Penis Needs Help Too…

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 transgenders 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 transgenders. 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.

REFERENCE:

https://www.humanityinaction.org/knowledge_detail/just-business-the-unknown-world-of-male-prostitution-in-the netherlands/#:~:text=Male%20prostitution%20is%20characterized%20by,Second%2C%20homosexuality%20is%20still%20stigmatized.&text=Little%20is%20known%20about%20these,forced%20to%20work%20as%20prostitute
https://culturacolectiva.com/history/male-prostitution-greece#:~:text=Male%20prostitution%20was%20as%20common%20as%20female%20prostitution.&text=Unlike%20female%20prostitutes%2C%20men%20could,that%20were%20dedicated%20to%20trade
https://ehne.fr/en/article/gender-and-europe/prostitution-19th-21st-centuries/male-prostitution-19th-20th-centuries
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://medium.com/@satyendriya.discountbazaar/a-brief-history-of-male-prostitution-services-in-india-ad088a810a4d
https://www.bbc.com/news/uk-42265838

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