POZ Community Forums
Main Forums => Living With HIV => Topic started by: Matty the Damned on January 30, 2008, 05:25:14 pm
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Police search for victims of HIV prostitute
Sydney Morning Herald - Thursday, 31st January 2008
Kate Benson
HEALTH authorities are desperately trying to find 250 people who may have had contact with a sex worker infected with HIV.
Hector Scott, 41, of Kingston in the ACT, was charged with knowingly infecting someone with a sexually transmitted disease and failing to register as a sex worker. He has refused to give police a list of his clients, forcing them into a public appeal.
The ACT chief health officer, Charles Guest, said yesterday Scott had advertised his services as a sex worker in newspapers last year, but had been HIV positive since about 1999. The Health Department was aware of Scott's work on December 20 but did not issue him with a public health order to stop working until January 4, when he was arrested.
It is believed police accessed Scott's phone records to determine how many people he had been in contact with in the weeks before his arrest.
"Bear in mind 250 is just the number of phone numbers …" Dr Guest said. "That may be a very inflated figure of the number of people he had sex with or unprotected sex with."
Anyone who has had contact with Scott should phone 1800 000 974. He will face ACT Magistrates Court on February 7.
(source) (http://www.smh.com.au/news/national/police-search-for-victims-of-hiv-prostitute/2008/01/30/1201369229574.html)
The ACT is the Australian Capital Territory - basically our capital city, Canberra.
So, is Hector a villain or a victim? Should we be outraged at his wanton disregard for public health and decency or sympathetic to his plight?
MtD
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If his clients didn't insist on condoms, their fault.
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I think that people who sleep with prostitutes take their health into their own hands. When I was in the land of lap-dancing, I never informed anyone about anything; and no one ever asked.
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PS: You "register as a sex worker"...meaning this is a legal activity in your parts? If so, bravo again for your country for taking its head out of its ass.
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Hang him.
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Ja. Prostitution has always been legal in Oz. Other aspects such as running a brothel ("keeping a disorderly house") and "living off the earning of prostitution" were an offence. But such things were liberalised in the 1990s.
MtD
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Wish it would've been legal here in the 80's. Would've saved me a lot of favor-doing.
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Hang him.
Who, Matty?
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Who, Matty?
Well, duh -- you didn't think I meant Timberly did you?
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Well, duh -- you didn't think I meant Timberly did you?
I confuse so easily these days. Too much BB, me thinks.
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I think that people who sleep with prostitutes take their health into their own hands.
... as do people who sleep with non-prostitutes ...
I really don't see what the sex-worker aspect of this has to do with anything.
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for the most part, prostitutes are ambassadors of safer sex education, its their livelihood!
J
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for the most part, prostitutes are ambassadors of safer sex education, its their livelihood!
J
honey, if you think what is riding on me (when I was junkie-Betty) getting a dime bag of black tar is a quick shove of the dick, I'm sure not going to delay getting the fix further by insisting the john put on a rubber.
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The Brothels in OZ and NZ are legal and controled..to work there they had to produced a certificate stating they had a clean bill of health, and were tested every 6 months for all STD's..no certificate=no work...also no drugs or alcohol were allowed on the premises.
We had the contract for 3 of the main Brothels in Oz to do all the blood work, if the girls didn't come in for their routine check we would have to inform those who ran the Brothels to chase them up.
As for the street workers , well there was no control..but those who wanted to work and make more money registered with the Brothels...also conditions were better and safer according to the girls I spoke to.
Hugs
Jan :-*
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I do believe that prostitution is legal in Nevada, at least brothels are legal. There was a news special about one called the Bunny Ranch. They were also controlled - drug tests, STD panels, ect. But, alcohol was allowed, or at least offered in the brothel bar. I don't think any other state has legalized brothels. Please, correct me if I'm wrong.
Mum
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I used to volunteer at the local aids council, which had a PASA (prostitutes association of south Australia) at it, as a funded government body, so they could stand up for their rights against brothel owners (if needed), and get advocacy etc when/if needed... even had their own publication (SASIN, South Australian Sex Industry News).. seeing Prostitution is legalised here in Australia, its a different kettle of fish to many other places around the world, it was all part of the mid-80's push for 'harm minimization' and prevention (the Education campaign that started after the grim reaper adverts)
(this is where my comment about prostitutes being ambassadors for safer sex comes from)
For the most part, prostitutes are fantastic ambassadors, but like everything, there is always the possibility of a bad apple (which the media will take hold of, and sensationalize like its going out of fashion :-(
J
(National Oral sex day was the best, with some of the working girls giving demos for the media, lol, that was in the early 90's,... and the small brothel clause, where they could work in vehicles.. they parked outside of parliament and did a few tricks :P
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Wow legalized sex work. You guys and gals are progressive down there. Pun intended.
Where I live it is illegal for anyone with HIV to have sexual relations with anyone. You can be jailed for it and if you are intentionally spreading the virus you can be charged with murder. We are in the bible belt of America and the red necks don't take kindly to us hivers.
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It disturbs me that the Authorities consider they have any grounds to harass this poor man at all. He has done nothing 'wrong'.
As for the question of legality of prostitution - it has never been legal in the USA, with the exception of certain isolated rural counties in Nevada where ridiculously overpriced brothels do exist. But before even the early 1980's, such things had always been tolerated in most states as long as they were done fairly secretively. Most states had a decent street scene, and a few Asian brothels, and in rarer cases 'american' brothels.
Alas this all ended when the moral majority christian crusade gained full control of the country with Ronald Reagan, and hasn't let go since. I used to go driving round the old 'strolls' back in my american hometown in the 1998-2005 period, and all you'ld see were other frustrated suburbanites driving round and round, staring at the sidewalks. No girls - they were all in jail.
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I am in agreement, leave the guy alone. You screw a prostitute you screw with a condom or its your own fault. And agreed you screw with anyone without a condom and its your fault.
As for the brothels, I think and I could be wrong, here in the US the last one is the Mustang Ranch somewhere outside Vegas. Although, I just watched "The Best Little Whorehouse in Texas" the other night...what a great movie. I would love to visit the Chicken Ranch....but only on the night that that football team of hot guys was there. They could dance and they were drunk....takes me back to the 6 pack and fruit fly thread we had here. ;D
Matt
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I guess I'm in the minority, I think the hustler should be accountable if he knowingly passed on the virus. A prostitute's operating a business. Like a pilot, I expect him to safely execute his job. If he had used condoms each time, I wouldn't see the problem.
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I guess I'm in the minority, I think the hustler should be accountable if he knowingly passed on the virus. A prostitute's operating a business. Like a pilot, I expect him to safely execute his job. If he had used condoms each time, I wouldn't see the problem.
People flying are expected to buckle up and follow safety regulations as well.
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I always look at it like a pedestrian and a car driver. For the pedestrian to avoid getting run over, the driver needs to follow certain rules. How about when a pedestrian steps out in front of a moving car for whatever reason... maybe he slipped, perhaps he didn't see the car, who knows. Should the driver not do anything to try and avoid the pedestrian although legally the driver might not be at fault? As much as people stepping out in front of my car annoys the hell out of me, I still stop. People are ignorant about HIV transmission even now. If you don't think so just go to the 'Am I Infected' forum. The HIV+ individual very likely knows more about HIV. When I was a Realtor, it was considered that I had 'superior knowledge' about the market. I was required to let a seller know (disclose) that their property was underpriced if I was the potential buyer because I had 'superior knowledge even though the seller had access to public records showing property sales. It also sounds like the prostitute was 'out of compliance' by not registering as a sex worker, which won't help his case.
David
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OK, but if someone's paying someone for sex, they should expect anything they get. That's my honest opinion.
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I confuse so easily these days. Too much BB, me thinks.
are you referring to this? (http://www.comparestoreprices.co.uk/images/unbranded/b/unbranded-benedictine-b&b-brandy-&-benedictine-70cl-bottle.jpg)
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NEVADA:
State law requires that registered brothel prostitutes be checked weekly for several sexually transmitted diseases and monthly for HIV; furthermore, condoms are mandatory for all oral sex and sexual intercourse. Brothel owners may be held liable if customers become infected with HIV after a prostitute has tested positive for the virus (NRS 041.1397 (http://www.leg.state.nv.us/nrs/NRS-041.html#NRS041Sec1397)).
Nevada has laws against engaging in prostitution outside of licensed brothels, against encouraging others to become prostitutes, and against living off the proceeds of a prostitute. All of these behaviors are quite common, however. Brothels are also not allowed to advertise their services in counties where brothel prostitution is illegal.
Legal Brothels
About 30 legal brothels existed in the state in January 2004, employing about 300 prostitutes at any given time. All but the smallest ones operate as follows: as the customer is buzzed in and sits down in the parlor, the available women appear in a line-up and introduce themselves. If the customer chooses a woman, the price negotiations take place in the women's room, which are often overheard by management. The house normally gets half of the negotiated amount. If the customer arrives by cab, the driver will receive some 20% of whatever the customer spends; this is subtracted from the woman's earnings. Typical prices start at $100 and average about $200 for half an hour of intercourse and oral sex. The prostitutes almost never kiss on the mouth. Brothel prostitutes work as independent contractors and thus do not receive any unemployment, retirement or health benefits. They are responsible for paying their own taxes, which many neglect, since it is mainly a cash business. The women typically work for a period of several weeks, during which time they live in the brothel and hardly ever leave it. They then take some time off. It has been argued that the tight control that brothels exert over the working conditions precludes the women from legally being classified as independent contractors.
Since 1986, when mandatory testing began, not a single brothel prostitute has ever tested positive for HIV. The mandatory condom law was passed in 1988.
A study conducted 1995 in two brothels found that condom use in the brothels is consistent and sexually transmitted diseases are accordingly absent. The study also found that few of the prostitutes use condoms in their private lives.
Prostitution outside licensed brothels is a misdemeanor in Nevada.
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OK, but if someone's paying someone for sex, they should expect anything they get.
If you live in a country where prostitution is legal and regulated, you probably have an expectation of certain amounts of protection.
He bears some responsibility for following the rules and disclosure. It's his job.
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Responsibility is a two-way street. That's how I see it and I'm not likely to change my mind.
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If you live in a country where prostitution is legal and regulated, you probably have an expectation of certain amounts of protection.
He bears some responsibility for following the rules and disclosure. It's his job.
Exactly!
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Oh please. When you buy a used car from a dealer, you always expect the best. But once you've bought it, you also take a chance that there is something wrong with it and there's nothing you can do to the dealer (which is how it should be).
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Well, I don't know the laws on used cars, but I suspect the dealer has a legal obligation to disclose something about the car or the terms of the sale. And certainly I think it should be that if a dealer is in possession of information about major structural damages to the car, that he should be required to disclose that information to a buyer. To do otherwise, would allow the dealer to profit from the customer's ignorance.
Yes, everyone is responsible for their own sexual health. And in a perfect world, everyone would either use protection or disclose. But we don't live in a perfect world. The standards for disclosure should be higher for sex workers...well at least where it is legal and regulated. Just as the standards for testing for STDs is higher than for the general public.
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Yes, everyone is responsible for their own sexual health. And in a perfect world, everyone would either use protection or disclose. But we don't live in a perfect world. The standards for disclosure should be higher for sex workers...well at least where it is legal and regulated. Just as the standards for testing for STDs is higher than for the general public.
Why are the standards higher for a sex worker vs. the person who wants to hire a sex worker when it comes to protecting oneself from a well known virus? I understand your point of regulations, but it is an extremely slippery slope.
The whole car dealership analogy is a false analogy. Do you really consider the purchasing a car and hiring a sex worker to be under even slightly similar expectations of consumer guarantees? Though I can't help thinking that even when it comes to car purchases - the rule of law (in the U.S.) that no one can sue a car seller if the purchaser sustains an injury due to their own reckless operation of the vehicle.
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Why are the standards higher for a sex worker vs. the person who wants to hire a sex worker when it comes to protecting oneself from a well known virus? I understand your point of regulations, but it is an extremely slippery slope.
Potential to impact the community (in terms of number of partners).
The whole point of regulating that industry is to make it safer for the community. It seems to contradict that premise if you suggest that it's ok for HIV+ sex workers to knowingly have unprotected sex with someone (without disclosure).
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I'm not saying that HIV+ sex workers should be having unprotected sex. But what I am saying is that everyone is responsible for their own behavior. If that's not the case, then we might as well free, oh say, the Menendez brothers, since they were supposedly battered by their parents. This thing of criminalizing HIV if one does not disclose one's status is just that-making having HIV "criminal." The extreme ethical thing to do would be to disclose. But, like you said Cliff, we do not live in a perfect world.
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The details on this case are very vague. There is no mention of whether or not he allegedly had unprotected sex with anyone, or whether there was disclosure.
I'll wait to see what comes out in court before jumping to any conclusions or making judgements.
I do, however, like the Kiwi take on this (he holidayed there over Xmas):
“This case is a reminder that clients – or anyone else – engaging in sex have an equal responsibility to insist on condom use,” says Douglas Jenkin, NZAF’s National Campaigns Co-ordinator.
“HIV will not be an issue for you if you’re always using condoms and water-based lube for anal and vaginal sex. The virus cannot pass through an intact latex condom. If you have put yourself at risk by having unprotected sex, then it’s best to come into one of our clinics and be tested.”
Such cases of deliberate HIV infection are very rare, but can very damaging for HIV positive people who already face discrimination and fear from many in the general public.
“In our experience, people living with HIV and AIDS have shown a high commitment to safe sex,” Jenkin says. “They are the most aware of how devastating it is to be diagnosed with HIV and very few worldwide would ever consider it OK to pass the virus onto another.”
The rarity of such cases does not mean that gay and bisexual men should be any less cautious about their sexual risk decisions, however. [end quote]
As for prostitution being legal in Aus, you can solicit in more places than you can light up a cigarrette these days ;D
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I'll wait to see what comes out in court before jumping to any conclusions or making judgements.
Feh! Typical response of a left-wing, tree hugging, whale fucking, chardonnay sipping, inner city dwelling, poofter member of the Chattering Classes and Progressive Elites.
Paddy McGuiness's bloated carcass will be spinning right now. ;)
MtD
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I'll wait to see what comes out in court before jumping to any conclusions or making judgements.
Feh! Typical response of a left-wing, tree hugging, whale fucking, chardonnay sipping, inner city dwelling, poofter member of the Chattering Classes and Progressive Elites.
Paddy McGuiness's bloated carcass will be spinning right now. ;)
MtD
Hardly, Matty. I'm not left wing, tree hugging, whale fucking or chardonnay sipping. Inner city dwelling, yeah and poofter. Perhaps chattering but far from progressive. ;D
My statement was simply based on the lack of information about the case, other than the charges.
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I know doll. I was just channeling the spirit of Tony Abbot. :)
MtD
(Who hopes the whore beats the rap)
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With any luck, Tony was a client and the whole sordid affair captured on tape (far more intersting than Heath's big noting himself and his alleged pot smoking - 5 joints a day since he was 5 or 6 years old. yeah right . :o hush my little mouth
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It would be even better if Tony was busted on tape bumming a rent boy who turns out to be that long lost bastard son he fathered around the time he was training to be a priest.
Oh yeah. :)
MtD
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Well, I don't know the laws on used cars, but I suspect the dealer has a legal obligation to disclose something about the car or the terms of the sale. And certainly I think it should be that if a dealer is in possession of information about major structural damages to the car, that he should be required to disclose that information to a buyer. To do otherwise, would allow the dealer to profit from the customer's ignorance.
Yes, everyone is responsible for their own sexual health. And in a perfect world, everyone would either use protection or disclose. But we don't live in a perfect world. The standards for disclosure should be higher for sex workers...well at least where it is legal and regulated. Just as the standards for testing for STDs is higher than for the general public.
Not every state has "Lemon Laws" so what you suspected regarding used car dealers is not the case for every state. That's why the term "Buyer Beware" has been around forever! It doesn't just pertain to car purchases my friend.
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They are both at fault. The whore for not disclosing and the jon who picked him up for not protecting himself. Half of the people in this world lie to potential sexual partners and it is our responsibility to protect ourself. If I had protected myself instead of trusting my partner I would not be positive. While Both are to blame if there are laws which require sex workers to report certain conditions to the state then throw the book at him.