New app helps clients find prostitutes

[summer]

www.thelocal.de/20140417/new-app-helps-johns-find-prostitutes

While the German government is considering tightening prostitution laws, Berlin entrepreneurs have developed a smartphone app to connect sex-workers with clients.

The latest Berlin-based start-up app idea has taken the online dating principle to the sex industry. Peppr.it, launched on April 1, allows prostitutes to upload profiles of themselves that potential clients nearby can browse.



Clients can search for male or female "Pepprs," and adjust their filters for special services and body type. They can then send an enquiry and make a date.



The prostitutes do not pay to put their profiles online, while clients pay the website a €5 or €10 booking fee.



The app was co-founded by Pia Poppenreiter, who got the idea after walking through a red-light area in Berlin on a winter night. "I was walking down Oranienburger Strasse - I know it sounds cheesy, but it's the truth - it was chilly and I saw the poor girls on the streets, and I thought, why isn't there an app? It's not efficient to wait outside," she told The Local.



"We're trying to revolutionize the image of sex work in general," she said. "We're trying to get it away from its shabby image."



Poppenreiter and the other Peppr.it founders work with escort agencies and speak to the prostitutes by phone before they put their profiles online, in an attempt to ascertain whether they are forced or not.



"We have a short conversation to get the feeling that this is voluntary and they are independent sex workers," she said - although she acknowledged the company cannot guarantee this.



"We try to ask them - you kind of find out in a conversation whether they're doing it on a voluntary basis - we ask them what they did before, whether they've always worked voluntarily and so on," she said.

[IIOY]

No

[gpw]

NOPE.

....and I'm also sad that I have to be off the board most of the afternoon. I'm curious to see where this might go.

[summer]

Apr 17, 2014 12:15:11 GMT -5 summer said:

The app was co-founded by Pia Poppenreiter, who got the idea after walking through a red-light area in Berlin on a winter night. "I was walking down Oranienburger Strasse - I know it sounds cheesy, but it's the truth - it was chilly and I saw the poor girls on the streets, and I thought, why isn't there an app? It's not efficient to wait outside," she told The Local.

I mean if this is where humanity is headed, we may as well call it a wrap. I mean, she saw them out in the cold waiting for Johns and of all the things she could have thought, she went with, "there should be an app!"  

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2014 12:38:04 GMT -5 summer said:

Apr 17, 2014 12:15:11 GMT -5 summer said:

The app was co-founded by Pia Poppenreiter, who got the idea after walking through a red-light area in Berlin on a winter night. "I was walking down Oranienburger Strasse - I know it sounds cheesy, but it's the truth - it was chilly and I saw the poor girls on the streets, and I thought, why isn't there an app? It's not efficient to wait outside," she told The Local.

I mean if this is where humanity is headed, we may as well call it a wrap. I mean, she saw them out in the cold waiting for Johns and of all the things she could have thought, she went with, "there should be an app!"  

While I totally agree, I am always torn on this issue. On the one hand, its always going to happen and always has throughout history. No laws or efforts of any kind have ever stopped prostitution. That being the case, it seems better to make it as safe as possible. So when I think of Amsterdam, on the one hand I think its great that people can do that in a safe (ish) environment because it is legal etc, but on the other hand, its a damn shame that a person can go to careers day at school and decide "No, I don't want to be a pilot, I will be a prostitute" lol.

Obviously I am not talking about anyone forced into that business in any way or fashion.

[lasagnasshole]

SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME IF THIS IS SEX POSITIVE!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[eponinepontmercy]

I honestly can't believe it took this long.

[ESF]

Apr 17, 2014 12:45:16 GMT -5 @eveer said:

Apr 17, 2014 12:38:04 GMT -5 summer said:

I mean if this is where humanity is headed, we may as well call it a wrap. I mean, she saw them out in the cold waiting for Johns and of all the things she could have thought, she went with, "there should be an app!"  

While I totally agree, I am always torn on this issue. On the one hand, its always going to happen and always has throughout history. No laws or efforts of any kind have ever stopped prostitution. That being the case, it seems better to make it as safe as possible. So when I think of Amsterdam, on the one hand I think its great that people can do that in a safe (ish) environment because it is legal etc, but on the other hand, its a damn shame that a person can go to careers day at school and decide "No, I don't want to be a pilot, I will be a prostitute" lol.

Obviously I am not talking about anyone forced into that business in any way or fashion.

First, I direct you to this thread.  If you harbor any ideas that legalization would be good, then well, this might change your mind.  Lots of great points made by people here.

pandce.proboards.com/thread/309505/why-leftists-work-new-normal

Second, I disagree that because efforts to stop it have failed, throwing in the towel seems like a better approach, mostly because I question how serious the efforts to stop it have been.  My understanding is that the women are more likely to be punished more harshly than the johns.  And the perception that its a victimless crime between two consenting adults has probably led to people being unwilling to make it a political and/or police priority.

I'm convinced the tide can be turned if the political will is there.  Drunk driving used to be acceptable.  While people still do it, they are crucified by society and there's a lot less of it. There's no reason we can't take the same strategy of upping the penalties and enforcement, and enacting the same kind of shame campaign against the johns.  Hiring prostitutes is often a source of humor, but drunk driving is not.  It doesn't have to be that way.

[Deleted]

Apr 17, 2014 15:58:08 GMT -5 ESF said:

Apr 17, 2014 12:45:16 GMT -5 @eveer said:

While I totally agree, I am always torn on this issue. On the one hand, its always going to happen and always has throughout history. No laws or efforts of any kind have ever stopped prostitution. That being the case, it seems better to make it as safe as possible. So when I think of Amsterdam, on the one hand I think its great that people can do that in a safe (ish) environment because it is legal etc, but on the other hand, its a damn shame that a person can go to careers day at school and decide "No, I don't want to be a pilot, I will be a prostitute" lol.

Obviously I am not talking about anyone forced into that business in any way or fashion.

First, I direct you to this thread.  If you harbor any ideas that legalization would be good, then well, this might change your mind.  Lots of great points made by people here.

pandce.proboards.com/thread/309505/why-leftists-work-new-normal

Second, I disagree that because efforts to stop it have failed, throwing in the towel seems like a better approach, mostly because I question how serious the efforts to stop it have been.  My understanding is that the women are more likely to be punished more harshly than the johns.  And the perception that its a victimless crime between two consenting adults has probably led to people being unwilling to make it a political and/or police priority.

I'm convinced the tide can be turned if the political will is there.  Drunk driving used to be acceptable.  While people still do it, they are crucified by society and there's a lot less of it. There's no reason we can't take the same strategy of upping the penalties and enforcement, and enacting the same kind of shame campaign against the johns.  Hiring prostitutes is often a source of humor, but drunk driving is not.  It doesn't have to be that way.

Yeah, I grazed that thread. And as I said, I am not sure how I feel about it either way.

I did not mean to say "we cant fix it, so throw in the towel". I just think that recognising that a bad thing happens and then adapting to it is usually better than banning something and hoping it will go away. It seems to me when something is banned, it usually makes matters worse for all involved. Like drugs I suppose. It does not make me an advocate of either drugs or prostitution to say "if this is going to happen, lets make it as safe as possible and legal so that those who are mistreated or in trouble can get help."

Of course it would be better if it didn't happen, just like it would be better if drunk driving didn't happen. But it does. And always will while there are people, alcohol and cars in the same place. The only difference is all three of those things are legal - cars, alcohol and drinking. So if you have a problem with any of them, you can do something about it safe in the knowledge that there are laws protecting you and services to help you and its all above board.

Anyway, you may well be right. Its one of those weird ones where I have no real opinion because sometimes I feel one way, sometimes another.

[starlily]

Apr 17, 2014 15:45:56 GMT -5 eponinepontmercy said:

I honestly can't believe it took this long.

Neither can I.

I went to a training three years ago, and at that time industry messageboards were pretty popular with pimps, prostitutes, and johns.

[starlily]

Re: shaming johns - the tide IS turning, albeit slowly. My agency has already started publishing the names and photos of convicted pimps and johns on its suicidal media outlets. Prostitutes are usually not the focus of prosecution unless they're actively aiding pimps in trafficking and abuse. Other similar agencies are starting similar programs.