Sylvia Kristel, a famous porn star I meet Sylvia Kristel - always "Emmanuelle", even after all these years - at a bar in Amsterdam. She is there when I arrive, wearing glasses, a scarf around her neck, sitting quietly at a table reading a newspaper. Am I disappointed that she isn't, instead, enthroned on a wicker chair wearing nothing beyond a string of pearls and, most peculiarly, knee-length socks teamed with ankle boots? No. 2-7-2007

Muslim women in France regain their virginity in clinics through surgery
Sitting in a cafe near the Champs Elysees, the 26-year-old French-born woman of Algerian descent looks like any other Parisian. But two months ago, she did something none of her friends have done. 12-5-2007

MPs want stop to "porn parties"
At least twice a month parties are held at which a lot of porn is shown. "Sexuality should be something delicate and valuable," Labour party PvdA MP Jeroen Dijsselbloem told daily newspaper De Pers. "Sex and porn are entering into daily life. We don't want to let that happen." 20-4-2007

Masturbate instead, Le Pen tells women's forum
French far-right presidential candidate Jean-Marie Le Pen told a women's forum he was against making condoms freely available in schools - advising young people to masturbate instead. 20-4-2007

Spain breaks up prostitution ring with Russian sex-slaves
Police in Spain has broken up an international criminal ring which dealt in trafficking women from Russia and forcing them to become prostitutes, a local police official has confirmed. 20-4-2007

Mother recognizes daughter in German search for child pornography
Prosecutors have discovered the identity of a young German schoolgirl shown in indecent photographs on the internet after her own mother recognized images of her face shown on TV. 18-3-2007

Paris bans nude tanning
Worried about an excess of flesh visible on the banks of the River Seine, Paris city hall has banned thong bikinis, topless sunbathing and nudity at the summer sand-in-the-city event known as Paris Beaches. 18-3-2007

Brothel discounts 'matinee sex' for pensioners
A brothel in Germany hopes to capitalise on the growing number of pensioners interested in "matinee" sex by offering them a 50 percent discount during the afternoon hours. 18-3-2007

German CDU member expelled over porn film role
A German man who appeared in a pornographic film has been expelled from a local branch of Chancellor Angela Merkel's Christian Democratic Union (CDU) party. 18-3-2007

New exhibition documents forced prostitution in concentration camps
A new German exhibition reveals a particularly sordid chapter from the history of the Nazi concentration camps: forcing female inmates to work as prostitutes for the benefit of male slave laborers. 18-3-2007

10 percent of Japanese men in their 40s still virgins
Haruka is a 38-year-old temporary employment agency worker. She met her 41-year-old boyfriend through an online matchmaking site. Judging by his e-mail, he seemed to be kind and was certainly mature. 17-7-2006

'Clean' Nagano's dark, dirty secret: AIDS
"Among Japan's 47 prefectures, Nagano is a rarity in that its public morals laws and ordinances prohibit sex businesses like 'soaplands' and 'fashion health' salons," the unnamed "pink" journalist tells the Japanese weekly Shukan Shincho. 17-7-2006

The 'pink parlors' of Lhasa
Once a sacred Buddhist pilgrimage destination, the Tibetan capital Lhasa is rapidly turning into a hot spot of 'pink parlours' where flesh trade thrives under China's modernisation drive, a US couple says. 17-7-2006

Britain's European runaways
Rukhsana (not her real name) is a very skinny and gaunt looking teen who looks older than her 18 years, with bleached brown hair, wearing grey contact lenses. 17-7-2006

Musharraf repeals extra marital sex law
Pakistani President Pervez Musharraf is reported to have repealed an anti-women clause in the Hudood law, a 1979 legislation against extra-marital sex based on Islamic sharia (law). 17-7-2006

Israeli president dogged by sexual harassment scandal
Israel's president is being dogged by allegations of sexual harassment, and the spiraling scandal has pushed the country's violent standoff with Hamas over a kidnapped soldier off the front pages. 17-7-2006

Premarital sex among RP youths on the rise: study
The gap between adolescent Filipino females and their male counterparts practicing premarital sex is becoming narrow, a study conducted by the University of the Philippines-Population Institute showed. 17-7-2006

Australian sex workers complain of European competition
Australian sex workers are feeling the pinch of European competition, the national news agency reported. 17-7-2006

Japanese man busted for blackmailing schoolgirls into sending nude images of themselves
A man who blackmailed junior high school girls into sending hundreds of nude images of themselves to him by e-mail has been arrested, police said. 17-7-2006

Russian Deputies seek to limit sex on TV
Six United Russia deputies submitted legislation to the State Duma on Monday that would restrict erotic programming on television and ban television ads for phone sex and sex-themed cell phone messages. 5-7-2006

Arabs encouraged to pay for sex with women in Indonesia
Indonesia's vice president said he saw nothing wrong with Arab men paying local women to marry and then divorcing them days or hours later, and suggested the practice - dismissed by critics as legalized prostitution - could boost tourism. 5-7-2006

Understanding Japan's 'Love Hotels'
The words 'love' and 'hotel' combined in the English language conjure up romantic images of energetic weekends away, breakfast in bed, walks in the woods, dinner by candlelight with champagne - and whatever else springs to mind - by an open fire. In Japan, however, the resultant image of the same combination of words is somewhat different. 5-7-2006

Japan: Hostess says life no cabaret for hard-up kyabajo gals
Nightclub hostess jobs have become hotter than ever before and women are flocking to them in droves in the hope of pocketing some easy money, according to Sunday Mainichi. 5-7-2006

India: Where sex is not a taboo subject
"Is there any way we can identify a homosexual?" This was a query from a government school teacher to a doctor who was explaining the nuances of sexual preferences and safe sex. 5-7-2006

Prostitution growing in India, says survey
From poverty to erosion of values, several factors are pushing more and more women and young girls to take to prostitution all over India, says a new study. 5-7-2006

India: Woman admits to maid's sexual abuse, murder
Lokhandwala housewife Roma Bhatia, who has been arrested in connection with the suspected rape and murder of a ten-year-old domestic helper, confessed to the police on Thursday that she had smothered the girl to death. 5-7-2006

Philippines rape: Doctor says injuries consistent with sexual assualt
A Filipino doctor testifying at a rape trial involving four United States Marines said yesterday that the complainant suffered injuries consistent with a sexual assault. 5-7-2006

Tamil Nadu's 'tsunami marriages'
Ambika - the sole survivor of a family that perished in the December 2004 tsunami disaster - of course claims she is 18 years of age, while officials here explain the larger story behind the bizarre 'tsunami marriage'. 28-6-2006

China will not ban sex-selection abortions despite gender imbalance
The Chinese government has decided it will not prohibit abortions used to prevent the birth of girl babies even though sex-selection abortions have contributed to a stark gender imbalance that is creating a host of social problems. The nation's state-owned media reported the plan to scrap the idea. 28-6-2006

Chinese sex education videos 'too boring'
An American adult education video maker is aiming to market its products in China, amid concerns that citizens find Chinese-made family planning videos 'boring' and are turning to hardcore porn instead. 28-6-2006

Expert: Japan needs more sex
While the government hopes it can curb the falling birthrate by offering families more financial assistance, one expert says it's the lack of sex, not income, that lies at the root of the country's population problem. 28-6-2006

NORTHERN EUROPE WESTERN EUROPE EASTERN EUROPE SOUTHERN EUROPE