Male Prostitution
Male Prostitution: penis needs help too…
By Pravina Sivakumar
Upon hearing the term ‘prostitution,’ unfortunately,
it is always women who pop up into many minds. Shockingly, male and transgender
prostitution is completely ignored, although in many countries men and transgender
comprise a substantial percentage of prostitutes. Even though male prostitution
is out there in almost every region, city, province, and around the world, it
is neither known nor discussed well enough. It seems important to raise
awareness about the existence of these men. It should be noted that although
the economic motives are central for both male and female sex workers, some men
are motivated by the potential for sexual adventure that prostitution may
offer. The main reason behind this unpopularity is because the history of male
sex workers is gap-toothed and disjointed, like an aging boxer. Unlike female
prostitutes, men could offer their bodies to women, even though they were meant
for the enjoyment and pleasure of other individuals of the same sex.
·
Ancient Male Prostitutes:
In ancient Greece, sexual orientation had a minor
role in the construction of gender. No one was defined by their sexual
preferences and social norms saw sex as a natural practice that had nothing to
do with belonging to a Greek polis/acceptance from the others. There were two
different ways of practicing male prostitution that was degrading at different
levels:
1.
Tramps/pórnoi
They sold their bodies just to earn enough to
survive. None of them were citizens of course. They were considered merely as
inferiors/unwanted ones. They went to the extent as to consider such men even
more inferior than the lower stratum of Hellenic society by being prisoners of
war. Their passive role was strictly necessary for those who required their
services. The Roman society adopted the same principle, and several laws made
sure that the high-ranking person took the active role as a penetrator.
Conversely, the pórnoi could receive the death penalty.
2.
Hetairikos
They were similar to the high-ranking female
prostitutes called hetaeras. Their role was similar to today’s escorts. These
men would be temporarily adopted by citizens. They provide sexual favors to
their masters, as long as they respected the active-passive principle of their
relationship, at least in public.
Today:
It can be said that in the past the male
prostitution was not properly organized and maintained. Yet, today, with the
help of technology such as the internet, computer, and mobile, etc. it is
gradually becoming very organized, providing the best sexual services in
different forms like male escorts, call boys, playboys, and gigolos, etc.
Male sex workers have marginalized in the public
debate with the exception connected to sexually transmitted diseases. Their
understandings shift with technological, conceptual, and social changes.
Understandings of sexuality changes and the power of the Internet are both
important forces that have brought recent changes in the structure and
organization of male sex workers. What is more, this recent change has provided
visibility to the diverse geographical distribution of sex workers, the
commodification of race and racialized desire, new populations of heterosexual
men and women as clients, and the successful dissemination of safer sexual messages
to male sex workers through online channels. This writing further focuses on
men’s life as sex workers in selected countries.
Netherlands
To begin with, male prostitution in the Netherlands
can be divided into three categories. The first group contains under-aged boys
and men who offer their services in bars and clubs. The second group was
created by men who offer their services through gay websites. The third group
of men does not work voluntarily but are coerced to work as prostitutes. Sex
dates are organized by different websites and it is called ‘play-dates,’ where
monetary payments and other rewards are included. In this way, clients and male
prostitutes can directly arrange their appointments without relying on a
brothel/club. So the internet allows a variety of choices and convenience for
both sex workers and clients.
Although the gay community is open about the
existence of pay-dates, this remains largely under the surface. Within the gay
community itself, paying for sex, being paid for sex, does not matter at all.
Despite pay-dates being the voluntary initiation, they still can become forced
prostitution which makes use of the same websites to offer sexual services. It
should be remembered that the police cannot estimate the number of illegal
brothels in the Netherlands. They simply lack the resources to investigate the
exact facts about brothels. This resource lacking, in turn, is partly a
function of the taboos against male prostitution within the Dutch political
sphere. While female prostitution is visible in the Netherlands’ big cities,
male prostitution remains underground. Without the internet, male prostitution
would be structured in a completely different manner. Men who occasionally
engage in male prostitution and those who are coerced in illegal brothels find
their clients on the internet.
UK
When it comes to England, Wales, and Scotland, sex
work is considered illegal. About 80% of male sex workers now have online dealt
and about 5% of male sex workers operate on the street. Manchester has more
male sex workers than anywhere else in the UK. Over 12% of the male sex workers
had been sexually assaulted in the past years. The hub of Manchester’s male
street work scene is around Canal Street, where the men’s room does two night’s
outreach a week.
Sex workers in this area are the most vulnerable
where some are homeless and nearly all have very little money. Some of them
fled their hometown when their family disowned them for being gay. With no
money, and not knowing anyone in the city, they became homeless. Within a week,
they had turned to sex work. Economic and Research Council found that the
majority of sex workers are not trafficked/on drugs. Many choose to enter the
industry and enjoy their job. Many in the industry felt that criminalization of
the work increases violence. With the stigma surrounding sex workers still very
much regimented in society, this ‘ebony male’ chooses to ignore it.
Hong
Kong
Another country in which male prostitution can be
detected in Hong Kong where is legally approved. It is subjected to various
restrictions aimed at combating soliciting, pimping, and multi-worker brothels.
However, the laws apply only to heterosexual services. Different provisions
regulate gay sex services. For an instance, it is illegal for a massage parlor
to function as a brothel, providing heterosexual sex work. But male sex workers
who provide sex services to men in that parlor are not liable and unlikely to
be arrested. However, this apparent legal grey area does not mean male sex
workers face fewer legal hazards than female counterparts. Male prostitutes in
public can be charged with “soliciting with immoral purposes”.
Foreign male prostitutes who lack Hong Kong
permanent residence rights can be accused by the Immigration Department of
breaching the conditions of their stay in the city. If they lack visas/misuse
visitor visas, they could be liable to three months in prison. Immigrant sex
workers are the majority of male sex workers in Hong Kong, from the Mainland,
Philippines, and Thailand.
The lack of understanding and knowledge of male sex
work is not exclusive to Hong Kong. Even though they lack social support, male
sex workers in Hong Kong appear to be of considerable concern to the police.
They would operate undercover to catch male prostitutes, and sometimes even
plant evidence against them. For instance, if the police could not find any
lubricants and condoms, they would just plant those which have been brought
with them.
India
It could be news to many upon claiming that the
history of male prostitution in India is very rich, where almost all types of
prostitution are available, among which is the male prostitution services,
taking place to satisfy the sexual desire of women and male clients. Among male
prostitution services, the Call Boy and Gigolo Services are very popular and
different categories of Indian women go for such services. Callboys are very
much preferred sexual service, which is provided for a short period. The
desired ones hire callboys, where they take their payment and leave the
clients. The women clients, who choose this service, get relaxed either with
the same Callboy or a different one. Hence, this explains that there are women
in India who go for such a male prostitution service. Some Indian women, who
belong to rich families, would prefer to have a permanent male prostitute who
can provide them with the service. Such women’s choice would mostly be to have
Gigolo services, because they do serve one client for a long period, acting
like a real boyfriend/husband, for a price.
Most of the male sex workers claim economic crisis
as their reason for entering the industry. Strategies to find clients include
self-solicitation and referrals, while pimps played a major role in the
solicitation, negotiations, and events of the crisis. The relationship among
men who engage in sex, pimps, and clients involves points of negotiation,
opportunities, and limitations. HIV prevention should focus on identifying and
addressing their unique needs and working with pimps on risk-reduction
strategies and crisis interventions.
“
Not only the vagina
but
also the penis screams for help ”
What Do They
Suffer?
The male sex industry has received steadily
increasing attention in society. It could be viewed as the key donor community
in terms of the global response to HIV and other sexually transmitted
infections. As a result, male sex workers are reported as a widespread stigma
by health professionals at the point of accessing sexual and reproductive
health services. In reality, male sex workers are misunderstood based on their
sexuality, family circumstances, and their working environment, which
automatically fuels judgment, making it difficult to be sought for their
services. What is more, this complicates matters further, when they are
restricted from the access to HIV prevention, treatment including the supply of
medicines and other diagnostics, care, and support.
When delving deep to find out what makes them choose
to enter this industry, it seems poverty and unemployment is the main reason.
Apart from these, lack of shelter also acts as a more influential reason for
entering into street prostitution. However, some men never meant to enter this
side of the service industry.
Most of the male prostitutes are from a rural
society, earning lower incomes compared to others from urban areas. Notoriously
they are tricked into prostitution with guarantees of decent job opportunities
in the city/abroad. There is also a possibility of some of them being kidnapped
and forced to work as sex workers. To provide a better education, parents often
send their children to other countries and let them rent cheap rooms. As a
result, they are exposed to males and females predators, who make sure that
such young ones become sex workers. Another cause could be the idleness after
school and the absence of parents guiding them through their work. This leads
the youth to spend their time outside the house. In the process, there is a
possibility where they could be discussing things including making easy money,
sex, men, and women.
As sex workers suffer from both practice and various
forms of violence, it is essential to distinguish between the two. A legalistic
definition of violence is to emphasize the exclusive use of physical force by
an individual upon the body of another. Such physical force may produce
emotional and psychological harm in addition to physical harm. It is important
to recognize that male sex work has partly gained public visibility through
media reports of them/their clients being victims of bizarre and violent crimes
such as homicide and serial killings. Although incidents of violence are likely
to make for good news copy, these events provide a skewed impression of the
everyday life of the majority of sex workers. Moreover, the relative risk
associated with working in a public setting can be better understood when it is
considered that homophobic violence is typically enacted as a random street
assault. Most acts of homophobic violence are perpetrated by groups of men who
are unfamiliar to the victim. The victim is often alone/in an isolated setting
at night when such violence occurs. These characteristics of homophobic
violence are evident cross-culturally.
Conclusion:
When it comes to the field of prostitution, women
alone cannot be pinpointed as the service suppliers, but also men and
transgender. Male prostitution has a history leading a long way back to the
period of the Greek empire. Although this has escaped significant notice over
the years, when paying particular attention to the matter, it is known that
many countries around the world, including the Netherlands, the United Kingdom,
Hong Kong, and India have a considerable number of male prostitutes as part of
their population. While some countries try immensely to discourage and prohibit
male prostitution by taking measures like denying medical services, the others
allow it to happen with some restrictions. Notwithstanding, some cases have
been identified where many young boys and men are forced to provide this
service. Either way, it has also been identified that these men are subjected
to brutal violence as well. Just like many women prostitutes, men’s human
rights are violated by dragging them into everyday sufferings.
References
https://research.qut.edu.au/aboutmaleescorting/2017/11/01/number-of-online-male-escorts-by-nation-2/
https://www.abc.net.au/news/2018-01-04/male-sex-workers-catering-to-more-women-and-couples/9239236
https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2014/02/14/male-prostitution-on-the-rise-in-lebanon/?gb=true
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42265838
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