Punternet, also known as Punternet.com, is a
review site
A review site is a website on which reviews can be posted about people, businesses, products, or services. These sites may use Web 2.0 techniques to gather reviews from site users or may employ professional writers to author reviews on the topic ...
that allows customers to rate their experiences with
call girls
A call girl or female escort is a sex worker who (unlike a street walker) does not display her profession to the general public, nor does she usually work in an institution like a brothel, although she may be employed by an escort agency. . Customers are referred to as "punters" on the website.
The website was initially an information source run by enthusiasts and service users rather than a commercial enterprise. It described itself as "The Online Community for Patrons and Providers of Adult Personal Services in the UK". The
London Evening Standard
The ''Evening Standard'', formerly ''The Standard'' (1827–1904), also known as the ''London Evening Standard'', is a local free daily newspaper in London, England, published Monday to Friday in tabloid format.
In October 2009, after be ...
newspaper called it "the most successful of the prostitute-reviewing internet sites". The reviews, originally called "field reports", were written almost exclusively by men and described heterosexual encounters with female sex workers.
The site was sold in August 2017 and the new owners dropped the
discussion boards
An Internet forum, or message board, is an online discussion site where people can hold conversations in the form of posted messages. They differ from chat rooms in that messages are often longer than one line of text, and are at least temporar ...
from the site.
They also changed the site's policy to allow male and transgender service providers to advertise and be reviewed. Previously this had been limited to female escorts only.
Features
The site offers free membership. Free members can submit reviews and access site features and a limited search function.
Criticism
The site has been met with criticism, most notably in 2009 from
Harriet Harman
Harriet Ruth Harman (born 30 July 1950) is a British politician and solicitor who has served as Member of Parliament (MP) for Camberwell and Peckham, formerly Peckham, since 1982. A member of the Labour Party, she has served in various Cabi ...
. Harman, who was the UK government's
Minister for Women and Equality
The minister for women and equalities is a ministerial position in the United Kingdom which leads the Government Equalities Office. This is an independent department within the wider Cabinet Office that has responsibility for addressing all fo ...
at the time, asked then-California governor
Arnold Schwarzenegger
Arnold Alois Schwarzenegger (born July 30, 1947) is an Austrian and American actor, film producer, businessman, retired professional bodybuilder and politician who served as the 38th governor of California between 2003 and 2011. ''Time'' ...
to ban the website, given that it was based in California, US. The web owners thanked Harman for increasing web traffic to their site.
In 2013, Trishna Datta, a former
outreach
Outreach is the activity of providing services to any population that might not otherwise have access to those services. A key component of outreach is that the group providing it is not stationary, but mobile; in other words, it involves meetin ...
worker from
Ilford, Essex, launched a petition to have the Punternet website taken down. She said the website lacked adequate safety measures to ensure details that could put sex workers in danger were not revealed. Additionally, she expressed concern that some of the sex workers reviewed on the site might be underage or victims of trafficking or sexual assault. Punternet commented that it would report underage prostitutes to the authorities, and that it encourages customers to report underage prostitutes and victims of trafficking to
Crimestoppers UK
Crimestoppers Trust is an independent crime-fighting charitable organisation in the United Kingdom. Crimestoppers operates the 0800 555 111 telephone number, allowing people to call anonymously to pass on information about crime. People can also ...
.
Academic reference
Data from Punternet was used by Peter Moffatt and Simon Peters, both lecturers in
econometrics
Econometrics is the application of Statistics, statistical methods to economic data in order to give Empirical evidence, empirical content to economic relationships.M. Hashem Pesaran (1987). "Econometrics," ''The New Palgrave: A Dictionary of ...
, in their 2004 work "''Pricing personal services: An empirical study of earnings in the UK prostitution industry''".
See also
*
George McCoy
George McCoy is a British writer best known for producing ''McCoy's British Massage Parlour Guide'', a series of guidebooks to establishments and women in Britain that provide sexual services. The books do not include businesses that provide ...
*
Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies
''Harris's List of Covent Garden Ladies'', published from 1757 to 1795, was an annual directory of prostitutes then working in Georgian London. A small pocketbook, it was printed and published in Covent Garden, and sold for two shi ...
*
Internet prostitution
The Internet has become one of the preferred methods of communication for prostitution, as clients and prostitutes are less vulnerable to arrest or assault and for its convenience.
References
External links
* {{official, http://www.punternet.com/
Internet properties established in 1999
British erotica and pornography websites
Prostitution in the United Kingdom
1999 establishments in the United Kingdom