Schwarzeneggerasked to shut down website which asks men to rate prostitutes
Harriet Harman tells Arnold Schwarzenegger to shut down US website which tells punters to rate prostitutes
A ‘sinister’ website which allows British men to compare and rate prostitutes should be shut down, Harriet Harman said yesterday.
The Equalities Minister urged actor-turned-politician Arnold Schwarzenegger to ‘terminate’ the PunterNet website.
The site is modeled on the completely above-board tripadvisor, which allows tourists and business travelers to rate holidays and hotels.
PunterNet, which is based in California where the former actor is governor, allows customers to ‘review’ call girls and the services they offer.
Ms Harman told delegates at the Labour conference that it was a ‘sinister development which we are determined to stop’.
She said: ‘There is now a website ... where pimps put women on sale for sex and then men who’ve had sex with them put their comments on line.
‘It is PunterNet and fuels the demand for prostitutes.
‘It is the ultimate commodification of women and puts women at risk. It is truly degrading.
‘PunterNet has pages and pages of women for sale in London. I’ve raised it with the U.S. Ambassador to London and I’ve called on California’s governor Arnie Schwarzenegger to close it down.
I am not sure Arnie has the power to shut it down or even if it is in the best interest of Free Speech or internet privacy to do so. It is clearly offensive, it furthers the impression that women are mostly sexual objects and not worthy of respect by men, it is wholly indecent; but is it in our age something that is a crime or since it must be accessed voluntarily, is their any public interest in shutting it down?
It is just another sign of the times!
