You probably think my life’s some kind of tragedy, but I’ll tell you – one of the hardest parts of it’s keeping a straight face. I mean, if you’re not enjoying it yourself, you can’t help but think how funny men are when they’re doing it. ibid.
Underground brothels are thriving and he [Luciano] wants a cut of their profits ... Luciano streamlines the prostitution business ... A city-wide network of up to two hundred brothels and up to twelve hundred prostitutes. The Making of the Mob IV, AMC 2015
The importation of labour into Israel is a corrupt business in which organised crime also engages ... The trafficking of indentured or slave labour as the fastest growing sector ... The brothels themselves are the bottom of this murky heap. I can barely describe the pathetic ageing women, listlessly chainsmoking in rooms seven feet by three, ready to service any passer-by for ten bucks (yes, ten bucks). Misha Glenny, McMafia
Similarly, it brought home how relentless the male sex drive is. Streams of men of different race, age and class trotted in and out of the brothels as I was visiting them. ibid.
When Ludmilla first succeeded in escaping, she was handed back to the duty sergeant. In response, she was beaten senseless by her ‘owner’. ibid.
It would be a gloomy secret night. After early nightfall the yellow lamps would light up, here and there, the squalid quarter of the brothels. He would follow a devious course up and down the streets, circling always nearer and nearer in a tremor of fear and joy, until his feet led him suddenly round a dark corner. The whores would be just coming out of their houses making ready for the night, yawning lazily after their sleep and settling the hairpins in their clusters of hair. He would pass by them calmly waiting for a sudden movement of his own or a sudden call to his sin-loving soul from their soft perfumed flesh. James Joyce, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man
Heidi Fliess, August 9th 1993 making her first court appearance after her arrest. Heidi Fleiss, christened the madam to the stars, was charged with Pandering, which is the same as Pimping. Nick Broomfield, Heidi Fleiss: Hollywood Madam
The men who enter our building are not so good. They are drunk. They come inside and shout and swear. Born Into Brothels, 2004
Until 11.00 at night if they want curry or rice, I have to get it. ibid. Kochi
I keep thinking if I could go some place else and get education, I wonder what I would become. ibid.
I never really think about being rich. ibid. Tapasi
One has to accept life as being sad and painful. ibid.
My mother can’t take care of me. My father tried to sell me. ibid.
Without help they’re doomed. ibid. commentary
So far we’ve had two exhibitions in New York. ibid.
Her pimp set fire to her in the kitchen. ibid. witness
‘A lot of men come to see us. It’s a very bad world. Isn’t it a sin? Is this a life? I wish I was not alive.’ Sex, Slavery & Drugs in Bangladesh, Vice 2015
Bangladesh is one of the few Muslim countries where prostitution is legal but completely unregulated. ibid.
Many of whom are victims of sexual slavery. ibid.
Yaba, a mixture of methamphetamine and caffeine, is a powerful and highly addictive stimulant. Popular in Bangladesh, it is one of many drugs that are cheap and easy to get in the brothel. ibid.
A nationwide industry of exploitation. ibid.
Sex workers have no official rights. ibid.
Japan has an incredible tolerance for sexual exploitation of young girls. Schoolgirls for Sale in Japan, Vice 2015
What the Japanese call Schoolgirl Culture. ibid.
They sell everything including cartoons, comic books; they pack music venues; they advertise cafés and restaurants … you can actually buy the schoolgirls themselves. ibid.
Like most services prostitution has moved online. Websites and apps are replaced pimps and madams. High Class Call Girls, Channel 4 2015
You have to make a profile, put your pictures up, get yourself verified. ibid. escort
It’s just two hours of easy money: £500. ibid.
I wouldn’t call it hard work. ibid.
Why would any man want to hear that about his little girl. ibid.
I do get the ones that fall in love. ibid.
I don’t really want to rub it in his face. ibid. escort, re her boyfriend
Opinion is divided about what to do over prostitution in the modern world. Some countries are toughening their laws, others relaxing them; Britain’s laws are somewhere in the middle … There’s a lot to be learned from the Germans: they have some of the most liberal prostitution laws in the world which have created the biggest brothels in Europe: the mega-brothels. The Mega Brothel, Channel 4 2015
When they made prostitution legal they also legalised brothels. ibid.
150 girls can work here in a night. Up to 50,000 clients visit every year. ibid.
The men pay seven-nine euros to come in, get a dressing gown, have a bite to eat, grab a drink, pick a girl, go upstairs, get a key, go into a room: that’s where the fun begins. ibid.
Paradise is one of the most famous high-end brothels in Germany. ibid.
That combination of sauna and sex blurs the line of going to a brothel. ibid.
‘Very few of them have any soul left.’ ibid. owner
There are now so many brothels even small villages have them. ibid.
A growing movement in Germany against the country’s prostitution laws. ibid.
Germany is becoming the destination of choice for Europe’s sex tourists. ibid.
There are now 500,000 of them; x5 the number working in Britain. ibid.
‘A part of you is dying a little bit.’ ibid. prostitute
‘Around 15,000 I think.’ ibid.
This is Beverley: she’s a 64-year-old grandmother who works from her suburban home … I’ve discovered that all over the country there are women in their senior years choosing to top up their pensions by working as escorts. My Granny the Escort, Channel 4 2014
Six months ago Sophie moved to an isolated rural community to set up a new life working full-time as a mature escort. ibid.
‘I stand on top of them and let them have a golden flow.’ ibid.
I’ve never like prostitutes. ’Cause I felt ill – they’s selling their bodies to all different kinds of men and they don’t even know them. Hookers at the Point, HBO 2002
Just because you’re a prostitute doesn’t mean you’re dirty or you’re stupid or something like that. ibid.
What you out there doing is making money and making men feel good. ibid.
There’s something about this night life I have to have. ibid.
The feeling that you get at the end of that night – there’s no feeling like it in the world … devastation. ibid.
I smoke crack every day. ibid.
I like smoking my weed and doing my heroin. ibid.
It’s so easy to kill a prostitute and get away with it. ibid.
Cindy is still streetwalking; her retirement plans are out of the door. ibid.
Someone introduced me to the Bronx: biggest mistake of my life. Because not only am I addicted to drugs, I’m addicted to the adrenalin rush, I’m addicted to the people, I’m addicted to the whole inner city thing. ibid.
I’ve been through a lot in life and I’m not suicidal. I still feel the pain every day. ibid.
The Wild Horse Resort and Spa – Nevada’s newest legal brothel, helping the working women as they moved into their new custom-built premises. Louis and the Brothel, BBC 2003
They had constructed a $4 million bordello. ibid.
You’re pretty weird, do you know that? ibid. Louis to Hayley
The brothel had recently opened its saloon and was now making more money than ever. But access to alcohol brought with it new problems. Some of the women were binge drinking and being rude to customers. At the top of the list of offenders was Hayley. Then I heard some startling news – Hayley had been let go. ibid.
Louise: How many clients have you seen this week?
Prostitute: Five or six. Louis Theroux: Selling Sex, BBC 2020
Fuelled by websites and social media, a new economy has emerged, bringing a world of transactional sex to people who might never previously have considered it. ibid.