Prostitution and the internet: More bang for your buck
卖春和互联网：花钱玩得更爽
How new technology is shaking up the oldest business
新科技在如何改变这个最古老的行当
WARNING: We rarely feel the need to alert readers to explicit content. But our discussion of the online sex trade requires frank language, and some may find the topic distasteful.
警告: 我们极少会觉得有需要提醒读者，文章内容包含露骨的描写。但我们讨论网上性交易时需要用很直白的语言，因此这个题材可能会令有些人感到不适。
FOR those seeking commercial sex in Berlin, Peppr, a new app, makes life easy. Type in a location and up pops a list of the nearest prostitutes, along with pictures, prices and physical particulars. Results can be filtered, and users can arrange a session for a €5-10 ($6.50-13) booking fee. It plans to expand to more cities.
对于那些在柏林找乐子的人来说，一个叫Peppr的新款手机应用让事情变得容易多了。只要输入一个地址，附近妓女的名单、照片、价钱、身体特征等信息就都跳了出来。用户可以对结果进行筛选，安排一次服务只需要花5-10欧（合6.5-13美元）的预约费。这个应用还将被推广到了更多城市。
Peppr can operate openly since prostitution, and the advertising of prostitution, are both legal in Germany. But even where they are not, the internet is transforming the sex trade. Prostitutes and punters have always struggled to find each other, and to find out what they want to know before pairing off.
娼妓和与之相关的广告在德国都是合法的，因此Peppr可以光明正大地运作。但即便在这两样事情都不合法的地方，互联网也正在改变性产业。自古以来，妓女和嫖客都想搭上线，并想在成交之前对对方有所了解，可这事并不容易。
Phone-box “tart cards” for blonde bombshells and leggy señoritas could only catch so many eyes. Customers knew little about the nature and quality of the services on offer. Personal recommendations, though helpful, were awkward to come by. Sex workers did not know what risks they were taking on with clients.
电话亭里金发大波妹和长腿妹的小广告，的确足以吸引眼球，但顾客对其中的服务内容和质量却知之甚少。私下推荐靠谱倒是靠谱，但问题是有点难为情。另一方面，性工作者也不知道接客时将会面对什么风险。
Now specialist websites and apps are allowing information to flow between buyer and seller, making it easier to strike mutually satisfactory deals. The sex trade is becoming easier to enter and safer to work in: prostitutes can warn each other about violent clients, and do background and health checks before taking a booking. Personal web pages allow them to advertise and arrange meetings online; their clients’ feedback on review sites helps others to proceed with confidence.
现在专业网站和手机应用使得买卖双方的信息流动了起来，要达成双方满意的买卖就容易多了。做性交易现在变得越来越容易，提供性服务也越来越安全：妓女们可以互相提醒注意哪些客户有暴力倾向，在接客之前做好背景调查和卫生核查。她们可以在个人网页上打广告和安排见面。客人在点评网站上的反馈则可以令其他客人在和她们接洽时更有把握。
Even in places such as America, where prostitution and its facilitation are illegal everywhere except Nevada, the marketing and arrangement of commercial sex is moving online. To get round the laws, web servers are placed abroad; site-owners and users hide behind pseudonyms; and prominently placed legalese frames the purpose of sites as “entertainment” and their content as “fiction”.
即使在像美国这种卖淫和协助卖淫皆属非法的地方（内华达除外），性服务的营销和接洽也正在移师网上。为了规避法律，服务器都放在了国外，网站所有者和使用者都使用假名，醒目的法律用语把网站的宗旨包装为“娱乐”，说里面的内容属于“虚构”。
The shift online is casting light on parts of the sex industry that have long lurked in the shadows. Streetwalkers have always attracted the lion’s share of attention from policymakers and researchers because they ply their trade in public places. They are more bothersome for everyone else—and, because they are the most vulnerable, more likely to come to the attention of the police and of social or health workers.
性产业转向互联网令它长期不为人知的一些面相曝光了。站街流莺一直是政策制定者和社会研究者关注的重点，因为她们在公共场合揽客。这样比较惹众人烦，而且因为她们最容易受到伤害，因而更容易被警察、社工和卫生工作者所关注。
But in many rich countries they are a minority of all sex workers; just 10-20% in America, estimates Ronald Weitzer, a sociologist at George Washington University.
但是在很多富裕国家，他们只是性工作者中的少数。乔治华盛顿大学的社会学家Ronald Weitzer估计，这种类型在美国只占全部性工作者的10-20%。
The wealth of data available online means it is now possible to analyse this larger and less examined part of the commercial-sex market: prostitution that happens indoors. It turns out to be surprisingly similar to other service industries. Prostitutes’ personal characteristics and the services they offer influence the prices they charge; niche services attract a premium; and the internet is making it easier to work flexible hours and to forgo a middleman.
互联网上数据的日益丰富，意味着人们现在可以分析在性产业中占较大比例但以往很少被研究的那部分：室内卖春活动。研究结果表明它与其他服务业惊人地相似。妓女的个人特点和服务内容影响服务价格，小众服务能要高价，互联网使得工作时间更灵活，皮条客也不再需要了。
Websites such as AdultWork allow prostitutes, both those working independently and those who work through agencies and brothels, to create profiles through which customers can contact them. They can upload detailed information about themselves, the range of services they provide, and the rates they charge. Clients can browse by age, bust or dress size, ethnicity, sexual orientation or location.
单干的妓女和通过经纪公司和妓院接客的妓女，如今都可以在像AdultWork这样的网站上制作发布个人简介，方便顾客联系。她们可以上传自己的详细信息，包括服务范围和收费标准。顾客则可以按年龄、胸围、体型、种族、性取向或所在位置搜索浏览。
Other websites garner information from clients, who upload reviews of the prostitutes they have visited with details of the services offered, prices paid and descriptions of the encounters. On PunterNet, a British site, clients describe the premises, the encounter and the sex worker, and choose whether to recommend her.
其他网站则从顾客端搜集信息，这些顾客点评他们光顾过的妓女，包括服务内容，所付价钱，以及个中遭遇。在英国网站PunterNet上，客户描述房间环境、过程经历，以及性工作者本人，并可以表态是否推荐此人。
Such write-ups have enabled her to build a personal brand, says one English escort, Michelle (like many names in this article, a pseudonym), and to attract the clients most likely to appreciate what she offers.
一位英国陪游女郎Michelle（和本文其他许多名字一样，这是个化名）说，顾客的点评已帮她建立起个人品牌，并且能吸引到那些喜欢她这种服务类型的客人。
TrickAdvisor
We have analysed 190,000 profiles of sex workers on an international review site. (Since it is active in America, it was not willing to be identified for this article. A disclaimer on the site says the contents are fictional; we make the assumption that they are informative all the same.) Each profile includes customers’ reviews of the worker’s physical characteristics, the services they offer and the price they charge.
我们分析了一个国际性点评网站上的19万份性工作者简介（因为这网站在美国运作，所以不愿意因本文暴露身份。网站上的免责声明说其内容是虚构的，但我们假设这些简介的信息仍然具有参考价值）。每份简介都包括顾客对工作者的身体特征、服务项目和要价的点评。
The data go back as far as 1999. For each individual we have used the most recent information available, with prices corrected for inflation. Some of those featured may appear under more than one name, or also work through agencies. The data cover 84 cities in 12 countries, with the biggest number of workers being in America and most of the rest in big cities in other rich countries. As this site features only women, our analysis excludes male prostitutes (perhaps a fifth of the commercial-sex workforce). Almost all of those leaving reviews are men.
资料最早可以追溯到1999年。我们使用每位性工作者的最新信息，并对价格进行了调整以消除通胀影响。有些人可能使用了不只一个名字，或者也通过经纪公司工作。数据涵盖了12个国家的84个城市，最多的在美国，其余多数在其他富裕国家的大城市里。因为这网站只提供女性的信息，我们的分析排除了男妓（男妓大概占性工作者的五分之一）。几乎所有留下点评的顾客都是男性。
The most striking trend our analysis reveals is a drop in the average hourly rate of a prostitute in recent years (see chart 1). One reason is surely the downturn that followed the 2007-08 financial crisis. Even prostitutes working in places that escaped the worst effects have been hit.
我们的分析表明，最明显的趋势是近年来妓女每小时的收费下降了（图表一）。2007-08年金融危机以后经济不景气肯定是其中的一个原因。但即使是在受金融危机打击不那么严重的地方，卖春生意也受到了影响。
Vanessa, a part-time escort in southern England, finds that weeks can go by without her phone ringing. Men see buying sex as a luxury, she says, and with the price of necessities rising it is one they are cutting back on. Even when she offers discounts to whip up interest, clients are scarcer than they were.
英格兰南部一个叫Vanessa的业余陪游女郎发现有时一连好几周都无人问津。她说，男人视招妓为奢侈消费，随着必需品价格上升，这就是他们要缩减开支的那部分消费。即使她提供折扣以提高吸引力，顾客还是少了。
In places where the job market slumped, the effect is more marked (whether prostitution is legal may affect prices, too, but the wide variation between American cities shows that this is not the only factor). The cost of an hour with an escort in Cleveland, Ohio, where unemployment peaked at 12.5% in 2010, has tumbled.
在就业市场急剧恶化的地方，影响更加明显（娼妓业是否合法也会影响价格，但美国不同城市之间的巨大差异说明这不是唯一因素）。在俄亥俄州的克利夫兰（Cleveland, Ohio），2010年失业率高达12.5%，陪游女郎的小时收费也随之大跌。
【图表1】
Large-scale migration is another reason prices are falling. Big, rich cities are magnets for immigrants of all professions, including sex workers. Nick Mai of London Metropolitan University has studied foreign sex workers in Britain. He has found that as they integrate and get used to the local cost-of-living, their rates tend to rise. But where the inward flow is unceasing, or where the market was previously very closed, immigrants can push prices down.
大规模人口迁徙也会促使价格下跌。大型、富裕的城市吸引着从事各行业的移民，包括性工作者。伦敦都会大学（London Metropolitan University）的Nick Mai研究过英国的外籍性工作者。他发现，当她们融入当地生活，适应了当地的生活成本后，她们的价格就趋于上升。但在人口不断流入的地方，或在当地市场先前非常封闭的地方，移民涌入就会把价格拉低。
Since the European Union enlarged to include poorer eastern European countries, workers of every sort have poured into their richer neighbours. By all accounts prices have been dropping in Germany as a result of the arrival of new, poor migrants, says Rebecca Pates of the University of Leipzig.
自从欧盟扩张到几个相对贫穷的东欧国家，那里各行各业的劳动力就涌进了比他们富裕的邻国。莱比锡大学（University of Leipzig）的Rebecca Pates说，大家都觉得，自从这些贫穷新移民来了以后，德国的物价就一直在下降。
Sally, a semi-retired British escort who runs a flat in the west of England where a few “mature” women sell sex, says English girls are struggling to find work: there are too many eastern European ones willing to accept less.
半退休的英国应召女Sally在英格兰西部经营着一套公寓，供一些“熟女”在里头卖春，她说英国女孩正在为找工作而挣扎，因为太多东欧女孩少拿些钱也愿意干。
Twenty years ago most prostitutes in Norway were locals who all aimed to charge about the same, says May-Len Skilbrei, a sociologist at Oslo University. Today, with growing numbers of sex workers from the Baltic states and central Europe, as well as Nigerians and Thais, such unofficial price controls are harder to sustain.
奥斯陆大学（Oslo University）的社会学家May-Len Skilbrei说, 20年前挪威的大部分妓女都是本地人，她们要价都差不多。如今来自波罗的海国家和中欧的性工作者越来越多，再加上还有尼日利亚和泰国人，这种非正式的价格协定就变得难以维持。
Inexperience is another reason newcomers to prostitution may underprice themselves, at least at first. Maxine Doogan, an American prostitute and founder of the Erotic Service Providers Union, a lobby group, learnt her trade from a woman who worked for years in a brothel in Nevada, the only American state where prostitution is legal. The older woman taught her what to regard as standard or extra, and how much to charge.
缺少经验也是娼妓业新手要价低的原因之一，至少一开始是这样。美国妓女Maxine Doogan创立了游说团体“色情服务提供者联盟”（the Erotic Service Providers Union）。她从一个在内华达某妓院工作多年的女人那里学会了如何混这一行（内华达是美国唯一娼妓业合法的州）。那个年长的女人教她什么是标准服务，什么是额外服务，如何要价。
When Ms. Doogan started out, in 1988, standard services (vaginal sex and fellatio) cost $200 an hour, the equivalent of $395 today. But some of those starting out now still charge $200, she says, or offer extra services, including risky ones such as oral sex without a condom, without charging an appropriate premium.
1988年Doogan入行的时候，标准服务（阴道性交和口交）的价格是每小时200美元，相当于今天的395美元。但是她说，现在一些新入行者要价仍然只有200美元，或者提供不另收费的额外服务，包括风险很大的不带套口交。
The shift online has probably boosted supply by drawing more locals into the sex trade, too. More attractive and better-educated women, whose marital and job prospects are therefore better, are more likely to consider sex work if it is arranged online. Indoor sex work is safer than streetwalking, and the risk of arrest is lower.
互联网很可能吸引了更多的本地人进入性产业，这也增加了供应。更有吸引力，受教育程度更高的女人，婚姻和工作的前景会好些，如果接客可以通过互联网安排，这些人考虑从事性工作的可能性就会增加。安坐室内的性工作比站街要安全，被逮捕的风险也更小。
Rented flats or hotel rooms are more discreet than brothels, so family and friends are less likely to identify the new source of income. Anonymity becomes a possibility, which lessens the fear of stigma. Creating an online profile separates the decision to take up the work from parading for punters.
租个公寓或者酒店房间比在妓院里工作要低调，因此创收也不容易被家人和朋友发现。既然可以隐姓埋名，她们就不那么担心名誉扫地。由于可以在线上创立个人简介，干这一行再也不用非得抛头露脸去拉客了。
Meanwhile, broader social change may be reducing demand—and thus, prices. Free, no-strings-attached sex is far easier to find than in the past. Apps such as Tinder facilitate speedy hookups; websites such as Ashley Madison and Illicit Encounters, adulterous ones. Greater acceptance of premarital intercourse and easier divorce mean fewer frustrated single and married men turning to prostitutes.
与此同时，广泛的社会变革可能会降低需求，因而降低价格。寻找免费而又无牵扯的性爱（俗称援交或约炮）比以前容易多了。Tinder这样的手机应用让勾搭变得又快又容易。Ashley Madison 和Illicit Encounters这样的网站就专注于促进婚外私通活动。婚前性行为变得更为人接受，离婚也更容易，这些都意味着招妓的失意单身男人和已婚男人会更少。
Dearer for johns
卖个好价钱
Our analysis shows how a prostitute’s hourly rate varies according to the nature of the services she provides and her reported physical characteristics. As in other bits of the economy, clients who seek niche services must pay more. Sex workers who offer anal sex or spanking earn on average $25 or $50 more per hour, respectively (see chart 2). Those who will accept two male clients at once or do threesomes with another woman command a larger premium.
我们的分析显示出，妓女的小时收费会如何随其服务内容不同和她所披露身体特征的不同而变化。和其它生意一样，客人需要小众服务就必须多付费。接受肛交或扇打的性工作者平均每小时分别多赚25和50美元（图表2）。那些愿意接受二龙一凤，或者加上另一位女性和男客人玩一龙二凤的，都会索价更高。
【图表2】
Appearance matters a great deal. The customers who reported encounters to the website we analysed clearly value the stereotypical features of Western beauty: women they describe as slim but not scrawny, or as having long blonde hair or full breasts, can charge the highest hourly rates (see chart 3). Hair that is bleached too unconvincingly to be described as blonde attracts a lower premium, but is still more marketable than any other colour.
外表非常重要。在我们研究的那个网站上，描述其招妓经历的顾客明显喜欢具有典型西方特色的美女：长得苗条但不干巴的，金色长发的，或者胸部丰满的，每小时要价是最高的（见图表3）。染得特别不自然的金发女，收费要低一些，但还是比其它发色的更有市场。
For those not naturally well endowed, breast implants may make economic sense: going from flat-chested to a D-cup increases hourly rates by approximately $40, meaning that at a typical price of $3,700, surgery could pay for itself after around 90 hours. The 12% share of women featured on the site who are described both as athletic, slim or thin, and as being at least a D-cup, suggests that quite a few have already taken this route.
对于天资不太好的妓女来说，隆胸可能真是划算的投资：从平胸变成D罩杯，每小时要价可以增加差不多40美元。就是说，隆胸手术一般要花的3700美元，接客90小时就可以赚回来了。网站上12%的女性宣称身材健美，苗条或精瘦，胸围至少D罩杯，似乎说明这已是大势所趋。
【图表3】
A prostitute’s rates also vary according to her ethnicity and nationality. What attracts a premium in one place can attract a penalty in another. According to our analysis, in four big American cities and London, black women earn less than white ones (see chart 4).
妓女的收费也因种族和国籍而有所不同。在一个地方的抢手货，换个地方可能就乏人问津。据我们的分析，在四个美国大城市和伦敦，黑人女性就比白人女性赚的少（图表4）
【图表4】
We had too few data from other cities for a reliable breakdown by ethnicity. But Christine Chin of the American University in Washington, DC, has studied high-end transnational prostitutes in several countries. In Kuala Lumpur, she found, black women command very high rates and in Singapore, Vietnamese ones do. In Dubai, European women earn the most. What counts as exotic and therefore desirable varies from place to place, and depends on many factors, such as population flows.
有关其他城市，我们掌握的数据太少，不足以支撑基于种族的可靠分析。但位于华盛顿特区的美利坚大学（American University）的Christine Chin曾研究过几个国家的高端跨国妓女。她发现，在吉隆坡，要数黑人收费高，而在新加坡，收费高的是越南人。而在迪拜，欧洲女人挣得最多。什么是引人入胜的异国情调，各地标准不同，受到诸如人口流动等很多因素的影响。
Local markets have other quirks. According to the site we analysed, an hour with an escort in Tokyo is a bargain compared with one in London or New York. Yet a cost-of-living index compiled by the Economist Intelligence Unit, our sister organisation, suggests that Tokyo is the most expensive city overall of the three.
各地市场均有其本地特色。据我们所研究的网站显示，在东京雇一个小时的陪游，比在伦敦和纽约要划算得多。但按我们兄弟单位Economist Intelligence Unit制作的生活成本指数，东京却是这三个城市中物价最高的。
The apparent anomaly may be because escorts who appear on an English-language review site mostly cater to foreigners, who are not offered the more unusual—and expensive—services Japanese prostitutes provide for locals. These include the bubble baths and highly technical massages of Sopurando (“Soapland”), a red-light district in Tokyo, which can cost ¥60,000 ($600) for a session and involve intercourse (although that is not advertised).
这一看似矛盾的现象，其原因可能是，在英文网站上点评的绝大多数是外国人，他们没有享受到日本妓女提供给本地客户的昂贵特色服务，比如泡泡浴和技巧高超的Sopurando式（即Soapland）按摩。Sopurando是东京的一个红灯区，Sopurando式按摩是当地的招牌服务，每次收费6万日元（折合600美元），当中还包含性交服务（虽然广告中并未明言）。
A degree appears to raise earnings in the sex industry just as it does in the wider labour market. A study by Scott Cunningham of Baylor University and Todd Kendall of Compass Lexecon, a consultancy, shows that among prostitutes who worked during a given week, graduates earned on average 31% more than non-graduates.
和一般的劳动力市场一样，拥有学位似乎能提高性工作者的收入。贝勒大学（Baylor University）的Scott Cunningham与咨询公司Compass Lexecon的Todd Kendall合作的一项研究表明，大学毕业的妓女比起没有大学学位的来，每周平均能多赚31%。
More lucrative working patterns rather than higher hourly rates explained the difference. Although sex workers with degrees are less likely to work than others in any given week (suggesting that they are more likely to regard prostitution as a sideline), when they do work they see more clients and for longer. Their clients tend to be older men who seek longer sessions and intimacy, rather than a brief encounter.
这个差异源于有利可图的工作方式，而非更高的每小时费率。尽管有学位的性工作者开工较少（说明他们更可能把卖淫作为副业），但她们一旦开工，就会接更多的顾客，收费时间也更长。她们的顾客通常年纪较大，更喜欢花长时间培养亲密感，而不是直奔主题草草了事。
How much brothels and massage parlours use the internet depends on local laws. America’s legal restrictions mean that they keep a low profile, both offline and online. In Britain, where brothels are illegal though prostitution is not, massage parlours advertise the rotas and prices of their workers online but are coy about the services rendered. By contrast Paradise, a mega-brothel in Germany, boasts a frank and informative website.
妓院和按摩院利用互联网的程度，取决于当地法律。美国的法律限制意味着做这些生意要低调，线上线下都是如此。在英国经营妓院是违法的，但卖淫不违法，按摩院会在网上宣传服务者的名单和价格，但对服务内容含糊其辞。相比之下，德国大型妓院Paradise的网站就非常直白露骨，信息很丰富。
But it is independent sex workers for whom the internet makes the biggest difference. Mr Cunningham has tracked the number of sex workers in American cities on one review site. In the decade to 2008, during which online advertising for commercial sex took off, the share describing themselves as independent grew.
受互联网影响最大的，要数单干的性工作者。Cunningham先生跟踪记录了一个点评网站上显示的美国城市性工作者数量。在2008年之前的十年里，网上性交易广告发展蓬勃，把自己归为单干一类的比例增长了。
For prostitutes, the internet fulfils many of the functions of a workplace. It is a “break-room and hiring hall”, says Melissa Gira Grant, the author of “Playing the Whore: The Work of Sex Work”. Online forums replace the office water-cooler. Women exchange tips on dealing with the everyday challenges of sex work; a busy thread on one forum concerns which sheets stand up best to frequent washing.
对妓女来说，互联网发挥了工作场所的很多功能，这是个“休息室和会客大厅”，《当个妓女：性工作是干什么的》一书的作者Melissa Gira Grant如是说。网络论坛代替了办公室饮水机，女人们在这里交换生意经，讨论性工作每天要面对的挑战，有个长帖就讨论了什么床单最耐洗。
A mother in Scotland asks how other prostitutes juggle child care and selling sex, given that bookings are often made at short notice so babysitters are hard to arrange. Another contributor who is thinking of having children asks how much other women saved before taking time off to have a baby, and whether the new calls on their time meant they earned less after giving birth. One reply points out that prostitution is easier than many other jobs to combine with motherhood: it pays well enough to cover child-care costs, and can be fitted around school holidays, plays and sports days, and children’s illnesses.
一位在苏格兰的母亲问其他妓女如何兼顾照料孩子和卖春，因为生意经常是临时找上门的，很难在短时间内找到人来看孩子。另一位网友打算生孩子，问其他人在停工要孩子之前攒下了多少钱，有了孩子后要兼顾的事情多了，是否会赚少一些。一个回帖说，卖淫比很多其他工作更容易兼顾为人之母：一来收入不错，可以养得起孩子，二来工作时间可以根据学校假期、活动日和运动日以及照顾孩子疾恙等需要来调整。
Women who are considering entering the industry often seek advice online from those already in it before making up their minds. Melanie, who earns £65,000 ($109,000) a year, says that she is considering selling sex on the side for a few months to pay off debts. She asks which agency to use and how to get the highest rate. But she also worries that a stint selling sex would harm her future career.
考虑入行的女性常在网上寻求业内人士的建议，然后才做决定。Melanie一年挣65,000英镑 （合109,000美元），她说她正考虑以卖淫为副业，挣几个月的钱来还债。她问用哪家经纪公司比较好，如何能卖到最高的价钱。但她担心短期卖淫的记录可能影响将来的职场发展。
Experienced sex workers respond that anonymity will be easier to preserve if she works independently, rather than through an agency, and warn her that she is entering a crowded market. The stress of living a double life should not be underestimated, they caution, and it will not be easy money.
有经验的性工作者回复她说，相对于通过经纪公司接活，单干更容易匿名，还警告她这行现已人满为患。她们提醒她不要低估了双面生活的紧张压力，而且这一行赚钱并不容易。
Many of those contributing to such discussions hold other jobs, often part-time, and tout the merits of a steady source of additional income and something innocuous to put on a CV. Sarah says her escort work means she can pay for her daughter’s dance and music lessons, which would be unaffordable on just her “civvy job”.
很多参与讨论的人都有其他工作，这些工作经常是兼职性质，既能带来稳定的额外收入，同时在个人求职简历上也有正当职业可写。Sarah说她凭陪游生意就能支付她女儿的舞蹈和音乐课程费用，这些课程靠她的“良家职业”可付不起。
Some husbands and boyfriends know about their wives’ and girlfriends’ work, or even act as managers, drivers and security. Other women keep what they do a secret from those closest to them.
一些妓女的丈夫和男友知道她们在干什么，甚至还帮忙安排生意，开车接送，充当保镖。而另一些女人则对此秘而不宣，不让身边的亲友知道。
Advertising and booking clients online give prostitutes flexibility about where to work. They can “tour”, using their own home pages or profiles on specialist websites to advertise where they will be and when. In densely populated Britain, where prostitutes work in most places, tours allow those who normally serve small towns to visit cities crammed with potential customers. In Norway, says MsSkilbrei, prostitutes are concentrated in the main cities, so a tour is a chance to satisfy pent-up demand in small towns.
通过网上做广告和预约客人，妓女可以灵活选择工作地点。她们可以四处“巡回”，利用个人主页或专业网站上的个人简介公布自己将去哪里，何时有空。在人口密集的英国，妓女各地都有，而四处巡回可以让通常只在小镇提供服务的妓女前往客户集中的大城市。Skilbrei小姐说，在挪威，妓女都集中在大城市里，所以四处巡回可以满足小镇中长期积聚的满腔欲火。
The freelancers, part-timers and temps the internet is bringing to the sex trade are likely to help it absorb demand shocks. In 2008 the Republican and Democratic national conventions were held in Minneapolis and Denver respectively. Around 50,000 visitors flocked to each city.
互联网给性产业带来的自由职业者，兼职者和临时工，很可能有助于满足短期的需求暴涨。2008年共和民主两党的全国代表大会分别在明尼阿波利斯（Minneapolis）和丹佛（Denver）召开，两个城市都涌进了五万人。
Another study by Mr Cunningham and Mr Kendall found that the numbers of advertisements for sex on the now-defunct “erotic services” section of Craigslist, a classified-advertising site, were 41% higher in Minneapolis and 74% higher in Denver around the conventions than expected for those days of the week and times of year.
Cunningham和 Kendall的另一个研究发现，在大会召开期间与往年同期相比，分类广告网站Craigslist上“色情服务”频道（现已关闭）中的广告，在Minneapolis增加了41%，在Denver增加了74%。
Health and safety
健康和安全
Sex work exposes those who do it to serious risks: of rape and other violence, and of sexually transmitted infections. But in this industry, like many others, the internet is making life easier.
性工作们者面对着许多重大风险，如强奸和其他暴力行为，以及通过性传播的疾病。但和其他行业一样，互联网让生活更容易些了。
Online forums allow prostitutes to share tips about how to stay safe and avoid tangling with the law. Some sites let them vouch for clients they have seen, improving other women’s risk assessments.
网络论坛让妓女们可以分享如何保证自己安全和避免惹上法律麻烦的窍门。一些网站可以让妓女指证她们见过的客户，以帮助其他妓女评估风险。
Others use services such as Roomservice 2000, another American site, where customers can pay for a background check to present to sex workers. Both sides benefit since the client can demonstrate trustworthiness without giving credit-card details or phone numbers to the prostitute.
还有些人使用诸如美国网站Roomservice 2000等提供的服务，他们可以花钱在上面做个背景调查，然后把调查结果提供给性工作者。这样双方都受益，因为客户不用提供自己的信用卡号码或电话号码给妓女，就可以证明自己值得信赖。
Sites that are active in restrictive jurisdictions must be careful not to fall foul of the law. In June the FBI shut down MyRedBook, an advertising-and-review site with a chat section for sex workers. Its owners face charges of money laundering and facilitating prostitution. American police sometimes use such sites to entrap prostitutes.
在限制多多的地域运作网站必须处处小心，以免违法。6月份联邦调查局就关掉了MyRedBook这个广告和点评网站，里面有一个性工作者聊天频道。网站主人如今面临洗钱和协助卖淫的指控。美国警察有时利用这些网站来诱捕妓女。
As they wise up to this, sex workers are using sites that allow them to verify clients’ identities to help them avoid stings. But that adds unnecessary hassle and distracts from what should be most important: staying safe. “Screening for cops [is now] the priority over screening for rapists, thieves, kidnappers,” says MsDoogan.
发现这一招之后，性工作者们就转而使用可以核实客人身份的网站以避开圈套。不过，提防钓鱼执法毕竟带来了不必要的麻烦，也分散了她们在首要问题上的注意力——那就是确保人身安全。“过滤掉条子现在成了头等要务，比过滤掉强奸犯，小偷和绑匪更要紧了。”Doogan女士说。
In Britain, Ugly Mugs runs an online database that prostitutes can use to check punters’ names and telephone numbers. In America the National Blacklist, a “deadbeat registry”, allows them to report men who are abusive or fail to pay.
在英国，妓女保护组织Ugly Mugs有个网上数据库，妓女可以用它来核查嫖客的姓名和电话号码。美国的National Blacklist是一个“赖账者名册”，它可以让妓女报告那些虐待妓女或者赖账的人。
Other women can check potential clients by names, telephone numbers, e-mail addresses and online aliases. Though not specifically aimed at sex workers, apps such as Healthvana make it easy for buyer and seller to share verified results in sexual-health tests.
其他女性可以用名字，电话号码，电邮地址和网上化名来核查潜在客户。还有像Healthvana这样的手机应用，尽管并非专为性工作者开发设计，仍可以让买卖双方更方便地交换性健康检查的结果。
Moving online means prostitutes need no longer rely on the usual intermediaries—brothels and agencies; pimps and madams—to drum up business or provide a venue. Some will decide to go it alone.
有了互联网，妓女不再需要依靠通常的中介——妓院和经纪人、皮条客和妈咪——来招揽客人或者提供场地了。一些人于是决定单干。
That means more independence, says Ana, a Spanish-American erotic masseuse who works in America and Britain. It also means more time, effort and expertise put into marketing. “You need a good website, lots of great pictures, you need to learn search-engine optimisation…it’s exhausting at times,” she says.
Anna是个西班牙裔美国人，色情按摩师，在美国和英国工作。她说，单干会带来更多的自主权，但也意味着要投入更多的时间精力和专业知识到来做营销。“你需要有个像样的网站，很多漂亮的照片，你要学会如何优化搜索引擎……有时候真是挺累的”。
【街道照片】
Leaving the streets behind
再站街就落伍了
Others will still prefer to have a manager or assistant to take care of bookings and social media. “[Nowadays] you have people hitting you up on Twitter, Facebook, your website, and e-mail,” says MsDoogan.
另一些人仍然喜欢有个经理人或私人助理来打理预约和社交媒体这些事情。“如今有人在Twitter, Facebook, 你自己的个人网站和电邮里和你搭讪了”Doogan女士说。
Eros.com, an international listings site, allows prostitutes to tell clients whether they are currently available. But it means going online every hour or two, which is a chore. And online advertising is not cheap. MsDoogan used to spend 10% of her income on print adverts; she spends far more on online ones because with so many people advertising, returns are lower. Checking customers’ bona fides also takes time.
Eros.com是个国际性的列表网站，可以让妓女们告诉客人她们是否有空。但这意味着每1个或2个小时就要上网更新，也是个麻烦。网上广告也不便宜。Doogan女士过去会把收入的10%花在纸媒上，现在她在网络广告上花的更多，因为很多人都在网上打广告，回报率变低了。核实客人的诚意也要花时间。
Meanwhile some traditional forms of prostitution are struggling. In the decade to 2010 the number of licensed sex clubs in the Netherlands fell by more than half, according to a study for Platform31, a Dutch research network. Much of the decline will have been offset by the growth of sex work advertised online, it reckons.
一些传统形式的卖淫则面临困境。根据荷兰的一个研究网络Platform31的研究，2010年之前的10年里，荷兰有执照的性俱乐部减少过半。该研究认为这边厢的萎缩很大部分由网上推广的性交易的增长所弥补。
Many prostitutes would rather work from private premises than in a club or for an agency, says SietskeAltink, one of the authors. Dutch municipalities often bar such work—but the option of finding clients online makes such rules harder to enforce.
该项研究的作者之一SietskeAltink说，很多妓女喜欢在私人场所从业，多于在俱乐部从业或通过经纪公司获得生意。荷兰市政当局经常禁止这种私人场所的性交易，但由于通过互联网就可以找到客户，这些法规更难以执行了。
That shift will make the sex industry harder for all governments to control or regulate, whether they seek to do so for pragmatic or moralistic reasons, or out of concern that not all those in the industry are there by their own free will. Buyers and sellers of sex who strike deals online are better hidden and more mobile than those who work in brothels, or from clubs or bars, points out Professor Weitzer of George Washington University.
这种转变，使得所有政府对性产业的控制和管理都变得更为困难，不管当局的做法是出于务实的考虑还是道德理由，又或者担心有些性工作者并非自愿从业。乔治华盛顿大学（George Washington University）的Weitzer教授指出，在互联网上敲定性交易，比在妓院、俱乐部、酒吧里交易更隐秘，更机动。
Ireland has banned the advertising of sexual services since 1994. The prohibition has achieved almost nothing, says Graham Ellison, a sociologist at Queen’s University in Belfast. Websites simply moved to other jurisdictions. The closure of those such as MyRedBook may prompt American ones to do the same; as they grow more specialised, the excuse that they merely host classified advertisements is wearing thin.
爱尔兰自1994年起禁止性服务广告。贝尔法斯特女王大学（Queen’s University in Belfast）的社会学家Graham Ellison说，这条禁令没达到任何效果，网站只要挪到别的司法管辖区就行了。关闭MyRedBook这样的网站可能也会促使美国网站搬离美国，因为这些网站越来越专业，说自己只是提供存放分类广告的主机服务这样的借口变得越来越牵强。
In the long term there will always be people who, for whatever reason, want to hire a prostitute rather than do without sex or pick up a partner in a bar. As paid-for sex becomes more readily and discreetly available online, more people will buy it. A greater awareness may develop that not all sex workers are the victims of exploitation.
长远来看，总会有人出于各种原因想要雇个妓女提供性服务，而不愿意独守空房或在酒吧里找个性伴。买春在网上变得越方便隐蔽，就会有越多的人会花这个钱。人们可能会越来越意识到，并不是所有的性工作者都是受剥削压榨的。
The very discretion—and the hidden nature of such prostitution—may also mean that the stigma persists. But, overall, sex workers will profit. The internet has disrupted many industries. The oldest one is no exception.
卖淫行为的低调和隐秘本质，可能意味着卖淫的羞耻感仍会持久存在。但总的来说，性工作者将会受益。互联网已经颠覆了很多行业，最古老的行业也不例外。
翻译：Who视之
校对：乘风（@你在何地-sxy），小册子（@昵称被抢的小册子）
编辑：辉格@whigzhou