Well, the numbers don’t lie, we guess. A brothel owner in Queensland is blaming the rise of dating apps on a sudden downshift in her business.
ABC News today reports that the manager of the Sunshine Coast’s only remaining legal brothel, identified only as Rebecca, asserted that trade at her business has dropped by some 40% over the past twelve months, in a downward spiral she claims is due largely to the use of dating apps wherein people can hook up sex for – virtually – zero dollars.
The brothel is now the only remaining legal facility on the Sunshine Coast, after its only competitor closed in June of last year. Rebecca stated the she has definitely seen a “decline in the last year,” and that with “clients going to dating sites… business is down by at least 40 per cent.”
Rebecca noted that promotions from other legal brothels in places like the Gold Coast, which have offered a free sausage sizzle as a means of luring in customers, has not exactly had the impact previously hoped, “We have promotions like Tradie Tuesday night. It’s the girls dressing up in tradie gear that brings them in more than anything else.”
On a slightly more serious note, there are concerns surrounding how private sex workers are regulated in Queensland, which differs significantly from the regulations workers face in New South Wales and Victoria. The work of sole traders, Rebecca asserts, is having just as big an impact on regulated brothels in the state as anything else, and that regulatory reform is needed. Not only in terms of taxation, but in terms of health and safety concerns.
