Controlling prostitution?

Saipan may learn from an Italian town mayor`s proposal to help deter prostitution and punish those who patronize it, as reported by Reuters: By taking photos of vehicles that pick the girls up and publishing the number plates in local newspapers.

In Saipan`s case, will Variety and Tribune step up to the plate as well?

The mayor said he planned to give local police digital cameras and instruct them to photograph any cars seen stopping to liaise with prostitutes on the side of the street.

While the number of prostitutes on Italian streets has increased dramatically in recent years that prompted the Vatican last week to call for new laws to punish clients of prostitution, the mayor said his reasons for tackling prostitution were entirely secular and far more mundane.

"I think it's more important to protect the rights of citizens who have to be at work early but are kept up at night by the sound of cars," he told Reuters.

In Saipan, there`s no credible government data on the number of prostitutes. Ever. All they say is that it`s increasing.

Are you old enough?

(Reuters photo)


If you are at least 66 years old, you will get a 50 percent discount for sex in the afternoon. No, it’s not happening (yet?) on Saipan, but in the western city of Cologne, Germany. The closest thing Saipan can offer is "sex now, pay later" and it knows no age.

A Reuters report said a particular German brothel introduced reduced rates for sex session for clients aged 66 and above--provided they can prove they are old enough. A ‘normal session’ in the brothel costs 50 euros, and the elderly get to pay only half.

They also offer 50 percent off sex services between midday and 5 p.m. every day.

Solicitation

i thought women in skimpy clothes 'solicit customers' only in garapan. i saw them in san antonio and chalan kanoa, too. talk about expanding the market. at one time, my friends and i tried to ask some of these women in garapan for their 'price'. my lady friend and i tried to hide at the back seat of the vehicle while our male friends tried to do the talking. but the women in sexy clothes had to really look inside the vehicle just to make sure, and saw us, so off she went. then a friend asked, maybe there's a code, like 'what time is it?' or 'how much is a can of soda' or something. we'll have to find out. while others who bragged about their night endeavors tried to give us figures, we thought it would be best if we get the numbers from the women. maybe i have to convince real men to do the talking next time.

Night club after night club

In January, the court sentenced the owners of Red Heart Massage and Mayi Club—located along Beach Road in Garapan—to three years of imprisonment, for bringing in young women to Saipan and force them to become prostitutes. But just a month or two later, the same spot where Red Heart Massage and Mayi Club once stood is alive again! This time, it’s called RAINBOW club (or bar). true to its name, this supposedly new business is more colorful than its predecessor.

The judge who presided over the Red Heart Massage case, Associate Judge Kenneth Govendo, revoked permanently the business license of Red Heart Massage owner, Edward Cabrera. I assume he’s not the owner of Rainbow, or is he?

“Prostitution is all over the place. When you’re in Garapan, you will see pimps and prostitutes, yet we have very, very strong and serious laws about prostitution. The government has to send a message to the community — that they know what’s going on and they will do everything to stop it,” local newspapers quoted Judge Govendo as saying.

If one night club or massage parlor closes due to prostitution or any other violations, only to have another to take over its place, it appears there really is a market for such type of business here on the small island of Saipan. And otherwise, you won’t see girls in skimpy or sexy clothes waiting for customers on street corners in Garapan.

For whatever reason, despite the government’s so called effort to curb prostitution or the appearance of it, there is still prostitution, (now cheaper, some say because of the economy) although we read in the papers that from time to time there are women arrested for ‘soliciting’.

(speaking of bad economy, I was told other women sell themselves NOW but customers would pay LATER--after the customers receive their salaries. this applies to customers who are working on saipan, whether as resident or guest worker)

Remember the Starlite Club in Garapan, which recruited minors from the Philippines to strip dance? That club’s right across a police station for years and yet the abuses were supposedly discovered ONLY last year. And it was not discovered by chance by any police officer, but only after the minors and other women ran away from their employers.

(to be continued…)