant situation not only for the other teachers, students and parents, but also for him,” said Michael von Rüden, head of the local education authority.

Source: The Local/DPA/hc

UN report: China lagging in sex ed

Awareness among China’s 161 million 15-24-year-olds is poor, while sex education and services are said to be inadequate. 

China has a lot of work to do if it wants to provide adequate sexual health services for its 161 million 15- to 24-year-olds. A recent report funded by the United Nations Population Fund (UNFPA), found shockingly low levels of awareness about sexual health among its young people. Experts in the field have confirmed that the policies for providing these services either aren’t in place or are not being enacted.

The UNFPA-funded report says that “at present there is no policy relating specifically to the sexual and reproductive health of youth in China”.

And although it is mandatory for sex education to be taught in Chinese schools, some people working in sexual health say provision is woefully inadequate. “Chinese schools are supposed to teach sex education but they don’t allocate enough time – they prefer to focus on academic subjects – they might give it only one hour, one session,” says Wang Chen from the charity Prevention Through Education (PTE).

Lily Liu Liqing, country director for Marie Stopes International in China, agrees: “Officially it is available in middle schools [catering for 13-15 year-olds] but if you look closely the content is very limited, and it is centred around physical development. The sexes are usually taught separately. They will tell the boys about wet dreams and the girls about periods but they won’t talk to them about contraception. They won’t talk to them about the wider issues, they don’t cover relationships, STIs [sexually transmitted infections], LGBT [lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender] etc. It’s just the mechanics. They do explain what HIV is but only in a very limited way.”

Awareness of sexual health matters is very poor. Only 4.4% of the Chinese youth surveyed for the UNFPA report were able to answer all three of the following questions correctly: Can a woman get pregnant the first time she has sex? Masturbation causes serious damage to health – true or false? Abortion affects a woman’s future pregnancies – true or false?

Despite mandatory emphasis on HIV in school sex education, the same survey also found ignorance about basic facts relating to HIV transmission. While 95% of youth had heard of HIV, when they were asked five questions such as: “Can a healthy-looking person have HIV?” or “Does using a condom reduce the risk of getting HIV?” only 14.4% of the young people polled answered them all correctly.

Another frequent complaint was about the lack of data collection. Few reliable national statistics are collected, charities say.

The national rates of teenage pregnancies, abortions, or STI infections are all unknown, which makes it difficult for agencies working with young people to ask for more assistance.

“Generally speaking we don’t have reliable statistics,” says Liu .

“This is the first thing we are really keen for the government to do,” says Wang . “Young people are more interested in sex now than they were in the past. Abortions are very common. Many things seem to be on the increase but the data just isn’t available.”

While advice and sex education is largely unavailable, abortions are easy to come by. Young people can walk into almost any clinic and get an abortion. China’s Population Communication Centre reported that more than13m abortions were carried out in China last year. Of these 65% are said to have been performed on unmarried women aged between 20 and 29. Fifty percent of the women had used no form of birth control, and 50% had undergone an abortion at least once in the past. In China, women are classified as married or unmarried and there is little provision for young women who are sexually active before marriage. Government programmes target married women, who are often put on long-term contraception.

“In every clinic you can see young people queuing up for abortions. Some of them are even in their school uniforms,” says Wang. “We desperately need better statistics so that we can get an idea of the scale of this problem and work out how to tackle it.”

There is little or no confidential advice available in most regions. If young people want advice, they will talk to their friends or seek information online. Their reliance on “unregulated and informal sources” is cited as the reason for their “low awareness” of sexual health in the UNFPA report.

PTE runs an online counselling service that allows young people to logon and go into a chat room with experienced counsellors to discuss their problems.

In China Marie Stopes focuses all of its efforts on young people, it also has a website that offers advice and runs extensive peer-to-peer education programmes.

Source: The Guardian

Why I am teaching my children about porn

The media last week was full of comment and reports that the National Association of Head Teachers had called for children to be taught about porn as part of the sex education lessons (see, for example, this report on the BBC News website). Inevitably this was misinterpreted in some quarters as something of tremendous danger to young children, as if the intention was to corrupt them and warp their understanding of the world by placing them in front of uninterrupted scenes from hard core porn movies for hours on end, and leaving it to them to work out what was right and what wasn’t.

I preferred to interpret it differently, namely as a call to pre-empt the almost inevitable, ie that children will see porn at some stage in their teenage lives, and we as their parents and teachers should prepare them to reject its harmful elements, and to put it into a values-laden context. A significant proportion of children will view porn, sometimes by accident and sometimes because through curiosity they have sought it out; they are often not prepared, however, for the fact that it can prove distressing and damaging, and they are certainly not prepared – given the vast weight of sexualised material they see around them every day – to be able to distinguish that women in porn are overwhelmingly presented in an objectified manner.

So – forewarned is forearmed. I have already started to explain to my pre-teen eldest child that there are bad things on the internet, and that despite the filters we put in place to stop this stuff getting through, he may encounter inappropriate images. I am trying to give him strategies – not to be afraid to tell, to navigate away from sites, to recognise that this is not real, and that the way in which women are portrayed is harmful to both men and to women, because everyone should be equal in the world. I am starting to explain that this is not always about love, which is what all great relationships should be built on.

There is of course a danger in telling children about porn – ie that they will go and actively seek it out. But no parent or school can ever protect children forever from the fact that bad things happen, and that women are presented in degrading ways in the internet. At least by preparing our children to know that it exists, to know that it is unreal, and to know that it can be extremely harmful to women, we stand a chance of being able to communicate to children that this is not what sex is all about, and we have the opportunity to share some of our values around sex, love, and how men and women should be treated equally in all aspects of life.

Source: Dr. Helen Wright

Is there too much hostility towards the strip club in Ampthill?

Tensions are growing in the Bedfordshire town Ampthill over plans to open a lap dancing club. 

Jonathan Vernon-Smith speaks to Matthew Dear from the we love Ampthill Campaign and Benedict Garratt a Male stripper Social and Sexual Activist.

Listen on the BBC iplayer:  http://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/p00zbp5c

Source:  BBC

Stacie Halas, Former Haydock Intermediate School Teacher Fired For Porn Star Past, Fighting To Get Her Job Back

Stacie Halas, the former junior high school science teacher who was dismissed from her position at Richard B. Haydock Intermediate School after it was revealed she was once a porn star, is fighting to get her job back, NBC Los Angeles reports.

At a hearing Thursday, Halas made an emotional plea, saying that her first porn shoot made her feel "dirty" and "shameful."She let herself down, she said, but felt trapped because she needed cash as her parents and sisters couldn't even afford groceries.

Her lawyer, Richard Schwab argued in court that Halas, 32, was done with the X-rated business when she started her job as a seventh- and eighth-grade teacher at the Oxnard, Calif. school in 2009. Furthermore, while porn might not be a respected industry, it is still legal, and Halas only resorted to the profession because she needed the money.

"I think most of us have something in our backgrounds," Schwab told NBC Los Angeles after the hearing. "And I ask anybody here to cast the first stone."

Oxnard school officials are unsympathetic. They say that they never knew she had appeared in pornographic videos until April, and that lying to her boss was grounds for dismissal, according to district spokesman Tom DeLapp. He said the fact that Halas listed being a lifeguard and working at Subway as prior employment but omitted her porn star past “is very telling.”

Schwab claims that his client’s appearance in adult films — a career that spanned from 2005 to 2007, years before her teaching job — has not hindered her ability to be an effective teacher.

School officials view the situation differently, however, and maintain Halas’ past is too much of a distraction to allow her back in the classroom. She was put on administrative leave in April and eventually fired after some students and teachers reported they had seen her in a video they described as "hardcore pornography."

The administrative panel is expected to take several days to make a decision on Halas’ case.

Two months ago, Susan Brennan, a former West Ottawa High School teacher, filed a federal employment discrimination lawsuit against the Michigan district, claiming her firing two years ago was due to her previous job as a stripper, which her then-husband had forced her into taking. The school claimed she was dismissed due to her frequent absences, failure to teach students the prescribed curriculum, failure to use acceptable grading practices and using a cell phone during class.

Source: Huffington Post

Should children be taught that porn is not real?

Many teenagers regularly view porn. But does this give them a distorted view of sex and relationships, and is there anything that can be done?

For many parents, the idea of their child seeking out, or stumbling across, online porn is the stuff of nightmares.

But with many children's bedrooms equipped with computers and the proliferation of the smartphone there are plenty of parents who would accept the inevitability.

There is no clear statistical picture as to how many children access porn online, or how often they do it.

In 2011, an EU-wide survey found that a quarter of 9-16 year-olds had seen sexual images and only 11% on websites.

Almost a third of 16-18-year-olds have seen sexual pictures on mobile phones at school at least a few times a month, a 2010 YouGov survey suggested.

The National Association of Head Teachers is calling for children to be taught, "in an age-appropriate way", about the impact of pornography as part of the national curriculum. So from a young age, about 10, children would be taught about internet safety and warned about content, while teenagers would cover the issues in more detail.

"Children are growing up in an overtly sexualised world and part of this includes easy access to pornography on the internet and they need the skills to deal with that," says policy adviser Sion Humphreys.

The key concern is that teenagers personal lives, and even their adult sex lives, will be shaped by what they have seen.

Porn is not normal sex, the campaigners note.

Cindy Gallop, an advertising executive turned web entrepreneur, has set up a site which compares the "porn world" with the "real world" of sex.

Gallop, who spoke on the subject at a TED conference in 2009, says this "ubiquity, and freedom of access to online porn, combined with a society that is reluctant to talk about sex", has resulted in "porn becoming the default sex education".

One of the campaigners' concerns is that teenage girls and boys feeling pressured to do certain things they would not otherwise choose to do.

The idea is that if many teenagers are watching porn, and a certain activity is widespread in porn, their inference is that it is widespread in people's sex lives.

Commentators have already noted how aesthetic standards spread from the world of porn. "Brazilian"-style waxing is now considered normal by many in the US and UK. Even teenagers can feel they have to conform.

Boris Johnson's sister, Rachel, made headlines when she revealed her horror at her 15-year-old daughter's desire to wax.

In 2010, a Home Office report warned the "drip-drip" exposure to sexual imagery - which included pornography, "lads' mags" and sexual imagery in advertising - was distorting young people's perceptions of themselves, encouraging boys to become fixated on being macho and dominant, and girls to present themselves as sexually available and permissive.

One 17-year-old, Rebecca, says porn changes boys' expectations of how girls should look. "Long hair, big boobs, big bum. If I had short hair, guys would be like, why short hair? You should grow it out."

Her classmate Femi says porn can worry boys too.

"Maybe you're not physically living up to what porn is showing you," he says.

Karen, 20, says when she was 16, her boyfriend and his friends watched online porn "like it was a hobby". She says he would often watch it in front of her, copying what he saw.

"I thought there was something wrong with me for not enjoying it," she says.

A survey of 16-24 year olds by the University of Plymouth and the UK Safer Internet Centre found that one in three admitted porn had affected their relationships. ChildLine said it had seen a 34% rise in the last year in the number of calls from teenagers distressed by sexual images they had viewed online.

But conclusive proof of sexual behaviour changing among teenagers is hard to come by.

At the moment, personal, social, health and economic (PSHE) education - which can include teaching on sex and relationships - is not compulsory in England, unlike other parts of the UK, although it is in the national curriculum.

Secondary school science lessons include basic biology. Beyond that it's up to schools how to address sex, and parents have the right to withdraw their children from any sex education.

So should school children be taught that pornography is not "real"?

Leonie Hodge, from the charity Family Lives - which has taught more than 7,000 students about the subject - is a firm believer that children need to learn the difference between porn and reality.

With 90% of children owning a smartphone, she says it is no longer relevant to talk about "making a baby".

"Teenagers are bombarded with pornography from a young age, you can't escape it. Its patronising to say they can't cope with the lesson because they can."

The charity uses role-play exercises to discuss with young people how they would react if they receive indecent images, and what porn makes them feel like.

But the National Union of Teachers say referring to pornography in lessons is a step too far and that it should only be discussed if students approach it.

This is the "most wired generation" ever, says Gallop.

And the 52-year-old, who has spoken of her series of relationships with men in their 20s, says her first-hand experience includes young men who derive many of their sexual attitudes from pornography, rather than anything more loving or intimate.

"I also get emails every day from young people pouring their hearts out, saying they had been utterly confused, and had no idea what was normal," she says.

But as well as teaching children about the impact of porn, Gallop thinks parents should also have more of an open dialogue with their children.

"The key is not to get embarrassed, or say something like 'nice girls don't do that', and it doesn't matter if a child doesn't really want to listen, the important thing is to keep the line of communication open," she says.

Siobhan Freegard, co-founder of Netmums, says the issue of online porn regularly comes up on forums, and there is quite a strong feeling among mothers that protecting their child from it, or educating them about it, is a parent's responsibility.

But she says mothers frequently panic when they come across porn on a computer at home.

"It can be a minefield - many don't know what to do or say. For example a single mother may struggle with teenage boys, a single father may not know how to approach the subject with his daughter. In very traditional households, they might not even talk about sex at all.

"The ideal solution is for schools and parents to work together," she says.

Source: BBC News

Porn star axed from panto role over X-rated movies

A PANTO star has been axed from his role as Prince Charming – after it was revealed that he appeared in a PORN film.

Craig Chalmers, 30, found fame after appearing on hit BBC show Any Dream Will Do in 2007, which searched for a new lead to star in Andrew Lloyd Webber’s musical Joseph and the Amazing Technicolour Dreamcoat.

Craig, from Edinburgh, since established himself as a musical star and was due to play Prince Charming at the Alhambra Theatre in Dunfermline, Scotland, this festive season.

But he was sacked and replaced with co-star James Mackenzie after bosses were tipped off by a member of public that he had starred in X-rated movies.

In the married actor’s adult film, in which he used the name Ryan Ryder, he can clearly be seen taking part in sex acts.

His profile and picture also feature on the JEM adult talent agency website.

A spokeswoman from the Alhambra Theatre said today that the content was not appropriate for someone appearing in a family show and that Chalmers had admitted his involvement.

She added: “In light of information given by the public, of which we were completely unaware, we can confirm Craig Chalmers is no longer taking part in the pantomime.”

Craig remained defiant over his X-rated career and blamed an unexpected “crossover” between the launch of his porn career and his kids' panto role this Christmas.

He said: “I’m not ashamed of it. I’m being well paid and I’m comfortable with doing it.

“The plan was to wrap my panto career up after this Christmas and concentrate on my new career.

"However there has been an unintended crossover and I’m well aware that there is a clear conflict of interest.

“I understand that a lot of people are going to judge me badly for it but at the end of the day both my friends and family are fully aware of my career and they support my decision."

Craig has previously performed with an all-male strip group called G-Force and also had a short-lived career in boyband No Reason.

He became a household name in 2007 when he finished fifth in Any Dream Will Do and was later chosen to play Joseph in the UK touring production.

Source:  The Sun

Pornography impact lessons 'should be taught' in school

School children need to be taught about the impact of porn as part of the national curriculum.

The National Association of Headteachers (NAHT) says more young people are now getting information about sex from online and sex education guidelines are out of date.

Policy adviser Sion Humphreys said: "Children are growing up in an overtly sexualised world.

"That includes easy access to porn and they need the skills to deal with it. "

"We would support children being taught in an age-appropriate way about the impact of pornography as part of a statutory Personal Social Health Education (PSHE) programme. "

He said that lessons could start from primary school but that the material would depend on age.

"Evidence suggests 10 isn't too young to start lessons on pornography, but it wouldn't be a full on lesson but the grounding would be laid down."

At the moment, PSHE, which includes sex and relationships education, is not compulsory in England unlike other parts of the UK.

Biological facts are part of all lessons in secondary school science lessons.

Beyond that parents have the right to withdraw their children from any sex education.

But The National Union of Teachers say referring to issues of porn in lessons is a step too far and that schools should only talk about it if asked by students.

The Department of Education wouldn't comment on the impact of porn in lessons, but said it's up to individul schools on how the teach sex education.

Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland also say policies should be devised by schools.

Source:  BBC

Benedict Garrett, Ex-Porn Star, Stripper, Teacher, On Fired New York Guidance Counselor: 'So Bloody What'

On the heels of New York City high school guidance counselor Tiffani Webb being fired over racy images that emerged from her modeling past over 17 years ago, HuffPost Live host Abby Huntsman hosted a discussion Monday about whether we should care about what went on in educators' pasts.

Benedict Garrett, a London-based former secondary school teacher who also stripped and starred in porn, shared the story of when his students found out about his extracurricular activities.

Garrett said he was fired from the job after students saw an ad on an adult channel featuring him.

"I was sacked from my teaching job because of the work I did outside school hours," he said. "I'm surprised by the story of this lady in New York. I assumed she was naked in these pictures, which first of all made me think, 'So bloody what. If a child sees that a woman has breasts and genitals, what a surprise?' And in fact, she's wearing underwear! I just find this whole story utterly ridiculous, I'm sorry."

Sinnamon Love, an adult film star and mother of three, even suggested that Webb's past could be beneficial to students in her work as a guidance counselor.

"I feel very strongly that young people need to be able to have guidance counselors that they can turn to about whatever personal issues they have at home," she said. "They need to be able to have someone to talk to about their career choices that they would like to make. They need to be able to have that person that actually cares and can give them a hand that they may not be getting at home. And to have someone that they can identify as being very real, I think that it's better for them than that they can't relate to."

Source: Huffington Post

Brooke Magnanti: Prostitution was empowering

As Belle de Jour, Dr Brooke Magnanti achieved global notoriety for years, writing a blog about her sexual encounters as a high-class escort girl working in London.

Now, after revealing herself to be an expert research scientist and no longer engaged in prostitution she is calling for prostitution to be decriminalised. She tells BBC World News HARDtalk's Katya Adler she found the escort work empowering and would do it again.

You can watch the episode on BBC iplayer at: http://www.bbc.co.uk/iplayer/episode/b01nmz9f/HARDtalk_Dr_Brooke_Magnanti_Scientist_and_former_prostitute/

Source: BBC

Do boys need tailored sex education?

Boys often feel the information and advice given in schools is aimed more at their female classmates - and some turn to online porn for answers to their questions

Offering boys practical advice, such as telling them about different types of condoms, is one way to get their attention during sex education

It takes two people to conceive, two to spread an infection, and two to form a loving partnership. So it would seem obvious that sex and relationships education (SRE) should be designed and delivered in a way that appeals to boys and girls equally.

But Ofsted has found that boys felt the support and advice they got in school was often aimed only at girls – and although this was not necessarily true, the perception discouraged them from seeking help. Boys report that school SRE focuses almost exclusively on negative aspects of sex, like STIs or unwanted pregnancies, or on female reproduction, the FPA says.

Research shows that boys are also less likely to go to their parents for advice, says Lisa Handy, the co-ordinator of the Sex Education Forum, meaning they get a "doubly bad deal".

"That's where you have the risk that they'll access pornography online just to work out what sex is and get answers to their questions, and be exposed to images that don't tell them what relationships and sex are really like."

A survey Brook conducted last year bears her fears out: nearly one in ten boys (9%) cited internet porn as their greatest single source of information on sex, compared to just 1% of girls. Interestingly, it also found that more boys and than girls – 15% compared to 11% – were learning most from their SRE teacher, and in this study boys were as likely as girls (9% for both) to name their parents as the best source. Girls were more likely than boys to get information from their friends, and from magazines.

But messages in media and society about what it takes to be a "real man" means boys can feel under pressure to conform to a stereotype, and that doesn't help in SRE lessons, according to Handy.

"Boys can sometimes feel uncomfortable in that mixed gender setting, and can come across to teachers as maybe being a bit jokey, acting like they know it all," she says. "This is actually one of the responses to that pressure to be super-masculine. To be sitting in an SRE lesson asking lots of questions highlights the fact you're not having sex."

And some unhelpful teaching merely reinforces gender stereotypes, rather than challenging them, or avoids discussion of homosexual relationships, according to the FPA.

How much can tailoring sex education to boys and young men specifically help? The FPA's Bout Ye project has been running in Northern Ireland since 1993, offering groups of men under 25 interactive discussion sessions exploring issues including peer pressure, relationships and fatherhood. Project officer Neil Decodts, who works in settings including the youth justice system, youth clubs and church groups, says his sessions can sometimes stretch to two hours, once participants have developed a sense of trust and dropped the bravado.

"People think young men don't want to talk, but when they get started it can be crazy," he says. "This is a chance to feel safe. We've had young men in tears ... there's real vulnerability there."

Sex educator Justin Hancock, who runs bishUK.com, a website designed for young people, says he's seen improvements in the 12 years he's been working on getting more boys and young men into sexual healthservices: "When I started they were much less likely to go because they saw them as being run by women, for women, about women's things." But the messaging around sexual relationships can still be offputting to young men, he says.

"Often their role is seen as being a kind of predatory man who always wants to have sex and doesn't take responsibility – it's all about protecting women from marauding sexual beasts. A lot of assumptions made around young men just aren't true. They're given really short shrift, by practitioners as well – a lot of them are wary of working with young men, they find them loud and shouty, and say they're not really interested. They are really interested, but we need to get the message right."

One way of doing that, Hancock says, is by taking a sex positive approach to teaching – talking openly about pleasure and how good sex can be. "If you just talk to young people about STIs and how they're damaging that's very sex negative, and lots of people, particularly young men, are going to switch off, because they'll think 'I've been told sex is great'." To teach young men about about STIs, Hancock gets them to list different sexual activities and rate their safety.

Understanding what young men want from sexual health services – by asking them – is also key to drawing them in to an environment where you can then provide education, he adds. "We put young men at the heart of it, and say we've got these amazing condoms, different shapes and sizes, condoms that increase pleasure for your partner ... something as simple as saying we know the condoms you want gets them through the door."

Mixed gender groups are also important if boys and girls are to learn about each other, of course. But are there particular topics that are best discussed in single sex groups? Ed Hart, boys and young men's worker at Brook Cornwall, says porn is one example.

"Pornography is influencing so much of what we're working with them on. With a lot of young women you're saying it's not wrong to think the stuff in porn is vile and disgusting, but to boys [you're saying] it's all right if you're drawn to it, but try and remember it's a fantasy world, it's not a 'how to' for good relationships."

Young men appreciate the opportunity to talk about porn without the kind of instant telling off they'd get at school, Hart says, and that's where the chance comes to dispel misconceptions it may be giving them about sex and relationships.

"[At school] there isn't the space for them to explore it in an environment where they might be guided. They get told off for it and then it goes underground."

Focusing on girls alone mistakenly suggests boys are powerless to take responsibility for their behaviour and actions, says Handy. "You're putting all the responsibility on the girls and that's not how relationships work – healthy relationships are about respect for each other and being able to negotiate what it is you want and need," she says.

"If you just give it to the girls you're only dealing with 50% of the population – you're only doing half the job."

Source:  The Guardian

Porn star Johnny Anglais debates at Oxford Union

A former teacher turned porn star has spoken at an Oxford Union debate in favour of legalising prostitution.

Benedict Garrett from London performs under the alias of Johnny Anglais

Johnny Anglais, whose real name is Benedict Garrett, freely admits to being a prostitute.

In 2011 he was reprimanded by the General Teaching Council after his pupils spotted him in an adult film, but was not barred from teaching.

He left the profession and now campaigns for the liberalisation of attitudes towards sex and sexuality.

Mr Garrett said: "We all need to be far more open and honest... not just for our own sense of identity, but for the health and well-being of our young people."

His team included Dr Fiona Godlee, editor-in-chief of the British Medical Journal. It also included brothel owner and founder of Nevada's Moonlite Bunny Ranch, Dennis Hof.

They were arguing against Julie Bindel, author and co-founder of Justice for Women, feminist activist Finn Mackay and campaigner Ellie Levenson.

The debate was on Thursday evening.

Source:  BBC Oxford

Ontario court legalises brothels

Toronto - A ban on brothels puts prostitutes at risk and is unconstitutional, Ontario's top court ruled on Monday, in a case that is expected to be appealed to Canada's top court and have ramifications for the country at large.

The Ontario Court of Appeal said sex workers should be allowed to work safely indoors.

"The world in which street prostitutes actually operate is a world of dark streets and barren, isolated, silent places," said the five-judge panel in their ruling. "It is a dangerous world, with always the risk of violence and even death."

The court in Canada's most populous province has given the government a year to rewrite the law if it chooses.

The panel also said that rules against profiting from prostitution should apply only to "circumstances of exploitation" to prevent pimps from exploiting prostitutes.

Criminal acts

The change will allow police to prosecute violent and manipulative pimps while at the same time permitting prostitutes to hire drivers or body guards to protect them, the court said.

At the same time, the court said concerns about the nuisance created by street prostitution are real, having a "profound impact on the members of the surrounding community". So it upheld the ban on soliciting for the purposes of selling sex.

Prostitution itself is not illegal in Canada, but pimping, operating a brothel and communicating for the purposes of selling sex were considered criminal acts. A lower court judge ruled in 2010 the prostitution-related laws were unconstitutional in that they contributed to the dangers faced by prostitutes.

Both sides have 60 days to appeal the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Julie Di Mambro, a spokesperson for Canada's Justice Minister Rob Nicholson, said the government is reviewing the ruling and its legal options.

"As the Prime Minister has said, prostitution is bad for society and harmful to communities, women and vulnerable persons," she said.

"We continue to see a social need for laws to control prostitution and its effects on society."

Violence

Ontario Attorney General John Gerretsen said the Ontario government is considering appealing the decision to the Supreme Court of Canada.

Terri-Jean Bedford, a dominatrix, has argued that Canada's sex trade laws force workers from the safety of their homes to face violence on the streets. Bedford's "Bondage Bungalow" north of Toronto was raided by police in 1994.

Valerie Scott, a former prostitute who launched the challenge with Bedford, said prostitutes are safer when they don't have to patrol the streets. She said that sex workers can now call police and report a bad client.

"I'd like to thank the Ontario Court of Appeal justices for pretty much declaring sex workers persons today," Scott said. "I didn't think I'd see it in my lifetime, but here we are."

She noted that the vast majority of sex work has already been taking place inside bawdy houses, as they're called in Canada.

"I do worry about my street colleagues. We have to figure out something to make these women and men safe... when you have other people around, generally [in a bawdy house], you don't see as much violence."

"I feel like we're debutantes at a ball," said Scott. "We're almost real citizens so this is wonderful."

Win

Alan Young, the lawyer for the women, called the decision a win for sex trade workers and society.

"Canadian society will not collapse or even flinch under the weight of this decision," Young said. "Eighty percent have moved indoors. The movement has already occurred, and now the law is following afterward."

"It has not created a large infrastructure and business enterprise for the sex trade, but what it has done is that it's opened up the law enough so that people who choose to enter the sex trade, which is a legal choice, will now be able to avail themselves of certain types of safety measures that previously the law in a very callous way said, 'We don't care, suffer'. Now you don't have to suffer."

Brenda Cossman, a University of Toronto law professor, said the ruling is not going to lead to an explosion of brothels in the province.

"There are thousands of workers who practice sex work out of their homes, out of establishments that they've rented where they work with one or two other women, are we going to now see brothels springing up in everyone's neighbourhood? No, because frankly they're already there and you just didn't know about it. All this law does is make what those women do legal now and allow them to practice in an environment that will be safer."

Cossman noted that the province grants 25 "body rub" licenses a year.

Julie Grant, the executive at large of the Sex Professionals of Canada, agreed that the ruling will not be a huge change for the industry.

"Bawdy houses have been operational for as long as the industry has existed, they've just been somewhat invisible, existing as adult massage parlours and with women operating out of their homes or in hotels as escorts. We're not all of a sudden going to become the Wild West with brothels filled with women and beer bottles in saloons popping up everywhere," said Grant. 

"Canadians have always been discreet with the way the sex industry operates and this will continue."