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Prostitutes feel the pinch

By Carla Bevan on Tuesday 9 December 2008

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Sex Trade, Marie Claire news

Think your life has got worse since the credit crunch bit? Spare a thought for women working in the sex trade who are finding customer flow worse than ever.

Across Europe and America, brothel owners and their staff are feeling the pinch as cash-strapped punters turn to free porn on the internet, rather than shelling out on a night with a hooker.

'Sex is a steady demand, because everyone needs it, and it used to be taboo, which made a service like ours all the more attractive,' Carl Borowitz, the marketing manager of Prague-based brothel Big Sister (which actually gives sex away for free in return for being able to stream the footage online) tells the International Herald Tribune.

'But the problem today is that there is too much competition, too many free pornography sites and people are thinking twice before making impulse purchases, including paying for sex.'

In Germany, revenues in brothels are down by around 20%, while in America prostitutes are being made redundant at rates that might give even the banking industry a run for its money.

Of course, there are plenty of individuals happy to see certain European cities shrug off their reputations as sex-trade destinations, but even above-the-board hotels in those areas are seeing a downturn in fortunes as the tourists stay at home.

Hana Malinova, the director of prostitute outreach programme Bliss Without Risk, explains: 'An Austrian farmer from a remote area who is not married will still cross the border to the Czech Republic looking for sex… On the other hand, the recession is helping to keep husbands at home who might otherwise be cheating on their wives.'

To read the full International Herald Tribune article, click here.