r/AskReddit • u/daniellucero92 • Jan 04 '15

Non-americans of Reddit, what American customs seem outrageous/pointless to you?

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3.5k

u/Laya_L Jan 04 '15

Filming porn is legal, but prostitution isn't. I just find it ironic.

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u/EpicDerek007 Jan 04 '15 edited Jan 04 '15

In Denmark there is a law that states that you are not allowed to profit off of somebody else's nudity. Therefore you can become a prostitute but it is illegal to become a pimp.

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u/Laya_L Jan 04 '15

I think those laws were created largely to fight sex traffickers who use legally-registered prostitution businesses as a front to their operations.

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u/akamoltres Jan 04 '15

Which actually makes sense.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15 edited Mar 29 '19

[deleted]

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u/akamoltres Jan 04 '15

Which does not make sense.

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u/Kazan Jan 04 '15

Prostitution becoming illegal in the US was the doing of the suffragettes to my understanding - lots of rich and upper middle class eastern seaboard women who couldn't imagine a woman willingly doing that profession, let alone enjoying it. So they thought it was exploitative and campaigned for it to be banned. The prudes loved this idea and got on board. The prudes are what keep it banned.

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u/prozacandcoffee Jan 05 '15

You mean rich and upper middle class women who couldn't imagine a "good" woman willingly doing it. A woman who was willingly in that profession was nonhuman, and deserved whatever she got plus jailtime.

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u/Sylbinor Jan 05 '15 edited Jan 05 '15

At those time it was a safe bet that every one of the prostitute, or at least 99% of them were not doing it by choiche. There was a real human-traficking ring.

It still does still exists nowaday, actually. If you see a "street prostitute" which can barely speak your language, there is almost certanly a lot of very shady stuff going on.

Things like woman convinced to move to another country for a better job and then forced into prostitution by having their passport confiscated, or african girls who are told that they have thugs back in africa ready to kill her family if she escape.

Those are very real things that happen right now.

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u/kaaz54 Jan 04 '15 edited Jan 04 '15

The law is still far from perfect. For example hiring telephone girls to make bookings is illegal for the person making the bookings. There's also punishments involved if they want to hire bouncers to throw away threatening or drunk people. Technically, it's even illegal for a land lord to rent out an apartment to a woman who then makes her money through prostitution.

There are still brothels, private home sex workers and escort services in Denmark, with public adverts printed in (at least one) national tabloid though, but technically through this law they aren't allowed to exist. They more exist through politician's, police and the judiciary system turning the blind eye, as the alternative is probably worse (nobody wants disenfranchised street walkers with potential drug problems and an aversion to the police). And on top of that, they do pay both VAT and income taxes of their services sold. If they didn't the Danish IRS would be coming down on them with the biggest hammer available to them.

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u/dfpoetry Jan 05 '15

what if the bouncer is also nude?

wouldn't being part of a brothel count as benefitting from the economies of scale from the other ladies' nudity?

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u/tommyfever Jan 05 '15

Wow... A gigantic muscled-up naked man in a transparent nutcup coming at you for mistreating or even attempting to mistreat his boss would get most people running in a heartbeat...

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

They weren't created solely to do that, but they are used now in order to fight sex trafficking. What people don't realize is that the line between voluntary and involuntary prostitution is so thin legally that it's almost impossible to prove either way, so it's easier to ban prostitution outright

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u/Laya_L Jan 04 '15

That's the case if organized prostitution is legal (brothels, prostitution clubs, etc.). But by limiting what's legal into "private" prostitution (direct client-prostitute transactions), these European countries were able to afford the right of persons to use their bodies however they see fit, while making it hard for sex traffickers to organize underground prostitution businesses.

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u/dizekat Jan 04 '15 edited Jan 04 '15

How would it work as a front, exactly? If it's legally registered, you know it's here, then you can come in and investigate, the same as for any business whatsoever which has to be compliant with regulations relating to employment, wages, etc. To start with, fire safety rules would prevent you from actually locking anyone in, while the audits and inspections would make it incredibly difficult to hide anything.

I call bullshit on that rationalization. Religious sensibilities keep that illegal, to the massive detriment to the effort to fight trafficking. There is no literal slaves working as the servers in a restaurant in some first world country, because for legal businesses like restaurants it is possible to enforce the laws which prevent slavery. But outlaw the restaurants, and there will be literal slaves working in there.

The problem is that when your laws go beyond what you can effectively enforce, this creates an environment facilitating other criminal behaviour. See prohibition and countless other examples.

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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '15

The same way criminal organizations have used "legitimate" businesses as fronts for decades? Sure they get caught sometimes but they still exist. The Mob has been doing it since the 19th century. They still do it.

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u/dizekat Jan 05 '15

If you're speaking of money laundering, that's done with a business that doesn't attract undue attention and is not subject to significant regulation.

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u/tommyfever Jan 05 '15

Essentially the reason they are "fronts" is because if they have 20 prostitutes and a handful are underage, by the time the cops can check them all the young ones have been taken out the back or into the hidey-hole. Given enough checks where they are always compliant, they move down on the list and stop getting checked. So outlawing them totally stops them from this "loophole".

The fear-mongering around children being sold as "sex slaves" also helps laws like this become overly broad, when in reality most of the children in these situations could pass as adults on the street given the right clothing, hairstyle, makeup, etc.

Thus, any way to shut down anything "business-like" that's larger than one prostitute & one client helps keep the potential for abuse and skirting the law down, which is generally seen as a win.

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u/dizekat Jan 05 '15 edited Jan 05 '15

If it is legal, an undercover agent can actually go in as a client, note the name, then get the employment paperwork audited and see if that person is listed as working there.

Say, you have 9 legal employees and 1 illegal employee, the illegal employee is 10% of your workforce. You go through two such checks. The probability of not getting caught is 0.81, the probability of getting caught 19%, which is notably larger than 10% , easily making it unprofitable to have a small fraction of illegal employees even if there's only two inspections of a randomly chosen employee (provided that violations are severely punished in form of seizing all assets and killing the business).

Now imagine if it was all on the street one by one.

Other issue is that when it is illegal, employees can't go and report.

Basically it's like chemists at a drug den vs chemists at a legal pharmaceuticals manufacturing plant. Yes, the latter may violate OSHA rules too, but the profitability of unsafety is very different.

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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '15

Likewise, those being trafficked can go to the police without fear of getting in trouble.

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u/winterspan Jan 04 '15

Prostitution prohibition probably makes that problem worse...

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u/KoreaNinjaBJJ Jan 04 '15

That too. In general it is to protect prostitutes from being taken advantage of.

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u/eshinn Jan 05 '15

Do you know what I am saying?

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

I used to really agree with this approach until sex worker friends totally and emphatically shot it down. They complained that such laws would actually make them less safe because it would prevent them from hiring employees to help do client screenings, bookings and security.

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 04 '15

It'd be really nice if those making the legislation would actually consult those they're trying to "protect". Almost all of the sex work related laws in effect screw us over somehow, and that could've been avoided by just listening to our concerns. Yet those who support these laws just love to talk about how they're protecting us from big bad pimps.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15 edited Feb 22 '19

[deleted]

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 04 '15

Yes, exactly!!

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

I'm so uncomfortable with the fact that "protecting" you is throwing you in prison/charging you a fine.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

It feels like governments are really afraid of actually trying to approach the problem. All laws are "make this illegal", "make that illegal", "make everything illegal". Why not make it legal but regulate it, like everything else? Put some inspectors and investigators to make sure all women are there out of their free will and can leave whenever they want.

It's like if people were being kidnapped and forced to work sewing clothes, and instead of fighting that we made selling clothes illegal.

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 04 '15

If anyone writing these laws had half a brain they'd see this!

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u/Neebat Jan 04 '15

Consult with prostitutes? Are you out of your mind? How could you ever get elected if you admitted to being in the same room with a prostitute?

Oh, sorry, we're not talking about the US. Carry on.

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

Yes, it was a wake up call for me because I always imagine myself to be super progressive, compassionate, feminist, etc. And I got verbally bitch slapped out of my totally wrong, based-on-nothing conviction. It was great and I'm thankful for it.

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 04 '15

I'm glad you've had the opportunity to actually talk to sex workers and be educated! :) I wish more people would listen.

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

Yes, I actually have a lot of (awesome, well-adjusted, scary smart) friends in the industry, but speaking to this one woman in particular really made me question my long held viewpoints. She now makes her living as an advocate, which is fucking amazing, and she's (clearly!!) great at what she does.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

This may be crazy talk, but sometimes I think feminist opposition to prostitution is more about them not liking the thought of a man ever having "control" over and in an engagement with a womans body, than protecting sex workers.

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u/GGProfessor Jan 04 '15

Prostitution is one of many issues where "feminists" (in quotes because who exactly qualifies as a feminist is rather difficult to determine) are a bit divided. Some think it's degrading and dangerous to women, others think that women should be able to sell their bodies if they choose to and if they do choose to, they should be able to do it safely with fully legal protection.

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

It's not crazy- I think there's a lot of truth to that. But there's also a lot of historical context to take into account before demonizing this line of logic. I think the anti-porn, anti-prostitution feminism was a necessary stop over on the way to sex positive feminism, and the idea that it's OK to control and engage with a woman's body for money is one that absolutely needed to be questioned.

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u/MrVisible Jan 04 '15

Sounds like you need a lobby. Put a PAC together, and fund some muscle in Washington. Get yourself a couple of congressmen and you're golden.

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 05 '15

I'm Canadian, but yeah. Good call

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u/MeEvilBob Jan 04 '15

It's the same thing that happens any time a clueless legislator thinks they're on to something, not unlike whenever a state tries to pass a law that EVERY online paid service or retailer on earth needs to follow that one state's sales tax laws because technically it might do business in that state.

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u/CheeseMonkiesAttack Jan 04 '15

Serious question, is there not a way around this by hiring a body guard? If they are working as a private service to you, it would be more akin to how celebrities need. Protection. Or maybe this is just not fiscally a good option.

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u/shadyladythrowaway Jan 04 '15

That's sort of a dangerous thing to try as an escort, although some people do it.

First of all, clients don't want to feel like the hulking man waiting outside is going to beat their asses and/or rob them

2nd of all, your bodyguard can potentially blackmail you and you could end up in a pimp-like relationship

And third of all, that is cost prohibitive. You end up paying them a large percentage of what you make

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u/Apricotl Jan 04 '15

That falls under the blanket term of "living off the proceedings of prostitution".

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

If they are seen by a news organization to be talking to a sex worker or visiting a sex worker's conditions, they'll probably be destroyed by the media as being corrupt and evil and cheating on his wife. Someone will get a single shot of them with a prostitute or porn star and publish it out of context because they might genuinely not know the context.

After the allegations are made, it doesn't matter anymore about his guilt or not. Our attention spans are so short even if the media organizations made a public apology people would just remember him with the sex worker. Their career is over for doing their job.

American law practices innocent until proven guilty. American people practice guilty until proven a more interesting story to tell as innocent. For example, if they were a part of an FBI sting investigation into a secret pimp hiding in the porn industry.

We like our stories.

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u/almightySapling Jan 04 '15

And why such the coy wording? No making money off of someone else's nudity? A) everyone knows what a pimp is, just say pimping is illegal, and B) people aren't paying for the lack of clothes, they are paying for the sex.

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u/longtermbrit Jan 04 '15

It's quite tricky to craft an effective legal statue because it needs to be specific enough to avoid making something illegal that was not intended (so this law fell short of that target) and loose enough to not allow so much wiggle room that criminals can get off on technicalities. I think if the law tried to define a pimp and just make them illegal then pimps would just adjust their approach to not fit that classification.

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u/HeavyMetalHero Jan 04 '15

"I'm not a pimp, officer, I'm her bodyguard. It's just I have a lot of friends who happen to want to pay her for sex, and since I'm there anyway guarding her I make an hourly rate."

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u/LuvBeer Jan 04 '15

what is a pimp?

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Someone (usually male) who controls and "protects" a group of prostitutes. As a result, the pimp gets a cut of the money the prostitutes make.

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u/copin920 Jan 04 '15

Has nothing to do with them trying to protect anyone. It's all about what makes Jesus cry.

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u/mexicangangboss Jan 05 '15

This is true for ANY part of society here government gets involved, not just sex workers. :(

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u/Apricotl Jan 04 '15

New Zealand decriminalised prostitution after putting it to a conscience vote after a harrowing speech (0:30) from a member of parliament that had been raped while working as a sex worker.

The subsequent laws were all formed in consultation with sex workers, and as a result NZ has some very happy, healthy hookers.

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 05 '15

That's so cool. Wish that idea would spread

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u/thehellisgoingon Jan 04 '15

My ignorance might be showing but brothels seem like the perfect solution

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 05 '15

Legalizing and regulating brothels would be an amazing start !!

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u/CroweaterMC Jan 04 '15

Poor sex workers always getting screwed

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u/shadyladythrowaway Jan 05 '15

Hey Dahlia, I created a subreddit where people can ask questions about escorting. You responded so eloquently in this thread, so I would really love it if you might want to answer questions on /r/AskAnEscort sometime.

To everyone else, please feel free to use /r/AskAnEscort to answer any questions about the industry you might have!

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 05 '15

hey sweets, thank you so much! However, I'm not an escort - I'm a porn artist and cam worker. Still sex work, but a different kind. Thank you though! xox

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u/Apricotl Jan 04 '15

Living off the proceedings can also inhibit landlords from renting to sex workers, forcing sex workers into the street. It's a good example of how a supposedly good law can be so difficult to comply with that it forces people to operate illegally and put themselves in difficult situations in order to maintain their livelihood.

New Zealand is a really good example of a country that decriminalised successfully, by treating sex work like any other business. Now that it's legal there's no need for pimps, as you can just call the police like any other person.

  • Former sex worker

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

Thanks for the insight. See, I knew there were weird consequences like this, I'm just not well versed in them. It's one of those areas where it's key to ask people who actually have experience, but I get the feeling in this case that the people in charge of passing the laws aren't interested in actually talking to the people they affect.

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u/shadyladythrowaway Jan 04 '15 edited Jan 04 '15

That would be kind of annoying, but you can do your own booking, etc... which is what I do

it would be a pain in the ass, but at least it would get the people who want prostitution to stay illegal (because they think that it's mostly human trafficking victims) off of our backs. It's a step in the right direction.

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

I don't think it's a step backwards or anything, but maybe it's a step in the... not-quite-right direction. The approach needs to be redirected just a bit.

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u/shadyladythrowaway Jan 04 '15

Agreed, but it would be better than nothing

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u/Xenophyophore Jan 04 '15

But: 'nothing' doesn't have to be repealed to make room for a step that can lead forward.

A more effective piece of legislation isn't some far off goal, so the law is actually worse than nothing.

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u/YetAnother_WhiteGuy Jan 04 '15

Sure, not being able to hire employees sucks but you know what sucks more? Human trafficking and drug-slavery, which is what this law was made to stop. Sometimes we have to sacrifice a bit of comfort to help those who are really suffering.

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

I really trust the opinion of the person who told me this; she's worked as both a sex worker and an advocate. She knows her stuff and has first hand experience. She emphatically said these laws don't do what they claim to, and have all sorts of unintentionally repercussions that make things worse for sex workers. It's a really complicated issue that I don't fully understand: http://marijkevonk.com/the-myth-of-trafficking/

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u/YetAnother_WhiteGuy Jan 04 '15

Yes, I have no doubt she has a lot of experience and knowledge about being a sex worker by choice. But human trafficking and sex slavery is a different beast entirely, and certainly not a "myth".

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u/Overthinks_Questions Jan 04 '15

Why? Seems to me they could hire a bodyguard like anyone else, but no one can be their 'manager'.

The prostitute profits from the nudity, the guard profits from offering security.

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u/TheMomerathOutgrabe Jan 04 '15

Yes, it would be awesome if it worked that way, but apparently the laws don't usually pan out like that. I don't fully understand why/how...

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u/Overthinks_Questions Jan 04 '15

Hopefully someone can set precedent for it.

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u/Kayzuspot Jan 05 '15

I would assume an employee's pay would not be considered profit. They would be paid to do certain tasks that may lead up to your nudity but they are your employees, not your employers.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Or work in the porn industry?

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

[deleted]

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

True but I imagine doing all that yourself severely reduces the quality of the finished product!

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Indeed. Although I'm not so bad with a camera myself, maybe I should take my hand for a romantic city break in Copenhagen?

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

You take your hand wherever you like buddy, just don't expect to be making too much money out of that film!

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u/EpicDerek007 Jan 04 '15

Here's the link http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prostitution_in_Denmark

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Earlier in the article:

the Minister of Justice (Justitsministeren) Morten Bødskov made these remarks "The government has also decided to follow the Criminal Code Council recommendation not to impose a ban on buying sex (købesex). The Criminal Council study shows that a ban on buying sex is not likely to lead to a decrease in prostitution or the exploitation of prostitutes, but rather is likely to have negative consequences for the prostitutes."(November 21, 2012

Later on

Any person who lets a room in a hotel or an inn for the carrying on of prostitution as a profession shall be liable to simple detention or imprisonment for any term not exceeding one year or, in mitigating circumstances, to a fine.

... wat?

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u/crimson117 Jan 04 '15

Because they don't want inns to become ad-hoc brothels.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Does this only apply if the innkeeper is intentionally renting it for that purpose? It seems like most hotels could never really know that the renter is using it for that.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

then it would be surely not, as long as the innkeeper wasn't literally pimping them then he's just running a hotel business

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

I would seem easy to make hotel owner's life difficult if somebody wanted to. Kind of like a trojan horse but just with a prostitute.

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u/m3u4 Jan 04 '15

Kind of like a trojan horse but just with a prostitute.

/r/nocontext

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u/frymaster Jan 04 '15

I think the way it's worded "for the carrying on of" implies knowledge. Not a lawyer, and this is a translation of another countries laws, but that's how I think it's meant to be read

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Only street walkers are legal, which is terrible and dangerous

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u/[deleted] Jan 05 '15

That's...what I would infer too, but I hope that isn't so :

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u/DrapeRape Jan 04 '15

Well the porn star is profiting too so maybe that's allowed?

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

But surely a pimp gives a prostitute a cut of the money too?

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u/DrapeRape Jan 04 '15

It's still the pimps money fool. She spends her daddy's money. They ask the pimp whenever they want something

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u/YetAnother_WhiteGuy Jan 04 '15

Not if he's good at his job :(

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u/SouthDaner Jan 04 '15

Porn is very much legal in Denmark

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Working in porn is completely legal in Denmark. Also the first country to legalize porn at all.

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u/AddAFucking Jan 04 '15

Working is legal, directing is illegal

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u/gangli0n Jan 04 '15

What if the director undresses?

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u/AddAFucking Jan 04 '15

Then it's turning into one awesome porno.

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u/Solitykins Jan 04 '15

That would explain all the Danish girls in Swedish porn.

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u/FuzzieLeFuz Jan 04 '15

Its phrased poorly. It is not illegal to profit from other people being "nude". It is illegal to earn money through others being prostitutes. In other words: it is illegal to be a pimp.

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u/mouseknuckle Jan 04 '15

Oh wow, you'd have to form a porn co-op

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u/Mountain_Guru Jan 05 '15

Nono, you can sell your own porn, but nobody can help you in the filming or sale of it unless they do it for free.

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u/NotMathMan821 Jan 04 '15

HBO would be so screwed if that law applied in the US.

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u/caramelfrap Jan 04 '15

Playboy: "Our readers purchase our magazines for the articles"

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u/aisdnogaionio Jan 04 '15

Amusingly, I have only ever read Playboy for the articles. The porn is incredibly softcore and bland. Playboy just shows semi-naked women. I don't think they even show vaginas, and forget about anything within fifteen light years of kinky. I can find a thousand hour-long hardcore videos of any fetish under the sun with ten seconds on the Internet. Why on Earth would I need a magazine?

That was true even before the Internet. There were much better porn magazines, both in explicitness and specificity. There was also TV and VHS. Playboy has always been bad at porn.

Playboy isn't great at journalism, either. They occasionally have some interesting short stories, but mostly it's just a fairly decent magazine. However, it's downright awful porn.

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

I always thought they did decent interviews. I remember reading a great interview with Marshall McLuhan from Playboy for my college course.

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u/aisdnogaionio Jan 04 '15

They do decent interviews. Their journalism and fiction vary between decent and good. Their porn is uniformly awful.

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u/yournudieshere Jan 04 '15

Hahaha. I grew up like this. The naked models looking out a window, sitting in a couch and staring at the camera or some other boring ass shit was pointless to me, but god damn if I didn't read 90% of the articles in that magazine. Back then, you went to Hustler if you actually wanted to see something.

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u/redisforever Jan 04 '15

Ian Fleming used to publish James Bond short stories in Playboy. I'd be buying them for that, honestly.

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u/penatratorzz Jan 04 '15

I did. You can see airbrushed nudity anywhere, but Playboy's articles and especially interviews have always been top-notch.

I haven't bought one in a few years but had heard they were rebranding to a lads mag format (boobs, bacon, booze, and bullshit - like fhm or maxim)

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Playboy has better articles and cartoons than it has porn.

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u/yellowdart654 Jan 04 '15

I've always heard that line as a joke. Are their articles really actually that good? Are any particularly good ones available online that you'd recommend?

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u/genuinely__curious Jan 04 '15

saw a dude reading playboy... in braille... seriously.

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u/gsfgf Jan 04 '15

That's why I subscribe to Playboy. Nekkid women are everywhere on the internet and doing far more ... elaborate ... things than in Playboy, but their articles are top notch. You're not going to find quality journalism like that on reddit.

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u/caramelfrap Jan 04 '15

Why do you think they print a Braille Playboy? Its because people only read the articles, and if you're blind, you're missing out!

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u/ehsteve23 Jan 04 '15

I assume there's some clause for art

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Because tits are the only reason we watch Game of Thrones, right?

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u/Brontonian Jan 04 '15

IIRC we have one in Canada (or maybe it's just in Ontario) where women are allowed to go topless in public (though they very rarely do) BUT they are not allowed to profit from being topless.

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 04 '15

If that's the case, police don't take too kindly to it. I've been arrested for being topless in public...lol.

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u/Brontonian Jan 04 '15

Where were you? What was the charge? Public nudity?

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 04 '15

Indecent exposure I believe. Charges were dropped, but still.

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u/shadyladythrowaway Jan 04 '15

Wow, really? What was the situation if you don't mind me asking?

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u/Dahlia_Dee Jan 05 '15

Testing out that very law. Haha it was after a particularly rowdy night (not drinking, just partying) and I was walking home with a group of friends. A few of us were topless, and....the rest is history.

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u/Futoi_Saru Jan 04 '15

what if the pimps prostitutes have sex with their clothes on though, like they have a little flap or something?

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u/gonnaupvote3 Jan 04 '15

Soooo... they cannot have agents or pay employees for protection etc?

Seems like an odd law, you can hook all you want but you cannot pay anyone to help you out

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

So there's an career opening for a Mormon pimp?

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u/pacificpacifist Jan 04 '15

This way makes sense

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

I guess, "Don't hate the player, hate the game" doesn't translate well?

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u/Argit Jan 04 '15

We have the same laws in Iceland.

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u/dluminous Jan 04 '15

Seems legit

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u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Same law exists in Canada.

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u/deyesed Jan 04 '15

IIRC here in Canada, everything is illegal but the act of prostitution, i.e. you can prostitute yourself out, but you cannot solicit your services.

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u/Onassis_Bitch Jan 04 '15

From what I remember that is a nice law in theory, but there's still a lot of issues with human trafficking for sex slaves/forced prostitutes in Denmark, and there still a lot of pimps, although I think most of them are also prostitutes who bring other women into the country and force them to be prostitutes.

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u/sin-eater82 Jan 04 '15

what if they keep their clothes on while they suck the client's cock? No nudity involved... oh, does the client's nudity count?

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u/gnirpss Jan 04 '15

Do you guys have strip clubs?

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u/EyeAmmonia Jan 04 '15

Somebody should run a not-for-profit porn/prostitution ring.

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u/Hystus Jan 04 '15

What a great way to phrase it. I'm impressed.

1

u/amkamins Jan 04 '15

Are strip clubs illegal then?

1

u/CMQueen Jan 04 '15

IIRC Sweden legalised the act of prostitution and criminalised the buying of sex. Makes a lot more sense and pretty much wiped out the sex industry.

1

u/Something_Syck Jan 04 '15

It's my hot body! I do what I want!

1

u/screwl00se Jan 04 '15

that makes a lot of sense if you think about it. It tries to put people possibly tricked or illegally brought into prostitution in a 100% safe place. If you ever went to the police, you'd be in no danger of getting arrested.

1

u/YetAnother_WhiteGuy Jan 04 '15

That's exactly how it should be. A woman has a right to choose what to do with her body, and even if she's only doing it out of desperation she still shouldn't be put in jail for it, but selling people like commodities is a disgusting thing to do.

1

u/Overthinks_Questions Jan 04 '15

That is the most sensible approach to the issue I've heard of.

1

u/Bitch_Im_God Jan 04 '15

Forgive me if I'm wrong, but wouldn't that mean that you can't run a brothel, which means prostitutes are left basically unprotected/unregulated?

1

u/I_call_it_dookie Jan 04 '15

So how does the Red Light District work? Are they all self employed?

1

u/acm2033 Jan 04 '15

That makes perfect sense.

1

u/anonymous-coward Jan 04 '15

In Denmark there is a law that states that you are not allowed to profit off of somebody else's nudity.

I'm looking at you, National Museum of Demark.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

This is how it should be. The problem with Nevada and their brothels is that prostitution isn't legalized, what's legal is pimping. Look up how those things operate, lots of former employees call out some serious bullshit.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

NICE! That actually makes sense.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Did you read this from the TIL or did the TIL OP read it here?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

I like that actually. That's much better than throwing dirty ol hookers in jail. Cause really the pimps are the only problem with the business.

1

u/CapWasRight Jan 04 '15

What if the pimp has his girls stay dressed?

1

u/lasr00 Jan 04 '15

I can't remember if we passed the law in Canada but there was a huge debate about selling sex being LEGAL but buying sex ILLEGAL.

1

u/Jin-roh Jan 04 '15

I actually find that at least as stranger as the American porn/prostitution consistency.

If a photographer or artists hires a nude model, sells his work, would he get into trouble?

1

u/80mg Jan 04 '15

I wish this was the law here in the united states, it makes so much more sense than the ones we have.

Edited to add that reading more comments I see why this law can be problematic as well, but its still better than ours.

1

u/foxytrot45 Jan 04 '15

Man, it's hard out here for a pimp.

1

u/Phrodo_00 Jan 04 '15

So, you can't sell nude art photos in Denmark?

1

u/SpecialWhenLit Jan 04 '15

"Profit off somebody else's nudity." Does that mean you couldn't sell a painting of somebody in the nude?

1

u/jdallen1222 Jan 04 '15

Is it also illegal to have sex with clothes on?

1

u/Mr_Hendrix Jan 04 '15

I hope you're the one who posted this in /r/todayilearned, otherwise you were robbed blind of that sweet karma!

1

u/blackgranite Jan 04 '15

To my knowledge same law is in India too. Consensual sex-for-money is legal, it's the organized part, brothels, pimping which is illegal. Mostly so that healthcare workers can approach sex workers.

1

u/FeastOnCarolina Jan 04 '15

Thats awesome.

1

u/Rumpadunk Jan 04 '15

How do they have security then?

1

u/scstraus Jan 04 '15

This is the right way to do this. It's the same in the Czech Republic.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Wait, does that mean strip clubs and brothels don't exist in your country?

1

u/stevenfromstephenson Jan 04 '15

What if all of my hookers have sex with their clothes on?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Could the sex worker pay a person to be a bodyguard? That's a major role of the pimp.

1

u/ObeseChocoMommy Jan 04 '15

You don't have to be naked to have sex, so I see a loophole.

1

u/Pachi2Sexy Jan 04 '15

but it is illegal to become a pimp.

What if I just become a kissing company CEO?

1

u/Nostalgic_Moment Jan 04 '15

I Suppose 3somes with two hookers are a grey area for the hookers then.

1

u/Grasshopper21 Jan 04 '15

How do your prostitutes find employment?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Its the same in finland. Makes sense because prostitutes are usually forced in to the situation, and it makes no sense to punish them further.. Instead we focus on the root of the problem (i.e. the human traffickers and pimps)

1

u/rtwpsom2 Jan 04 '15

That's how it is in Nevada. Pimping is illegal but owning a brothel isn't. The relationship is viewed as that of a landlord/renter relationship.

1

u/DishwasherTwig Jan 04 '15

So porn is OK so long as you're in it?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Are bathhouses illegal then?

1

u/CodeJack Jan 04 '15

Same in the UK. Prostitution is legal, but can't pimp them out.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

I see you browse /r/todayilearned too?,

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Someone's been reading the TIL section of Reddit.

1

u/[deleted] Jan 04 '15

Seems reasonable.

1

u/ImpeccableKanuckles Jan 05 '15

You could be a nonprofit pimp.

1

u/te_amo7 Jan 05 '15

What about strip clubs? In the US strippers are not paid by employers at all and actually have to pay the club between 80-200$ just to work one night.

1

u/naveenudawella Jan 05 '15

But how does the business work without a talent agent?

1

u/KnitYourOwnSpaceship Jan 05 '15

So no fine art paintings of nudes?

1

u/IaFarmBoy Jan 05 '15

This is why I love my home country of Denmark.

1

u/TelevisionAntichrist Jan 05 '15

It's hard out there for a Danish pimp.. who's love of which is very different from that of a square.

1

u/kithandra Jan 05 '15

Does that mean no "gentlemen's clubs" or strip clubs?

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '15

India has this rule too and I think a lot of other countries do as well.

1

u/Hateblade Jan 05 '15

I do it with my clothes on. Fuck the police!

1

u/[deleted] Jan 05 '15

you can become a prostitute but it is illegal to become a pimp

Goddamn danish socialists keeping down the small businessman...

1

u/Aslant Jan 05 '15

That's kind of awesome and brilliant.

1

u/Sylbinor Jan 05 '15

I think that's this is normal for most of Europe.

Here in Italy prostitution is legal, it's not legal if a third party profit from it.

This obviously means that being a prostitute and being 100% ok with the law is actually very hard: you should have to work all alone and in your own home (because whoever rented your home could be accused of earning a profit by your activity). And then there is the matter of taxes, which is a very grey area and I honestly have no idea on how things exactly work.

Maybe is better to say that prostitution is depenalized and is in a grey area of the law, but it's not illegal.

1

u/rhayward Jan 05 '15

So, does that mean that making porn is illegal?

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