In the United Kingdom, a driving licence is the official document which authorises its holder to operate motor vehicles on highways and other public roads. It is administered in England, Scotland and Wales by the Driver and Vehicle Licensing Agency (DVLA) and in Northern Ireland by the Driver & Vehicle Agency (DVA). A driving licence is required in England, Scotland, and Wales for any person (except the sovereign) driving a vehicle on any highway or other "road", as defined in s.192 Road Traffic Act 1988, irrespective of the ownership of the land over which the road passes. Similar requirements apply in Northern Ireland under the Road Traffic (Northern Ireland) Order 1981.

Prior to the UK leaving the European Union on 31 January 2020 and during the transition period which ended on 31 December 2020, a UK driving licence was a European driving licence, adhering to Directive 2006/126/EC and valid throughout the European Economic Area. A new updated design has been issued from January 2021, now simply reading “UK” in larger blue letters, where the EU flag with the circle of stars surrounding the "UK" code used to be.

Since July 2015, all UK driving licence photocards issued by the DVLA have displayed the Union Flag, and since December 2021 also the Royal Coat of Arms on the front of the driving licence. This does not apply to driving licences issued by the DVA in Northern Ireland.

As UK nationals do not normally have identity cards, a photographic driving licence can serve many of the purposes of an identity card in non-driving contexts, such as proof of identity (e.g. when opening a bank account) or of age (e.g. when buying age-restricted goods such as alcohol or tobacco).

Regulations

Provisional licences and learner drivers

Applications for a provisional driving licence can be made in Great Britain from the age of 15 years and 9 months and in Northern Ireland from 16 years and 10 months. Once a United Kingdom driving test has been passed, the driving licence is valid for driving a moped or light quad bike from age 16, and a car from age 17, or 16 for those who receive, or have applied for, the higher or enhanced rate of the mobility component of PIP or DLA. A driving test consists of three sections: theory, hazard perception and a driving examination. Until this test has been passed, a driver may hold only a provisional licence and is subject to certain conditions.
The conditions attached to provisional licences for a particular category of vehicle are:

 L-plates or D-plates (in Wales only) (, "learner") must be conspicuously displayed on the front and rear of the vehicle.
Learner drivers of a particular category and transmission type of vehicle must be accompanied by somebody aged 21 or above who has held a full  driving licence for that category and transmission type for at least three years, except in the case of solo motorcycles and vehicles of certain categories designed solely for one person.
No trailer may be towed, except when driving a tractor or where a full licence gives provisional entitlement to drive a car with trailer, large goods vehicle with trailer or passenger carrying vehicle with trailer.
Motorcycle riders must not carry any pillion passengers.
Coach or bus drivers must not carry any passenger except a person giving or receiving instruction.
Motorways must not be used by holders of car and motorcycle provisional licences, excluding category B (car) licence holders who are learner drivers for the purposes of the trailer category BE, or unless supervised by an Approved Driving Instructor in a car fitted with dual controls.
In Northern Ireland, learner drivers are limited to a speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) and are not permitted on motorways regardless of whether or not they are under instruction by an ADI (Approved Driving Instructor), and drivers who have passed their test within the previous year must display R plates (restricted) and are also limited to a maximum speed of 45 mph (72 km/h) until the expiry of the restricted period. R plates are similar in style to L plates, with a thick-set dark orange R displayed on a white background and most L plates have the orange R on the reverse side.

After passing a driving test, the provisional licence may be surrendered within two years in exchange for a full UK licence for the relevant kind of vehicle. Full car licences allow use of mopeds and motorcycles provided a CBT (Compulsory Basic Training) course is completed (the requirement to have a CBT in Northern Ireland was introduced on 21 February 2011).

Newly qualified drivers

There are currently no restrictions on newly qualified drivers in England, Wales or Scotland; however if a newly qualified driver receives six penalty points within two years of passing, the licence is automatically revoked and the driver must pass the full test again; this also applies in Northern Ireland. These six points remain on the new licence until their designated expiry time.

In Great Britain, some new drivers may display green "P" plates ("probationary") on their vehicle to alert other drivers that they have recently passed their driving test. This is optional and not a legal requirement and may be displayed for as long as desired. P plates are not commonly used in Northern Ireland.

In Northern Ireland, new drivers must display orange "R" plates for 1 year after passing the test, and are limited to a maximum speed of . This is a legal requirement and failure to display R plates results in 2 penalty points and a fine. These drivers are known as restricted drivers.

In the Isle of Man (a UK Crown dependency), new drivers must display "R" plates similar to those in Northern Ireland, but red, for 1 year after passing the test, and are limited to a maximum speed of .

Towing restrictions
The rules on what a driver can tow are different depending on when they passed their driving test. If they passed their car driving test on or after 1 January 1997, they may drive a car or van up to  maximum authorised mass (MAM) towing a trailer of up to  MAM, and they may tow a trailer over  MAM as long as the combined MAM of the trailer and towing vehicle is no more than  MAM when loaded. They must pass the car and trailer driving test to tow anything heavier. If a driver passed their car test before 1 January 1997, they are usually allowed to drive a vehicle and trailer combination up to  MAM. They are also allowed to drive a minibus with a trailer over  MAM.

On 16 September 2021, the Secretary of State for Transport laid a statutory instrument  to retrospectively grant the B+E (car and trailer) entitlement to all category B licence holders. From 15 November 2021, all standard car licence holders will be able to tow a trailer with a MAM of up to .
An additional legislative
change from the 16th
December 2021 also means
that drivers with B (Car)
entitlement will
automatically have B+E
(Car & Trailer) entitlement
without the need to take a
B+E test. This will allow you
to tow a vehicle up to
3,500kg Maximum
Authorised Mass (MAM).

Other regulations
Motor car licences issued in the United Kingdom distinguish between automatic and manual transmission vehicles, depending on whether or not a driving test was passed in a vehicle with manual transmission (unless a vehicle test was taken in the UK before such distinction was made). While a manual transmission vehicle licence permits the holder to drive a vehicle of either kind, an automatic transmission vehicle licence is solely for vehicles with automatic transmission. The licence also shows whether a driver requires glasses or contact lenses to meet the legal driving requirements, if known.

Drivers who obtained rights to drive category D1 minibuses before 1997 (by passing a test for the obsolete class A) must not drive such vehicles for hire or reward, nor accept any form of payment in money, goods or kind from any passengers carried.

Category B licences automatically cover both groups C1 (lorries not exceeding 7.5 tomnnes MAM) and D1 but as the holder approaches 45, they must renew their licence. They must provide a doctor's medical report plus an optometrist's report (if the doctor cannot certify the eyesight requirement). Anyone who has C1 and D1 rights on an older paper licence (before the photocard licence) retains the right to drive C1 and D1 without medical evidence until age 70 (so called:grandfather rights). Though like any responsible driver, should have regular eye checks.

There is no maximum age for driving or holding a driving licence, but holders must renew their licences at age 70 and every three years thereafter, at which times they must provide evidence of a medical exam and separate eyesight test if the right to drive C1 and D1 vehicles is to be retained.

History
Driver registration was introduced in 1903 with the Motor Car Act. Holders of the sulphur-yellow coloured document were entitled to "drive a motor car or motor cycle". The wording was changed in 1930 after which holders were allowed to "drive or steer a motor car or to drive a motor cycle". Shortly afterwards, the document cover was changed to a dark red colour. Holders were for a period entitled to drive a vehicle of "any class or description". Subsequent changes saw the document list precisely those vehicle types for which holders were licensed.

Competency tests were introduced by the Motor Vehicles Regulations 1935 applicable to all drivers who started driving after 1 April 1934. Competency tests were suspended in 1939 for seven years due to the Second World War and in 1956 for one year due to the Suez Crisis. The only person in the United Kingdom who is not required to have a driving licence in order to drive is the King.

Until 1973, driving licences (and tax discs) were issued by local authorities and had to be renewed every three years. In 1971, the decision was taken to computerise the licensing system to enable it to be linked to the Police National Computer and to extend the life of the licence up to the driver's 70th birthday, extendable at intervals thereafter provided the driver can prove fitness.

Except for Northern Ireland, driving licences issued before July 1998 did not have photographs on them. Anyone who holds a licence issued before this date may retain their photo-less licence until expiry (normally one's seventieth birthday) or until they change address, whichever comes sooner. The new plastic photocard driving licences have to be renewed every ten years, for a fee. Until 2015, the licence consisted of both the photocard and a paper counterpart which detailed the individual's driving entitlements and convictions ("endorsements"). The counterpart was abolished on 8 June 2015 and the information formerly recorded on it is now available online via the View Driving Licence service, except in Northern Ireland where the counterpart must be kept with the photocard.

Licences issued to residents of England, Northern Ireland and Scotland appear only in English, while those issued to residents of Wales appear in both English and Welsh. The Union Flag has been included on GB licences since July 2015, but not on Northern Ireland licences. Since December 2021 the Royal Coat of Arms is included on GB licences.

Up until 28 September 2021, the distinguishing sign of the United Kingdom was "GB". The allocation of codes is maintained by the United Nations Economic Commission for Europe, authorised by the UN's Geneva Convention on Road Traffic and the Vienna Convention on Road Traffic. The UK is party to both conventions, and shall hence issue licences in conformity with the conventions. Annex 9 of the Geneva convention states that the distinguishing sign (UK) shall be inscribed in an oval. According to the Vienna convention Article 43 domestic licences have to comply with Annex 6, which says that driving licences shall include the name and/or the distinguishing sign of the country which issued the permit. UK licences did include the "GB" distinguishing code until 1990.

In Directive 91/439/EEC which EU Member States had to implement before 1 July 1994, the UK had to include the emblem of the EU with the code "UK",  instead of "GB" encircled by an ellipse on the front page. As the UK has subsequently withdrawn from the EU, the EU flag is no longer featured on UK driving licences issued after the transition period ended on 31 December 2020. The "GB" code or the ellipse from the aforementioned conventions have not been reintroduced, since January 2021, the licences simply reads “UK" in larger blue letters where the EU flag with the circle of stars surrounding the "UK" code used to be.

On 30 June 2021 the United Nations published a notification stating that the United Kingdom had given three months notification that it intended to change its distinguishing sign from "GB" to "UK". This came into effect on 28 September 2021.

Since December 2021, new driving licence styles were introduced. Changes were made to all versions of the GB driving licence cards and includes:

 The Union Flag has been moved to the top right corner
 The Royal Coat of Arms is included on the front
 The driver number is left justified and in line with the other text
 A secondary image of the licence holder is located on the front
 Colour shifting ink (OVI design) has been reinstated and updated to the back of the licence
 New hologram has been added
The same changes apply to all versions of the Northern Ireland driving licence, excluding the Union Flag and Royal Coat of Arms.

Driver numbers

Great Britain
Each licence holder in England, Scotland and Wales has a unique driver number, which is 18 characters long. The characters are constructed in the following way:
 1–5: The first five characters of the surname (padded with 9s if fewer than 5 characters). For surnames beginning with "MAC", they are treated as "MC" for all.
 6: The decade digit from the year of birth (e.g. for 1987 it would be 8)
 7–8: The month of birth in two digit format (7th character is incremented by 5 if the driver is female i.e. 51–62 instead of 01–12)
 9–10: The date within the month of the day of birth in two digit format (i.e. 01–31)
 11: The year digit from the year of birth (e.g. for 1987 it would be 7)
 12–13: The first initial of the first and middle name, padded with a 9 if no middle name (e.g. for John Doe Smith JD, for Jane Smith J9)
 14: Arbitrary digit – usually 9, but decremented to differentiate drivers with the first 13 characters in common
 15–16: Two computer check digits which may be letters.
 17–18: Two digits representing the licence issue, which increases by 1 for each licence issued. Not used on previous paper licences.

Northern Ireland
Driver numbers in Northern Ireland differ from those issued to drivers in GB.

Each Northern Ireland licence holder is assigned a unique, 8 digit driving licence number, e.g. 12345678. This number is assigned randomly and in no specific order.

Brexit

The UK left the EU on 31 January 2020, starting an 11-month transition period which terminated on 31 December 2020 in accordance with the Brexit withdrawal agreement. EU law continued to apply to the UK during the transition period, and hence UK driving licences were valid in the EEA and vice versa until 31 December 2020. UK licence holders living in the EU were advised to exchange their UK driving licence for a local one before the transition period ended. The EU flag was removed from UK driving licences when the transition period ended.

From 1 January 2021, with some exceptions, UK licence holders can use their driving licence when visiting EEA countries. International Driving Permits might be needed in some cases, and depending on which convention the country in question has ratified, a 1949 Geneva Convention on Road Traffic IDP might be required in some countries, and a 1968 Vienna Convention on Road Traffic IDP in others. However, none of the EEA countries currently require IDPs for visitors staying shorter than 12 months. EEA countries are no longer obligated to recognise or exchange UK licences if the holder moves to an EEA country, except if the UK has agreed a bilateral agreement with the country.

European driving licences are recognised by the UK if the driving test was passed in an EU/EEA country, and can be used both if the holder is visiting or residing in the country. They can also be exchanged for a UK (both GB and NI) licence.

Driving licence categories

Current categories

This is a list of the categories that might be found on a driving licence in the United Kingdom.

 Notes

Obsolete goods classes

Although the category system was changed over 25 years ago (1 January 1997), the freight industry and driver recruitment agencies still predominantly use the obsolete class numbers for the entitlement of HGV drivers.

The two systems are not exactly compatible, so the descriptions given are only a guideline.

 Class 1: any goods vehicle over 7½ long tons () with any trailer.
 Class 2: any rigid goods vehicle over 7½ long tons.
 Class 3: any rigid goods vehicle over 7½ long tons with no more than two axles.

Points and endorsements

The UK uses a cumulative points system for driving offences. Points are added for driving offences by law courts or where the driver accepts a fixed penalty in lieu of prosecution, and the licence is endorsed accordingly. This also significantly increases insurance premiums as a driver with penalty points is considered a much higher risk to other road users. A UK driving licence may be endorsed for various offences, not only for those committed while driving or in charge of a vehicle. If the individual committing the offence does not hold a valid driver's licence the endorsements may be put by until a licence is held.

Most endorsements remain valid for four years; some (such as driving under the influence) are recorded on the licence for 11 years because more severe penalties apply to those convicted twice within 10 years of drink or drug driving offences.

Twelve points on the licence within three years makes the driver liable to disqualification under the "totting-up" procedure; however this is not automatic and must be decided on by a court of law. Endorsements remain on the licence for one year longer than their validity (three or ten years) because a court can consider points awarded even though they are not valid for 'totting up'.

Driving licence codes
Certain codes are included on driving licences to indicate restrictions on use. These codes are listed on the back of the card under the column headed "12. Codes" and are listed for each category that is licensed.

As long as the UK remained within the EU, the codes 1–99 were the same as in the rest of the EU, harmonized by Directive 2006/126/EC.

The codes and their meanings are as follows:

 01 – eyesight correction
 02 – hearing/communication aid
 10 – modified transmission
 15 – modified clutch
 20 – modified braking systems
 25 – modified accelerator systems
 30 – combined braking and accelerator systems ( licences issued before 28 November 2016)
 31 – pedal adaptations and pedal safeguards
 32 – combined service brake and accelerator systems
 33 – combined service brake, accelerator and steering systems
 35 – modified control layouts
 40 – modified steering
 42 – modified rear-view mirror(s)
 43 – modified driving seats
 44 – modifications to motorcycles
 44 (1) – single operated brake
 44 (2) – (adjusted) hand-operated brake (front wheel)
 44 (3) – (adjusted) foot-operated brake (back wheel)
 44 (4) – (adjusted) accelerator handle
 44 (5) – (adjusted) manual transmission and manual clutch
 44 (6) – (adjusted) rear-view mirror(s)
 44 (7) – (adjusted) commands (direction indicators, braking light, etc.)
 44 (8) – seat height allowing the driver, in sitting position, to have 2 feet on the road at the same time
 45 – motorcycles only with sidecar
 46 – tricycles only (for licences issued before 29 June 2014)
 70 – exchange of licence
 71 – duplicate of licence
 78 – restricted to vehicles with automatic transmission
 79 – restricted to vehicles in conformity with the specifications stated in brackets on the licence
 79.02 – restricted to category AM vehicles of the 3-wheel or light quadricycle type
 79.03 – restricted to tricycles
 96 – allowed to drive a vehicle and trailer where the trailer weighs at least 750 kg, and the combined weight of the vehicle and trailer is between 3,500 kg and 4,250 kg
 97 – not allowed to drive category C1 vehicles which are required to have a tachograph fitted
 101 – not for hire or reward (that is, not to make a profit)
 102 – drawbar trailers only
 103 – subject to certificate of competence
 105 – vehicle not more than 5.5 metres long
 106 – restricted to vehicles with automatic transmissions
 107 – not more than 8,250 kilogrammes
 108 – subject to minimum age requirements
 110 – limited to transporting persons with restricted mobility
 111 – limited to 16 passenger seats
 113 – limited to 16 passenger seats except for automatics
 114 – with any special controls required for safe driving
 115 – organ donor
 118 – start date is for earliest entitlement
 119 – weight limit(s) for vehicle do(es) not apply
 121 – restricted to conditions specified in the Secretary of State's notice
 122 – valid on successful completion: Basic Moped Training Course
 125 – tricycles only (for licences issued before 29 June 2014)

Use as proof of identity

Identity cards for UK nationals were introduced in 2009 on a voluntary basis, and the attempt to introduce a nationwide identity-card scheme in 2010 was reversed mid-course. Its in-progress database was halted and then destroyed. Only workers in certain high-security professions, such as airport workers, were required to have an identity card in 2009, and this remains the case today. Therefore, driving licences, particularly the photocard driving licence introduced in 1998, along with passports, are the most widely used ID documents in the United Kingdom. Most people do not carry their passports with them; this leaves driving licences as the only valid form of ID to be presented. In day-to-day life there is no legal requirement to carry identification whilst driving or otherwise, and most authorities do not arbitrarily ask for identification from individuals.

Non-professional drivers are not legally obliged to carry a driving licence while driving, but section 164 of the Road Traffic Act 1998 allows a police officer to require a driver to produce a driving licence within seven days at a police station chosen by the driver. The form which was once issued in such circumstances, the HO/RT 1, was known colloquially as "a producer", as exemplified in Smiley Culture's hit single "Police Officer".

Exchange agreements
The UK has an exchange agreement with 22 'designated' countries/regions which allows the holder of a foreign driving licence who is deemed to be resident in the UK to exchange it for a British licence. Initially, there were 18 such countries/regions, but an additional four, namely Taiwan, the United Arab Emirates, Ukraine and the Republic of North Macedonia, were added from 20 May 2021.
To do such licence exchange, the holder must send the licence, a translation thereof if required, an application form and a fee to the DVLA or DVA (for Northern Ireland).

 The countries/regions are: Andorra, Australia, Barbados, British Virgin Islands, Canada, Cayman Islands, Falkland Islands, Faroe Islands, Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Japan, Monaco, New Zealand, Republic of Korea, Republic of North Macedonia, Singapore, South Africa, Switzerland, Taiwan, Ukraine,  United Arab Emirates, and Zimbabwe

Post-Brexit arrangements
The UK and Ireland have signed a bilateral agreement, allowing those holding a UK driving licence and living in Ireland to continue to be able to swap it for an Irish licence after the Brexit transition period ended on 31 December 2020.

The UK and Norway have agreed to continue existing arrangements on mutual recognition of driving licences after Brexit.

See also
 European driving licence
 British passport
 Vehicle registration plates of the United Kingdom

References

External links
 DVLA England, Scotland and Wales driver information website
 DVA Northern Ireland driver licensing website
 Driving licence codes

United Kingdom
Licence
Identity documents of the United Kingdom


Committee on Government Operations may refer to:

 United States House Committee on Government Operations, defunct committee whose function is currently within purview of the United States House Committee on Oversight and Government Reform
 United States Senate Committee on Government Operations, defunct committee whose function is currently within purview of the United States Senate Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs


Panagiotis Stroubakos (; born 8 September 1972 in Athens) is a retired Greek middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres.

He competed at the Olympic Games in 2000 and 2004, the World Championships in 1997 and 1999 and the 2002 European Championships without reaching the final.

His personal best time is 1:45.00 minutes, achieved in August 1997 in Zürich. This is the Greek record.

Honours

References

1972 births
Living people
Greek male middle-distance runners
Athletes (track and field) at the 2000 Summer Olympics
Athletes (track and field) at the 2004 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for Greece
Panathinaikos Athletics
Athletes from Athens
World Athletics Championships athletes for Greece
Athletes (track and field) at the 2001 Mediterranean Games
Mediterranean Games competitors for Greece


Arab Mexicans are Mexican citizens of Arab ethnic lineage, who identify themselves as Arab. Some of Mexico's Arabs are of Lebanese, or Palestinian descent.

The inter-ethnic marriage in the Arab community, regardless of religious affiliation, is very high; most community members have only one parent who has Arab ethnicity. As a result of this, the  Arab community in Mexico shows marked language shift away from only Arabic. Only a few speak any mainly Arabic, and such knowledge is often limited to a few basic words. Instead the majority, especially those of younger generations, speak Spanish as a first language. Arabic and Spanish have collided in Mexico as a mixture of languages and put into one which is spoken more than the original Arabic. An example of this intercultural exchange is present in the hit television program Hecho en Mexico and especially in popular character Roby Checa’s day-to-day interactions. His popular Pedas de Rancho series is an example of his contribution to Mexican Arab culture and is currently being debated in the Mexican Senate floor for the honorary admission to the Archivos Nacionales.

Migration history

Arab immigration to Mexico started in the 19th and early 20th centuries. Roughly 100,000 Arabic speakers settled in Mexico during this time period. They came mostly from Lebanon and Syria, and settled in significant numbers in Nayarit, Guanajuato, Puebla, Mexico City and the Northern part of the country (mainly in the states of Baja California, Tamaulipas, Nuevo Leon, San Luis Potosí, Sonora, Sinaloa, Chihuahua, Zacatecas, Coahuila and Durango), as well as the cities of Tampico and Guadalajara. They also came for slave trade in the 18th century. The term "Arab Mexican" may include ethnic groups that do not in fact identify as Arab.

During the Israel–Lebanon war in 1948 and during the Six-Day War, thousands of Lebanese went to Mexico. They first arrived in Veracruz. Although Arabs made up less than 5% of the total immigrant population in Mexico during the 1930s, they constituted half of the immigrant economic activity.

Migration of Arabs to Mexico has influenced Mexican culture, in particular food, where they have introduced Kibbeh, Tabbouleh and even created recipes such as Tacos Árabes. By 1765, dates, which originated from the Middle East, were introduced into Mexico by the Spaniards. The fusion between Arab and Mexican food has highly influenced Yucatecan cuisine.

Another concentration of Arab Mexicans is in Baja California facing the U.S.-Mexican border, esp. in cities of Mexicali in the Imperial Valley U.S./Mexico and Tijuana across from San Diego with a large Arab American community (about 280,000), some of whose families have relatives in Mexico. 45% of Arab Mexicans are of Lebanese descent.

The majority of Arab Mexicans are Christians who belong to the Maronite Church, Roman Catholic, Eastern Orthodox and Eastern Rite Catholic Churches. A scant number are Muslims of Middle Eastern origins.

Figures

Notable people

María Fassi, professional golfer of Moroccan descent from Pachuca
Carlos Slim, business magnate, investor, and philanthropist. Formerly the richest man in the world. Slim's parents are both Mexicans of Lebanese Maronite Catholic descent.
Salma Hayek, actress; she is half Lebanese via her father.
Emeraude Toubia, actress and model raised in Brownsville, Texas, half Lebanese via her father and half Mexican via her mother.
José Antonio Meade Kuribreña, economist, lawyer and diplomat and former Mexican Secretariat of Foreign Affairs of Lebanese and British descent.
Pedro Joaquín Coldwell, politician affiliated to the Institutional Revolutionary Party (PRI) of Lebanese and English descent.
Emilio Chuayffet, lawyer and politician, the incumbent Secretary of Public Education of Mexico of Lebanese descent.
Antonio Badú, actor and singer
Enrique Dau, former mayor of Guadalajara, grandson of the Lebanese emigrant Wadih Dau
José Murat Casab, former Governor of Oaxaca and a member of the Institutional Revolutionary Party of Iraqi descent.
Alfredo Harp Helú, Mexican businessman of Lebanese origin.
Pépé Abed, Lebanese-born Mexican jeweler returned to Lebanon after 40 years.
Victor Nacif, Vice President of Design Business Aspects for Nissan Design America, of Iraqi descent.
Mauricio Féres Yázbek (Garcés), actor of Lebanese descent from Tampico, Tamaulipas
Alfonso Petersen Farah, mayor of Guadalajara. German, Danish and Lebanese descent.
Emilio Hassan, footballer, nephew of Carlos Slim, of Lebanese descent.
Paul Ham, bassist for Anabantha, of Lebanese descent.
Ricardo Dájer Nahum, Mexican politician of Lebanese origin.
Jeff Becerra, Heavy metal musician of Lebanese descent.
Capulina, actor of Lebanese descent.
Jaime Camil, Actor, singer of Egyptian and Brazilian descent.
Isaac Saba Raffoul, businessman of Syrian descent.
Astrid Hadad, Mexican actress of Lebanese descent.
Miguel Sabah, a Mexican international footballer of mixed Palestinian/Mexican/Lebanese descent
Liliana Abud, an actress in telenovelas and Mexican cinema.
José Sulaimán, President of the World Boxing Council, Lebanese descent.
Antonio Mohamed, Argentine-born Mexican soccer player of Lebanese descent.
Samer Omar, football player currently playing for Tiburones Rojos de Veracruz. He is of Lebanese background.
Kamel Nacif Borge, Mexican businessman of Lebanese descent.
Jesús Murillo Karam, Mexican politician of Lebanese descent.
Susana Harp, Mexican singer of traditional music of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Omar Fayad, Mexican politician of Lebanese descent.
Rosemary Barkett, U.S. Federal Judge to Syrian parent.
Jorge Kahwagi, Mexican boxer, lawyer, businessman, and politician of Lebanese descent.
Carlos Jiménez Mabarak, Musician of Lebanese descent.
Ikram Antaki, Mexican writer of Syrian origin.
Arturo Elías Ayub, Mexican businessman of Lebanese descent.
Alfredo Elias Ayub, Director General of Federal Electricity Commission, Arturo Elías Ayub is his youngest brother, of Lebanese descent.
Bibelot Mansur, actress born to a Mexican mother and a father of Lebanese descent.
Miguel Layún, a Mexican international footballer of Lebanese and Spanish descent.
Jerónimo Amione, a Mexican footballer of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Gibrán Lajud, a Mexican footballer of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Jaime Sabines, a Mexican poet of Lebanese descent.
Alejandro Bichir, a Mexican actor of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Bruno Bichir, a Mexican actor of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Demián Bichir, a Mexican actor of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Odiseo Bichir, a Mexican actor of Lebanese and Mexican descent.
Jorge Estefan Chidiac, Mexican politician of Lebanese descent
María de Lourdes Dieck-Assad, Mexican economist of Belgian and Levantine descent.
Zidane Zeraoui El Awad, Mexican professor and researcher of Algerian origin.
Giselle Zarur, Mexican sports journalist and television reporter of part-Lebanese descent
Peso Pluma , Singer of Lebanese descent.
 Daniel Lajud

See also

 Arab diaspora
 Immigration to Mexico
 Arab Argentines
 Arab Brazilians
 Arab Colombians
 Lebanese diaspora
 Syrian diaspora
 Palestinian diaspora

External links
 Arab Mexican Chamber of Industry and Commerce
  Los árabes de México. Asimilación y Herencia Cultural

References

Ethnic groups in Mexico
Mexican


William Francis Schey (1857–1913) was an Australian politician.

Early life
Schey was born in England and educated in London. After a short time in New Zealand, Schey arrived in Sydney as first mate of a ship in 1875. After tiring of work on the seas, Schey worked as a chainman for the Harbours Department then joined the railways, after becoming the first paid secretary of the Railways and Tramways Association.

Political career
Schey entered the New South Wales Parliament in 1887, serving until his electoral defeat in 1898. Schey initially served as one of four  members for the Electoral district of Redfern in the New South Wales Legislative Assembly. He was not a strong supporter of free trade and had disagreements with the leader Sir Henry Parkes. For the February 1889 election he switched to be a , however he was defeated, finishing last on the poll. He was returned to the Legislative Assembly 5 months later, narrowly winning the Redfern by election in July. He had such strong connections with railway employees and the Eveleigh Railway Yards he was dubbed the member for Eveleigh. He was re-elected to Redfern in 1891. Multi-member districts were abolished in 1894, and Schey stood as an  candidate for the new district of Darlington, which included the Eveleigh Railway Yards. He returned to the Protectionist party, winning the election in 1895, however he was defeated in 1898. He did not hold ministerial or other office. Schey twice carried the "eight hour" bill through the Legislative Assembly only to see it defeated in the Legislative Council.

Later life
In 1900 Schey was elected Chairman of the Royal Commission to Labor Matters. In 1905 Schey was appointed Director of Labor, a position he held until his death in 1913.

In 1895 Schey was concerned at the social toll of the 1890s depression. Schey was an engine behind the 1896 creation of a Government funded co-operative farm, established to assist men and their families who were victims of sickness and unemployment. Schey took so much interest in the co-operative training farm that the area became favourably known as Scheyville from 1907 onwards.

He died at Woolwich on .

References

1857 births
1913 deaths
Protectionist Party politicians
Members of the New South Wales Legislative Assembly
British emigrants to Australia
Politicians from Sydney


is a Japanese TV personality, politician and lawyer. He is a former governor of Osaka Prefecture and mayor of City of Osaka. He is a founder of Nippon Ishin no Kai and the Osaka Restoration Association. He is one of Japan's leading right-wing conservative-populist politicians.

Hashimoto does not believe that Korean comfort women who served as sex workers for the Japanese military during World War II were recruited by force.

Early life and career
Tōru Hashishita was born in Hatagaya, Shibuya, Tokyo, on 29 June 1969. His father, who was a yakuza, died when he was in the second grade of elementary school. Soon after, his mother changed the reading of their name to Hashimoto. Hashimoto and his mother and sister moved to Suita, Osaka when he was in the fifth grade, and then to Higashiyodogawa-ku, Osaka the next year.

As a student at Osaka Prefectural Kitano High School, Hashimoto played in the National High School Rugby Tournament as a member of the school rugby team, which was one of three champions from the Osaka prefectural tournament. He failed the entrance exams for Waseda University twice but was admitted after an additional year of study. He graduated from Waseda in the spring of 1994 and passed the bar examination later that year, becoming a lawyer in 1996. In 1998, he established the Hashimoto Law Office, where he built up a practice in corporate law, entertainment law and dispute resolution. Hashimoto remains an equity partner in the firm, but converted it to a professional corporation in 2008 and currently does not take an active role in its management. He also became the legal advisor for the brothel association of Tobita Shinchi for a period of time.

During his early years of law practice, he began to appear on local radio and television programs in the Kansai area. He made several appearances on TV Asahi's Super Morning program, after which American TV personality Dave Spector, who also regularly appeared on the show, sent tapes of Hashimoto's appearances to TV producers at other networks. Hashimoto's most high-profile TV role came in April 2003 when he started participating in the popular prime-time program , hosted by comedian Shinsuke Shimada, as part of the regular panel of four lawyers. He appeared on the show until December 2007. Hashimoto also guested on Nippon TV's Hikari Ota's If I Were Prime Minister... Secretary Tanaka, where he "proposed" homeowners should open their curtains every afternoon.

He admitted in 2012 to having an extramarital affair with a club hostess between 2006 and 2008, while still a television personality, saying that "I wasn't a saint before I became governor."

Political career

Governor of Osaka Prefecture

There were rumours that Hashimoto would run for Mayor of Osaka City in 2007, because of his popularity and status as a lawyer, but he did not do so and, even after Fusae Ohta announced that she would retire as Governor of Osaka Prefecture after finishing her second term, he initially said that he had no intention to run for governor either. However, on 12 December 2007, after he had received pledges of support from the local Liberal Democratic Party and New Komeito, he announced that he would run in the gubernatorial race. He took 54% of votes in the election on 27 January 2008 and assumed the post of governor on 6 February 2008. In 2010, he founded the Osaka Restoration Association (One Osaka), a new regional political party with a platform centered around the Osaka Metropolis plan. Shortly after his inauguration as Osaka governor, Hashimoto declared a "fiscal emergency" in the prefecture and proposed massive budget cuts.

For a time, his straight-talking style and perceived willingness to challenge the status quo made him one of the most popular political figures in Japan. His party, Osaka Ishin no Kai, received high support ratings in national polls despite its regional focus. In April 2011, the party also won a majority in the Osaka prefectural assembly.

Mayor of Osaka City
His Osaka Metropolis plan faced fierce opposition from other politicians, including then Osaka City Mayor Kunio Hiramatsu. Hashimoto resigned as governor of Osaka on 31 October 2011, before finishing his first term, in order to run for Osaka city mayor. In November he was elected as mayor, alongside Ichirō Matsui of One Osaka who succeeded him as governor.

During the election campaign, weekly magazines Shukan Shincho, Shukan Bunshun and Shincho45, published articles which refer to his father's criminal record and burakumin origin. Hashimoto criticized the articles on Twitter.

After the election, Hashimoto founded the "Ishin Seiji Juku", a "cram school" for training future political leaders, which admitted 2,000 students in its first class in March 2012.

In 2012 a poll of civil servants working in Ōsaka city was conducted, requiring disclosure of those with tattoos on their body. The survey found 110 employees out of 33,500 had at least one tattoo. Hashimoto commented that civil servants have no right to have tattoos and suggested that those who do should resign. Inciting further controversy, 2 July 2012 Hashimoto made the comment to newly appointed ward mayors of Ōsaka that civil servants cannot expect to have personal privacy or fundamental human rights while working for the public.

In September 2012, he launched Nippon Ishin No Kai, or the Japan Restoration Association, a national extension of the Osaka Ishin no Kai. It was the first national political party that was based in Osaka rather than Tokyo, and achieved party status by winning the support of seven sitting diet members.

The Osaka Ishin no Kai suffered several setbacks in 2013, with its candidate losing the Sakai mayoral election in September, and the party losing its majority in the prefectural assembly in December 2013 after four members defected over the sale of the government's stake in Osaka Prefectural Urban Development, the operator of the Semboku Rapid Railway.

In the wake of controversial comments about comfort women (see below) and after failing to gain consensus for his plan to merge Osaka City and Osaka Prefecture, Hashimoto announced his resignation as mayor in February 2014, and said he would stand for re-election to seek a new mandate from voters.

Osaka voted down the Osaka Metropolis plan by a thin margin in a May 2015 referendum. Following the defeat of his core policy proposal, which had been supported by the national government, Hashimoto announced that he would retire from politics upon expiration of his term as mayor. In June, he was invited to Tokyo for a meeting with Prime Minister Shinzo Abe, who voiced his support for the defeated plan and also sought Hashimoto's input on upcoming national security legislation.

Hashimoto's political agenda planned the privatization of the municipal transport sector (subways, bus services and peripheral bus lines), waterworks, hospitals, and trash collection. It included the reduction of the city staffing from 21,600 units in 2012 to 19,350 by 2015. The electoral program of the Ishin no Kai proposed to cut funding to classical orchestras, the bunraku (the national puppet theatre) and to the Osaka Human Rights Museum, and legalizing gambling as a new way to generate revenue.
In 2008, Hashimoto reduced the wages of public school teachers as well as the public contribution directed to the private schools. In 2013, he forced the majority of the Osaka's schools to make scholastic ability test rankings public in order to promote the role of the private sector, the competition between schools and school operators and the use of quantitative methods of evaluation. This approach applied a political control on the education, two areas that had been traditionally kept separated after the Second World War.

Political views

Nuclear policy
He is known for his opposition to the restarting of local nuclear reactors after the Fukushima nuclear disaster.  According to The New York Times, this led him to become Japan's best-liked politician in polls during early 2012. Hashimoto and several other leaders eventually agreed to a limited restart of the Ōi Nuclear Power Plant in 2012.

Before he became governor of Osaka in 2008 he had argued on several television programs that Japan should possess nuclear weapons, but has since said that this was his private opinion.

Foreign policy
Hashimoto is a supporter of the Trans-Pacific Partnership trade agreement and has refused to support Ichiro Ozawa's People's Life First party over the issue.

Views on territorial disputes
In September 2012 Hashimoto suggested that Japan and South Korea jointly manage the Liancourt Rocks, known as Takeshima in Japan and Dokdo in Korea. He suggested the same for the Senkaku Islands, stated that while the disputed Islands do belong to Japan, that "sovereignty and utilization are different matters." The views drew considerable criticism from within his own party, as well as from outside commentators.

Nationalist positions
After taking office in 2008, Hashimoto clashed with teachers' unions and other officials over "Kimigayo", the Japanese national anthem. In May 2012, he pushed to create an ordinance that would force teachers to stand for the anthem during school ceremonies. His party also proposed a national referendum on Article 9 of the Constitution of Japan.

Views on US bases in Japan
In 2009, amid controversy throughout Japan over the relocation of Marine Corps Air Station Futenma, Hashimoto publicly proposed moving the functions of the base to Osaka's Kansai International Airport (which is on an artificial island). He remarked that "the burden [of bases on Okinawa] should be spread more evenly throughout Japan." Some in the Kansai business community supported this, but the US described such a move as being unfeasible for logistical reasons.

He supports the plan to relocate Futenma to Henoko in Okinawa, and has also called for the people of Okinawa to accept the deployment of Osprey tilt-rotor aircraft despite much local opposition.

In June 2013 he proposed relocating some Osprey drills to Yao Airport in Osaka. Mayor Seita Tanaka of Yao opposed the idea, stating that the safety of the Osprey aircraft had not been confirmed.

Comfort women issues
In August 2012, Hashimoto claimed that there is no evidence that the Japanese military used force or threats to recruit the South Korean comfort women who served as sex workers for the military during World War II because his grandmother and mother was also a part of it .

In May 2013, while seemingly conceding that the comfort women served soldiers "against their will", Hashimoto further claimed that they were "necessary" so that Japanese soldiers could get some "rest" during World War II.

On 13 May 2013, Hashimoto told a senior US forces official in Okinawa "We can’t control the sexual energy of these brave marines", and suggested that United States soldiers should make more use of the local adult entertainment industry on the assumption that this would reduce the incidence of sexual crimes against local women. Then Hashimoto argued for the necessity of former Japanese comfort women and those of other countries at a press conference. Hashimoto also noted that Japan created the Recreation and Amusement Association for U.S. troops to engage in prostitution. Hashimoto apologized for these remarks.

Several leading Japanese politicians, including Banri Kaieda, president of the Democratic Party of Japan, and Tomomi Inada, administrative reform minister, criticized these comments. Kaieda specifically remarked that "The comfort women system was not necessary." and Inada pointed out that "the comfort women system was a serious violation of women's human rights." A planned visit to San Francisco was cancelled after Hashimoto was told in a letter by a senior San Francisco official that "The people of San Francisco do not, at present, welcome Hashimoto’s trip to the U.S.," that Hashimoto would be surrounded by protesters, and that his visit would damage the image of Osaka. Along with Mayor Edwin Lee of San Francisco, Hashimoto had planned to meet Mayor Michael Bloomberg of New York, but after it became clear this would not happen Hashimoto formally canceled his trip on 28 May 2013.

Views on elections and political parties
In March 2012, Sadakazu Tanigaki, the then-leader of the main opposition Liberal Democratic Party said that "Saying, like Hashimoto does, that political parties are bad led to militarism in Japan in the 1930s. Adolf Hitler and Benito Mussolini also emerged in this kind of atmosphere." In April 2012, Yomiuri Group Chairman Tsuneo Watanabe wrote that Hashimoto's declaration that elections are a form of wiping the slate clean reminded him of the tactics Hitler used to come to power.

Asahi Shimbun
There is a history of conflict between Hashimoto and the Asahi Shimbun, one of the largest newspapers in Japan. After the paper criticized a statement he had made regarding a court case in an editorial in 2008, Hashimoto responded saying: "We'd be better off without the Asahi Shimbun. It's just a foolish talk-shop institution. I hope it goes out of business soon."

On 16 October 2012, Shukan Asahi, a weekly magazine published by a subsidiary of the Asahi Shimbun, described Hashimoto's father as a descendant of burakumin, claimed that he had been affiliated with yakuza gangs, and also claimed that his death, which occurred when Hashimoto was in elementary school, was a suicide. The article also compared Hashimoto to Adolf Hitler and hinted that Hashimoto's policies were influenced by his father's background. Subsequently, Hashimoto refused to speak to journalists from Shukan Asahi and the Asahi Shimbun. On 18 October, the Asahi group apologized, stating that the magazine article contained "inappropriate descriptions". A third-party Press and Human Rights Committee set up by the Asahi Shimbun Company concluded that '"a story on Osaka Mayor Toru Hashimoto in Shukan Asahi Weekly Magazine has reinforced discrimination" and "The story, including its headline, is based on the wrong idea of denying Hashimoto’s integrity as a human being on the basis of his origin. It has lost sight of independent human dignity." The President of Asahi Shimbun Publications, Hideo Kotoku, resigned, and the company demoted the editor in chief of Shukan Asahi and a deputy editor in charge of the series, and suspended them from work for three months.

Infrastructure
Hashimoto favored closing Itami Airport and making Kansai International Airport the sole air hub for the region. He proposed turning the Itami site into an "International Campus Freedom City" for foreign students and academics. Hashimoto also favored selling Osaka Prefecture's 49 percent stake in Osaka Prefectural Urban Development, the operator of the Semboku Rapid Railway, and his party reached a deal to sell this stake to Lone Star Funds in 2013, but four of Hashimoto's party members in the prefectural assembly rebelled over approving the sale, leading to the defeat of the measure.

References

External links
 City Mayor profile
 Hashimoto law office
 Official site as a lawyer
 Hashimoto's blog

1969 births
Burakumin
Living people
People from Shibuya
Waseda University alumni
Mayors of Osaka
Governors of Osaka
Conservatism in Japan
20th-century Japanese lawyers
Japanese anti-communists
Japanese nationalists
Japanese television personalities
Politicians from Tokyo
People from Osaka
Japan Restoration Party politicians
Japan Innovation Party politicians
21st-century Japanese politicians
Osaka Restoration Association politicians
Right-wing populism in Japan
Nippon Ishin no Kai politicians
Politicians from Osaka Prefecture
Historical negationism
21st-century Japanese lawyers
Historical revisionism of comfort women


South Carolina Highway 363 (SC 363) is a  state highway in the U.S. state of South Carolina. The highway is designated on an east–west direction, from U.S. Route 321 (US 321) in Luray to SC 63 just outside Varnville.

Route description

History

Major intersections

See also

References

External links

SC 363 at Virginia Highways' South Carolina Highways Annex

363
Transportation in Hampton County, South Carolina


Darrall Macqueen is an independent children's television production company based in London, United Kingdom.  It was formed in 2000 by Billy Macqueen and Maddy Darrall.

History
Darrall Macqueen's first production was a converged TV/web event week for ITV in January 2000 called Mouse. In 2002 Darrall Macqueen produced Smile, which ran from 2002 until 2007. Then they produced CBBC's interactive drama series UGetMe.

In 2004, Darrall Macqueen created a live-action comedy called The Crust, a 15-part urban sitcom.

In 2004, Darrall Macqueen made a series of 13 high octane game shows for CITV called Play the Game, and, in 2005, Darrall Macqueen was asked to produce CiTV's thrill seeking action series Feel the Fear, starring Steve Wilson and Holly Willoughby.  In 2006 they produced 30 comedy animal tales for CiTV called Animal Spies, which featured the voice talent of Lenny Henry and Ricky Tomlinson.

In September 2005 Australian company Southern Star took a majority shareholding in Darrall Macqueen.  Southern Star, who already owned Carnival Films and Oxford Scientific Films in the UK, were then bought by Southern Cross, who in turn were purchased by Fairfax Media.  When Endemol took over Fairfax Media in 2009 Darrall Macqueen took back full control of the company.

At the 2006 Children's BAFTAs, Darrall Macqueen won the inaugural BAFTA for Production Company of the Year.

In 2007, Darrall Macqueen created Bear Behaving Badly for CBBC, a 26-part slapstick sitcom for 7–11 year olds. From 2008 to 2010, Darrall Macqueen created and produced weekend pre-school brand The Fluffy Club for ITV and GMTV.

In 2009, Darrall Macqueen developed a comedy animation series called Pet Squad with Irish comedian/writer Caimh McDonnell. In 2011, it won its first commission from CBeebies to make a pre-school series called Baby Jake.

In 2015, Darrall Macqueen with WildBrain (known as DHX Media at the time) and CBeebies rebooted classic British children's television series Teletubbies.

Awards

 2005: Children's BAFTA to Smile for Best Interactive Programme
 2005: The Indie Award to Smile for Best Interactive Media
 2006: Children's BAFTA for Production Company of the Year
 2007: Children's BAFTA to Barney Harwood for Best Presenter
 2013: Broadcast Award to "Baby Jake" for Best Pre School Programme
 2016: Children's BAFTA to "Topsy and Tim" for Best Pre School Live Action
 2017: Broadcast Award to "Topsy and Tim" for Best Pre School Programme
 2022: Children's BAFTA to "Lovely Little Farm" for Best Pre School Live Action

Productions

 Smile
 UGetMe
 The Crust
 Feel the Fear
 Bear Behaving Badly
 Hi-5 UK
 The Fluffy Club
 Baby Jake
 Topsy and Tim
 Teletubbies (2015)
 Chip and Potato
 Waffle the Wonder Dog
 Lovely Little Farm

References

External links
 http://www.darrallmacqueen.com

Television production companies of the United Kingdom


Sotirios Moutsanas (born 2 January 1958) is a retired Greek middle distance runner who specialized in the 800 metres.

He won the bronze medal at the 1979 Mediterranean Games and the silver medal at the 1981 Summer Universiade. He also competed at the 1983 World Championships and the 1984 Olympic Games without reaching the final.

His personal best time was 1:46.36 minutes, achieved during the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles. This ranks him second on the Greek all-time list, only behind Panagiotis Stroubakos.

References

1958 births
Living people
Greek male middle-distance runners
Athletes (track and field) at the 1984 Summer Olympics
Olympic athletes for Greece
Universiade medalists in athletics (track and field)
Mediterranean Games bronze medalists for Greece
Mediterranean Games medalists in athletics
Athletes (track and field) at the 1979 Mediterranean Games
Universiade silver medalists for Greece
Medalists at the 1981 Summer Universiade
20th-century Greek people


Capton is a village near Dartmouth in Devon, England.

On a hilltop to the east of the village is an Iron Age enclosure or hill fort approximately  above sea level.

References

Villages in Devon
Hill forts in Devon


Kingsley Castle, also known as Castle Cob, a medieval motte near Kingsley, Cheshire, England. () It is listed as a Scheduled Ancient Monument.  The motte is a cone shaped mound,  high; it has a diameter of  at the base and tapers to  at the top. It is artificial and made from black soil.

Historians used to think that the motte was a large barrow. The stone steps and concrete foundations of a summerhouse not contemporary with the castle are excluded from the protection of the scheduling. There have been limited excavations on the site by antiquarians.

See also

List of castles in Cheshire

References

Castles in Cheshire
Scheduled monuments in Cheshire


Prostitution in Pakistan is a taboo culture of sex-trade that exists as an open secret but illegal. Prostitution is largely based in organisational setups like brothels or furthered by individual call girls.

The sex trade is illegal in the country due to the declaration of extramarital sex as an immoral activity. Pakistani prostitutes, thus, operate underground and in spite of the legal difficulties, prostitution in Pakistan is prevalent. In some areas of the country prostitution is strictly illegal and traditionally punishable by death, especially in the Khyber-Pakhtunkhwa and Balochistan regions.

Most analysts recognize poverty as a crucial factor in driving women towards an occupation such as prostitution. Both female and male prostitution have grown in operational yield in Pakistan over the years. With this increase in professional sex-trade in the country, non-governmental organisations are beginning to worry about issues like discrimination and AIDS. A 2017 UNAIDS report estimates that there are around 229,441 prostitutes in the country. In Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and Punjab, the graduate unemployment rate is elevated, indicating an oversupply of graduates in the face of labor markets that struggle to accommodate new graduates.

History
The clan system in South Asia, involving various clans and sects, has always been a ground for segregated skill development. In the region, occupational clans evolved over time providing specific skills to the society through hereditary exclusion from others. Being a blacksmith, goldsmith, shoemaker, or gardener etc. thus became hereditary professions of specific communities. Over time, a professional clan which favoured the society with services of prostitution also evolved. Men and women belonging to the community committed themselves to the sex trade, where men stayed as supportive influences and women were the main workers. The non-elite had a parallel system, that of brothels, which evolved much later when they no longer were controlled by the kings and nobility was loosened. It coincided with the growth of sea-trade where sailors became good clientele for the low-ranking prostitutes. During the British Raj, the earlier nobility was replaced by a new nobility composed of those who showed loyalty for the British. This new nobility was incapable of taking the role of patrons like earlier kings, and so the British provided much need patronage for the profession to grow and regulated the trade.

Prostitution was formalised for the first time in the South Asia by the British government in the mid-18th century. The British colonialists enacted special laws, created "red light" areas and assigned the task of protecting women sex workers to law-enforcing agencies. Municipalities overlooking the sex districts were given the responsibility of collecting taxes and providing health and sanitation services to the brothels.

After the creation of Pakistan in 1947, Pakistan inherited the historical red-light districts in Lahore and Multan including the infamous Hira Mandi area. These were well-developed and attracted both wealthy clients and those looking for singers and actresses. The prostitutes and associates in the sex-trade were named Kanjars. while their musician companions were known as the community of Mirasis. The prostitutes would usually, and still do, dance to the music of harmonium and tabla played by the mirasis. Where Lahore and Multan were the known contenders in the trade, other cities also had their own red-light districts which may include Ghulam abad and Aminpur bazar in Faisalabad Napier Road in Karachi and Qasai Gali in Rawalpindi. The prostitutes retained the hereditary character of their occupation and the social stigma.

During the rule of Muhammad Zia-ul-Haq, who tried to Islamise the nation, prostitution was viewed as an "evil" in society, and attempts were made to eradicate prostitution. Attempts were also made to curb music and dancing. The hours for performance of the dancing girls were reduced to two hours every evening. Police checkpoints were established in all entrances of red-light districts during the hours of rehearsing or practising music where the names of the visitors in red-light areas were recorded in police register, frightening the clients away.

Female prostitution
Women involved in the practice of prostitution in Pakistan can be divided into three broad categories: women who have been trafficked or lured into the profession, women who have been born into the profession and women who willingly seek out a pimp to make extra money. Trafficked women are mainly found in the brothels, while those who willingly join this profession work as call girls, usually accompanied by a dalal or bharva or pimp. Those born into the profession are 'schooled' at home and operate under the management of their mother or another older female relative.

Prostitution, especially in brothels, often remains associated with human trafficking as trafficked women are sold into brothels. In 2003, approximately 20,000 minors were engaged in prostitution in Pakistan.

A recent study indicated that major cities like Karachi, Lahore, Faisalabad and Multan have large population of sex workers. A few cities have red-light districts, but due to illegal status of prostitution, many sex workers work in homes or hotels dispersed throughout urban areas and residential suburbs.

Cities like Karachi and Lahore are major base of operation for call-girls. In Karachi, many girls take on the occupation of call-girls independently; however most girls enter into prostitution after coming into contact with a pimp. The girls share 40%–50% of their income with the pimps. Some call girls work with the pimps under a fixed monthly amount, and the pimps provide police protection, shelter and bear daily expenses. Many call girls learn dance-forms like mujra to earn more money.

Affluent men in the nation may have a second or even a third wife, with whom they have had a semi-permanent sexual relationship in return for financial support, the husband acting as the wife's patron.They may not view the relationship in terms that of a client and a sex worker but as a loving relationship or as courtesan. The children born by these relationships are supported by their father.

Male prostitution
Male and gay prostitution is increasing in Pakistan, though gay prostitution is not a recent phenomenon in the country. British explorer Richard Francis Burton, who visited the Sindh region long before the British conquest, documented a brothel of boy prostitutes in Karachi. Today many areas of large cities in the country have become virtual red-light districts for gay sex. Male prostitutes operate their business in every city and major town in Pakistan. Clients of male prostitutes come from every class, age group and profession. Homosexual men belonging to the upper and middle classes frequently pick up male prostitutes from video game shops, restaurants and cold-drinks spots. Young male prostitutes generally find customers in places like dark alleys, crowded bus stops, shopping centres, cinemas, hotel lobbies, parks, railway stations, hospitals, school compounds, elevators of public buildings etc. Sabzi Mandi, Lea Market, Landhi, Malir, and Lyari in Karachi are places visited by homosexuals from lower income groups. Clients in these areas primarily consist of bus drivers and conductors, night watchmen, labourers from upcountry, policemen, low-income government officials, small-time businesspersons etc.

Many male prostitutes offer services at hotel rooms booked for the purpose instead of the client's residence. This is because while accompanying a client to his residence prostitutes become vulnerable to assault or robbery. Some prostitutes have sex with clients in the back seat of the client's car. There are many part-time prostitutes who are students, salespersons, workers in hotels and garages. They become involved in the profession to earn extra money, and often to get a job in the film industry. Some involved in prostitution often manage to save enough money to go abroad in search of a job. Many boys are frequently used by the police without getting paid. Plainclothes police officers are often involved in the extortion and blackmail of male prostitutes.

Male prostitution has become common place in the Pakistani province of Khyber Pakhtunkhwa and has taken roots in the society as a norm and sign of financial muscle. Bacha bazi as it is known, where children especially young boys are dressed as women and forced to sing and dance in front of men, who later take them for sexual pleasure and pay the family.

Foreign prostitutes in Pakistan
Many Filipino, Thai and Chinese women work in prostitution. They work in massage parlors.  Many Filipino are employed as sex workers at various dens operating in Lahore and Islamabad.

Law
Prostitution has no legal recognition in Pakistan. Moreover, despite growth of male prostitution and gay prostitution, homosexuality is outlawed in the nation. Under Section 377 of the Pakistan Penal Code, whoever voluntarily has "carnal intercourse against the order of nature with any man, woman or animal" shall be punished by 100 lashes and from 2 years to life imprisonment. While arrests are not common for homosexuality, the law is used as a tool to blackmail. Police frequently take money or sex from people they know to be involved in commercial or non-commercial homosexual relationship. Pakistani law is greatly influenced by the Penal Code drawn up by the British in 1892. This remains a major element of the current Pakistani law.

Section 371A and section 371B of the Pakistan Penal Code states:

Sexual relations between two consenting adults was not a crime in Pakistan before 1979. Only the involvement of minors in prostitution was prohibited by law. Later the Zina Ordinance was enacted and extramarital sex became a criminal offence.

In the 1950s, "dancing-girls" were legitimized as "artists" in a High Court order. Thus they were permitted to perform for three hours in the evening. This is the only legal cover they have obtained till date. Other carnal activities, red-light districts and brothels remain illegal business and operate as an open secret let be by offering huge sums in bribe to the police. Many areas in Pakistan like Heera Mandi in Lahore and 12 No Chungi in Sargodha are govt licensed areas and police protect them due to some political reasons.

Sex trafficking

According to the United States Department of State, Pakistan is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Children are bought, sold, rented, or kidnapped and placed in organized sex trafficking. NGOs report boys are subjected to sex trafficking around hotels, truck stops, bus stations, and shrines. Illegal labor agents charge high recruitment fees to parents in return for employing their children, some of whom are subjected to sex trafficking. Trafficking experts describe a structured system for exploiting women, girls, and LGBTI individuals in sex trafficking, including offering victims for sale in physical markets. Observers report police accept bribes to ignore prostitution in general, some of which may include sex trafficking. Women and girls are sold into forced marriages; in some cases, their new “husbands” force them into prostitution in Iran or Afghanistan. False job offers and high recruitment fees charged by illegal labor agents or sub-agents of licensed Pakistani overseas employment promoters entrap Pakistanis into sex trafficking. Women and girls from Afghanistan, China, Russia, Nepal, Iran, Bangladesh, Uzbekistan, and Azerbaijan are reportedly subjected to sex trafficking in Pakistan. Refugees from Afghanistan, Bangladesh, and Burma, including Rohingya, as well as religious and ethnic minorities such as Christians and Hazaras, are particularly vulnerable to trafficking in Pakistan.

The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Pakistan as a 'Tier 2' country.

See also

 Dance bar
 Mujra
 Nautch
 Tawaif
 Prostitution in colonial India
 Pornography in Pakistan

References and notes

Further reading

 Akram M. (2011). "Prostitution; A Need or A Want?", NCHD – Pakistan.

 Emmanuel F, Thompson LH, Athar U, Salim M, Sonia A, Akhtar N, Blanchard JF. The organisation, operational dynamics and structure of female sex work in Pakistan. Sex Transm Infect. 2013 Sep;89 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii29-33. . Epub 2013 Jun 14. ;
 Khan MS, Unemo M, Zaman S, Lundborg CS. HIV, STI prevalence and risk behaviours among women selling sex in Lahore, Pakistan. BMC Infect Dis. 2011 May 11;11:119. . ;

 Mishra S, Thompson LH, Sonia A, Khalid N, Emmanuel F, Blanchard JF. Sexual behaviour, structural vulnerabilities and HIV prevalence among female sex workers in Pakistan. Sex Transm Infect. 2013 Sep;89 Suppl 2(Suppl 2):ii34-42. . Epub 2013 Feb 14. ;

 Noor MN, Holt M, Qureshi A, de Wit J, Bryant J. Sexual risk-taking among homeless young people in Pakistan. Health Soc Care Community. 2021 Sep;29(5):1550-1558. . Epub 2020 Nov 10.

 Singh S, Ambrosio M, Semini I, Tawil O, Saleem M, Imran M, Beyrer C. Revitalizing the HIV response in Pakistan: a systematic review and policy implications. Int J Drug Policy. 2014 Jan;25(1):26-33. . Epub 2013 Jun 28.
 Ul Haq N, Riaz S, Nasim A, Tahir M. The transgender prostitution: Threat to the rise of AIDS in Pakistan. J Infect Public Health. 2018 May-Jun;11(3):448. . Epub 2017 Aug 7.

External links
The Punjab Suppression of Prostitution Ordinance, 1961

Crime in Pakistan by type


Deutsche Luft-Reederei (D.L.R.), was a German airline established in December 1917 which started operating in 1919.

History

The name means "German (Deutsche) Air (Luft) Shipping Company (Reederei)". D.L.R. was reorganized as Aero Lloyd AG in 1923. In 1926 the German government forced the airline to merge with Junkers Luftverkehr to form Deutsche Luft Hansa, the flag carrier of the Weimar Republic. The airline's logo was a stylised crane, designed by Professor Otto Firle. This was adopted by Deutsche Luft Hansa in 1926, and again by Lufthansa in 1953.

The AEG company, a large producer of electrical equipment, started building airplanes for the military during World War I. To create continued demand for this new product after the end of the war, the company started a commercial airline, the D.L.R. Walther Rathenau, chairman of the board of AEG, was the driving force behind the airline. In spite of receiving government subsidies the airline was not profitable, so in 1923 AEG reorganized the D.L.R. and transferred its assets and operations to a new airline: Deutscher Aero-Lloyd. This was a joint venture of AEG, the HAPAG, Luftschiffbau Zeppelin, the Deutsche Bank and Dornier Metallbauten.

D.L.R. was the first German airline to use heavier than air aircraft. DELAG was the first German airline and the first airline in the world, but operated lighter than air airships made by the Zeppelin company. Like many other early European airlines, the D.L.R. operated former World War I military machines, e.g. the AEG J.II, LVG C.VI. At first all passengers rode in open cockpits, then some airplanes were modified to seat two or three passengers in an enclosed cabin.

The first D.L.R. flight was on February 5, 1919, carrying mail and newspapers from Berlin to Weimar. The airline began carrying passengers in the following month. More destinations were added, e.g. Hamburg, Hannover. In its first year, 1919, the airline operated regularly scheduled flights on routes with a combined length of 1580 km (nearly 1000 miles). By 1921 the route network was more than 3000 km (1865 miles) long, and included destinations in the Netherlands, Scandinavia and the Baltic Republics.

In 1919, D.L.R. was one of the founding members of International Air Traffic Association, the predecessor to today's IATA.

In 1920 the D.L.R. carried 2665 passengers, in 1921 8341. From 1919 to 1921 there were no serious accidents and no fatalities, only some minor injuries. Since instrument flight had not been developed yet, flying was only possible in good weather. Out of all flights scheduled in 1919 92% were actually flown. In 1921 this rate increased to 96%. However the airline did not operate in the winter months.

Notes

References

Defunct airlines of Germany
Airlines established in 1917
Airlines disestablished in 1923
1917 establishments in Germany
Companies based in Berlin
Walther Rathenau


The 3rd New Brunswick Legislative Assembly represented New Brunswick between February 9, 1796, and 1802.

The assembly sat at the pleasure of the Governor of New Brunswick Thomas Carleton. Construction of a building to house the assembly at Fredericton, Province Hall, began in 1799 and was completed in 1802.

Amos Botsford was chosen as speaker for the house.

History

Members

Notes

References
Journal of the votes and proceedings of the House of Assembly of ... New-Brunswick from ... February to ... March, 1796 (1796)

03
1796 in Canada
1797 in Canada
1798 in Canada
1799 in Canada
1800 in Canada
1801 in Canada
1802 in Canada
1795 establishments in New Brunswick
1802 disestablishments in New Brunswick


St Mary's Church is in the village of Pulford, Cheshire, England. The church is recorded in the National Heritage List for England as a designated Grade II* listed building. It is an active Anglican parish church in the diocese of Chester, the archdeaconry of Chester and the deanery of Chester. Its benefice is combined with that of St Mary, Eccleston.

History

The present church was built on the site of an earlier church between 1881 and 1884. The architect was John Douglas and its expense was met partly by the 1st Duke of Westminster. In the 1990s the spire was destroyed by fire and has been rebuilt.

Architecture

Exterior

The church is built in red sandstone with bands of lighter stone. The roofs have red tiles and the spire is shingled. The plan of the church is cruciform and consists of a nave without aisles, a chancel with transepts to the north and south, and a north porch. The south transept forms an organ chamber and vestry. The tower is large and buttressed with a spire and octagonal corner spirelets. The church is designed in Decorated style.

Interior
The monochrome reredos is by Shrigley and Hunt. Two of the stained glass windows are by Heaton, Butler and Bayne, and one is by Kempe. On the south wall is a memorial board by the Randle Holme family of Chester to the memory of members of the Burgayney family who died between 1670 and 1693. It had been mislaid during the rebuilding of the church in the 1880s and was rediscovered at an auction some 70 years later by a canon from Chester Cathedral. There is a ring of eight bells, all of which were cast by John Taylor and Company, six of them in 1882 and the other two in 1903.

External features

In the churchyard is a sundial dated 1702. Also in the churchyard, to the west of the church, is a war grave of a Royal Welsh Fusiliers soldier of World War I. To the south of the church are the earthworks of Pulford Castle.

See also

Grade II* listed buildings in Cheshire West and Chester
Listed buildings in Pulford
List of new churches by John Douglas

References

Further reading

Church of England church buildings in Cheshire
Grade II* listed churches in Cheshire
Gothic Revival church buildings in England
Gothic Revival architecture in Cheshire
John Douglas buildings
Diocese of Chester
Churches completed in 1884
19th-century Church of England church buildings
Cheshire West and Chester


The Martha Gellhorn Prize for Journalism, named for the war correspondent, Martha Gellhorn, was established in 1999 by the Martha Gellhorn Trust.  The Trust is a UK-registered charity. The award is founded on the following principles:

The award will be for the kind of reporting that distinguished Martha: in her own words "the view from the ground". This is essentially a human story that penetrates the established version of events and illuminates an urgent issue buried by prevailing fashions of what makes news. We would expect the winner to tell an unpalatable truth, validated by powerful facts, that exposes establishment conduct and its propaganda, or "official drivel", as Martha called it. The subjects can be based in this country or abroad.

The prize is awarded annually to journalists writing in English whose work has appeared in print or in a reputable internet publication.

Alexander Matthews was the chair of the Martha Gellhorn Trust Prize Committee in 2011. According to its website, the prize committee includes James Fox, Jeremy Harding, Cynthia Kee, Sandy Matthews, Shirlee Matthews and John Pilger.

Previous winners
1999: Nick Davies (The Guardian)
2000: Jeremy Harding (London Review of Books)
2001: Geoffrey Lean (The Independent)
2002: Robert Fisk (The Independent)
2003: Chris McGreal (The Guardian)
2004: Patrick Cockburn (The Independent)
2005: Ghaith Abdul-Ahad (The Guardian); Jonathan Steele (The Guardian) received a special award for his distinguished career as a reporter.
2006: Hala Jaber (The Sunday Times) and Michael Tierney (The Glasgow Herald)
2007:
2008: Dahr Jamail (unembedded, Inter Press Service, IPS) and Mohammed Omer (unembedded, Inter Press Service, IPS)
2009: Ian Cobain (The Guardian) for the prize, and Marie Colvin (Sunday Times) for the "Martha Gellhorn Special Award for Journalism"
2010: Johann Hari (The Independent)
2011: Julian Assange (WikiLeaks) for the prize, and Umar Cheema, Charles Clover, and Jonathan Cook for the "Martha Gellhorn Special Award for Journalism"
2012: Gareth Porter (Inter Press Service, IPS)
2013: Chris Woods, Alice Ross and Jack Serle (The Bureau of Investigative Journalism)
2014: Iona Craig (Freelance: Al Jazeera America, The Times)
2015: not awarded
2016: not awarded
2017: Robert Parry (Freelance: Consortium News)

References

External links

British journalism awards
Awards established in 1999
1999 establishments in the United Kingdom


Joël Armel Tchami Ngalaha (born 25 March 1982) is a Cameroonian former professional footballer who played as a striker.

Career
Tchami was born in Bafang. He previously played for Stade Lavallois in France's Ligue 2.

In January he joined Danish Superliga club AC Horsens from Israeli side Hapoel Kfar Saba after trialling with the club. He signed a one-and-a-half-year contract.

Personal life
Tchami is from a family of footballers. One of his older brothers is Alphonse Tchami, former Cameroon international, another is Bertrand, a former Grenoble Foot 38 and Stade de Reims player, and Joël's younger brother, Hervé Tchami, is also a footballer.

References

External links

1982 births
Living people
Cameroonian men's footballers
Men's association football forwards
Bundesliga players
Ligue 2 players
Danish Superliga players
V.League 1 players
Slovak First Football League players
Nemzeti Bajnokság I players
Hertha BSC players
Hertha BSC II players
Stade Lavallois players
Hapoel Kfar Saba F.C. players
AC Horsens players
Pegah F.C. players
Al Ansar FC players
FC UTA Arad players
Al-Salmiya SC players
Hà Nội FC (1956) players
FC DAC 1904 Dunajská Streda players
Egri FC players
Cameroonian expatriate men's footballers
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Germany
Expatriate men's footballers in Germany
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in France
Expatriate men's footballers in France
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Israel
Expatriate men's footballers in Israel
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Denmark
Expatriate men's footballers in Denmark
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Iran
Expatriate men's footballers in Iran
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Lebanon
Expatriate men's footballers in Lebanon
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Romania
Expatriate men's footballers in Romania
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Kuwait
Expatriate men's footballers in Kuwait
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Vietnam
Expatriate men's footballers in Vietnam
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Slovakia
Expatriate men's footballers in Slovakia
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Hungary
Expatriate men's footballers in Hungary
Cameroonian expatriate sportspeople in Malaysia
Expatriate men's footballers in Malaysia


Prostitution in Poland is legal, but operating brothels or other forms of pimping or coercive prostitution and prostitution of minors are prohibited.

History

Early period
The travelling prostitute is recorded in the tenth century. Dozens of brothels thrived on the outskirts of central Warsaw since its establishment as the national capital in the sixteenth century, as in other large Polish cities and towns. These cities established municipal brothels and taxed both prostitutes and brothel keepers. The first recorded brothel (Dom publiczny - literally public house) in Poland is considered to be in Bochnia in the 15th century, which catered to merchants who came to buy salt from the mines there.

A Hungarian explorer to Poland in the early seventeenth century, Márton Szepsi Csombor, wrote that when he passed through Lipnica Murowana they were "surrounded by a swarm of unclean maidens to flatter and compliment us and play and sing". In Bochnia the city authorities from time to time passed ordinances against "harlots and loose people". In 1610 the mayor and town councillors appointed fines, and an ordinance from 1743 called for severe punishment for adultery. The trade guilds demanded a proper "moral" life of its members, one of the articles of the butcher's guild set a payment of 12 cents into a box for "debauchery or starting a conversation with a married woman".

From the fifteenth century, police inspected brothels and removed women thought to be infected. The sixteenth-century saw the establishment of venereal disease hospitals such as St. Sebastian's in Krakow in 1528 and St. Lazarus, in Warsaw.

Nineteenth century (Polish Partition)
During the period of Polish Partition (1795–1918) prostitution flourished openly, whereas previously (Polish-Lithuanian Commonwealth) (1648–1795) it had been confined to brothels and back streets near army garrisons. The official position of the occupying Russian authorities was that prostitution was a "necessary evil" (zło konieczne), and reflected the administration of prostitution in Russia. The administration was the responsibility of the police under the Ministry of the Interior. Local committees made of police and physicians administered the regulations.

Polish garrisons had their own brothels, and as Europe progressively adopted the Napoleonic system of regulation, state-regulated prostitution became established in 1802 (in Prussian and Russian Poland) and in 1859 in Austrian Galicia. In 1843 the Russian governor introduced a tax on brothels and prostitution, and 30 years later created the committees to oversee regulation. The regulations required all women in commercial sex to register and undergo regular gynecological examinations which were recorded in 'passports'. Despite this, there existed an illegal sector of women who chose not to become part of the public register.

As police regulated zoning of brothels away from the public eye, professional prostitutes moved toward working as independents. The regulations were very detailed. The police allowed a premise to open if it was situated at least 315 metres from a church or school, while advertising was prohibited. Other regulations included forbidding a premise to operate under the guise of another institution, such as cafes and billiard room. Portraits of the Royal Family or other state symbols were forbidden, as was hanging out of windows incompletely dressed. Fees varied with the class of institution and proprietors kept three-quarters of the proceeds, for overheads. There was no charge for the treatment of syphilis. The public could inspect the medical records before selecting a worker – but she could refuse a client if he was drunk. Although there were penalties for overworking the women, they were obliged to service 10–12 clients a day. Similar regulations were in effect in the Prussian-occupied territories. The Austro-Hungarian Empire was less centrally controlled than that of Russia and Prussia. On the other hand, women could be transported anywhere in the empire. Under Empress Maria Theresa and the Constitutio criminalis Theresiana, things were less tolerant, and amongst other things the Morals Police were introduced, although ultimately all these measures proved futile.

In parallel, police closed many of the larger brothels due to public pressure. Police had the powers to forcibly register women they suspected, which could simply be women having relationships outside of marriage.

A number of factors contributed to the growth of the sex trade in nineteenth-century Poland, including increasing urbanization, with growing cities and a population shift from the land to the towns and cities. The increasing feminization of poverty was also a contributing factor. So prevalent was paid sex amongst domestic servants, that a 1913 regulation required them to register for medical exams as well. A second class was waitresses, and after 1906, they too were registered.

As the supply increased, so did the demand. 40% of Warsaw university students stated that their first sexual encounter was commercial, and estimates at the time suggested that over 80% of high school and university students bought sex. As throughout history, the military was a major source of demand, and because of concerns about venereal disease, authorities instituted regulations similar to those in the British Empire (Contagious Diseases Acts), requiring any young woman on her own to submit to examination.

A great deal of attention began to be paid to prostitution during this period. This increased attention needs to be interpreted in the light of nineteenth-century European attitudes to prostitution, where it was becoming the subject of almost daily discourse. The second wave of moral panic also swept Poland during the Second Republic (1918–1939). However what was often neglected was that Polish sex workers comprised a potentially upwardly mobile, economically ambitious lower class, that contributed significantly to Polish social and economic life.

Household servants, nursemaids, and wet nurses were among those known to rely on commercial sex to supplement their low wages, while middle-class husbands and their adolescent sons became regular clientele. Unsavoury images of prostitution, such as Jack the Ripper "Kuba rozpruwacz" were imported from abroad.

Physicians sounded the alarm about a rise in syphilis rates, while the Roman Catholic Church, middle-class charities, and Jewish aid agencies set up societies to rescue "fallen women" from the wages of sin. Chastity or "purity" societies, and women's groups organized meetings and conferences. Feminists composed moral treatises and established international organizations to combat the trafficking of women. "White slavery" attracted much media attention as in other countries. However, the bulk of the concern related to the open display of solicitation in public places. Public discourse emphasized not only this deviant behaviour but also the victim role, trapped and in the hands of pimps and traffickers. These stories were mingled with antisemitism, as the perpetrators (like infamous Zvi Migdal) were frequently depicted as Jewish. These scenes also appeared in the literature of the day, such as Bronislaw Szczygielski's A Woman - A Body: The Odyssey of a Fallen Woman (Kobieta-Cialo: Odyseja kobiety upadlej, Warsaw, 1914).

During the First World War, the establishment of brothels on the Russian Front was considered a major strategic initiative, despite protests from Empress Zyta. Naturally separate institutions were required for officers, non-commissioned officers, and privates.

Second Republic (1918–1939)
The new Polish authorities were faced with a large number of problems arising from the recently ceased hostilities. One of the first acts of the newly reconstituted nation was the Basic Sanitation Law of July 1919 (Zasadnicza ustawa sanitarna). Under this law, brothels were suppressed on 6 September 1922, while setting up a system of supervision of independent workers. A maximum of two workers were allowed in any house.

The State brought many cases of prosecution against organized prostitution and pimps during this period.

Postwar period (People's Republic 1945-1989)
In the aftermath of Second World War, Poland became a communist state, known as the People's Republic of Poland. Prostitution did not exist officially, as it was a maxim of Marxism, that prostitution would disappear in a socialist society with equality of means.
 Nonetheless, it was widespread. People who extorted sex workers were occasionally prosecuted.

The main centres were hotels and restaurants and the main client's foreigners. As such prostitution formed an important source of hard currency. Despite this, the Republic's special services were actually running hotel rings. In this way, they could obtain information about foreigners, compromise and extort people.

1945-1948
In the initial years (1945 - 1948) there was a registration scheme, and special sections were set up to deal with "enemies of morality" (wrogami moralności), but this was abolished when other priorities engaged the State. 1948-1952 saw forced labour camps. Despite continued efforts to eradicate prostitution, many elements of centrally-planned socialism actually contributed to it, such as the 'Great Socialist Construction' (wielkie budowy socjalizmu) which saw the migration of large numbers of men. A memo from the Secretariat of the Party Central Committee (including Bolesław Bierut who was then Secretary-General), dated 23 November 1955, states that in 1949 there were 4,000 sex workers in Poland, in 1954 1,700 and that 6,000 had been arrested. It also refers to the difficulties in the struggle to abolish the practice. It refers to the prewar period when "prostitution not only was not a crime but on the contrary - officially recognized and protected by the state". Data from the Ministry of the Interior, dated 9 February 1957 refer to 1,500 workers in the six major cities.

1960-1983
The period from the 1960s saw a slight ideological "thaw" that culminated in the fall of the iron curtain (Żelazna kurtyna) in 1989. Changes in Polish society included increasing tourism and trade with the West, acceptability of foreign currency and expanding hotel business, all factors conducive to the growth of the sex trade. Although liable to a large error margin, estimates of the numbers of sex workers were 7,267 in 1962, and 9,847 in 1969. Sometimes referred to as "Servants of Venus" (Służebnice Wenery), sex workers started to become one of the higher income earning groups. Venues included market towns, port cities, hotels and environs and around railway stations. Well known areas for the less wealthy included the East Side and cafes along Aleje Jerozolimskie as well as the famous Pigalak area in Warsaw.

This period was notable for a criminal case involving the porters at the Hotel Europejski who were living off the trade they supplied. However, these prosecutions were the exception in a trade largely opaque to the authorities and an important part of the economy. A single client could net a sex worker the equivalent of an average monthly wage, and some could make the same as corporate executives. Both workers and clients benefited - for instance, a US10 fee for a "short service" was very affordable for foreign visitors, and only 20% of prices in West Germany.

Martial Law (1981–1983) and the liberalisation of the 80s
The martial law (Stan wojenny) period was a difficult time for sex workers but quickly gave way to a more liberal period. However the AIDS epidemic also reduced the demand for paid sex. This was partly offset by the reduction in censorship, allowing newspaper advertising, for instance in Kurier Polski. This period also saw the arrival of escort businesses.

Research
Because of ideological reasons, there was very little research done during this time, other in forensic literature,

at least until the 90s. Examples include Pawlik's study of Cracow prostitutes (1991)

or that of Jasińska in the Tricity area (Trójmiasto) in 1991.

Post-liberation (1989)
The collapse of the Soviet regime and the fall of the iron curtain, many aspects of Polish life changed considerably. Escort agencies, erotic massage salons, porn movie
theatres and sex shops appeared very soon. Escort agencies are registered businesses, and circumvent laws. (Plywaczewski 2007)

Current status
Prostitution is legal, but operating brothels or other forms of pimping or coercive prostitution and prostitution of minors are prohibited, as is living off someone else's prostitution.

Prostitution is present in various forms in the country and a 2007 US State Department report stated that many women who worked as prostitutes were employed in massage parlors and escort services that functioned as brothels, although technically illegal.
Prostitution is the only profession in Poland that is not taxed, but prostitutes may be asked by authorities to prove that is what they do, since prostitution is not recognized as legitimate work, and therefore receive no social benefits.

Various attempts have been made to limit overt street prostitution.

Health

Demographics
The total number of prostitutes in Poland is not known, estimates vary widely and should be interpreted with caution. For instance, the US 2009 Human Rights Report states that: "according to police there were an estimated 3,300 prostitutes in the country; however, NGOs estimated that there were 18,000 to 20,000 women involved in all aspects of the sex industry." The International Encyclopedia of Sexuality writes that "the police estimate that there are about 12,000 prostitutes working in Poland."

Migration

The 2009 TAMPEP study found only 33% of prostitutes are migrant workers in Poland, compared to a European average of 47-50%, with only a slight increase since 2006. Poland ranks 8th amongst countries of origin, constituting 4% of the migrant sex worker population in Europe, a percentage that has been declining. Migratory trends in Poland are changing. Poland has become a transit country for sex workers from Romania and Bulgaria, while the biggest group of sex workers in Poland is from  Ukraine. The number and proportion of migrant sex workers vary by region. Poland is still primarily a country of origin.

There are women from countries such as Ukraine and Belarus, who sell sex in Poland, but their numbers are uncertain. CATW cites the Polish Deputy Interior Minister in stating a figure of at least 3,500 Bulgarian women working in prostitution in Poland and another 1,000 or more from Ukraine and Belarus.

A 2009 TAMPEP report states that 66% of prostitutes in Poland are nationals and the rest are migrants, of which 91% come from Eastern Europe, mainly Ukraine, Russia and Belarus. The same study also states that Poland distinguishes itself among the countries studied in that report by its high prevalence of male prostitution, with 15% of prostitutes being said to be male, more than double the European average of 7% (the study states that "Austria, Finland, Denmark, Estonia and Lithuania report almost exclusively female sex workers, while Poland reports that 15% of its sex worker population is male").

Underage sex work
A 2009 news report suggested that this is increasing according to Poland's Children Ombudsman's Office.

Sex trafficking

Poland is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children subjected to sex trafficking. Women and children from Poland are subjected to sex trafficking within the country and also in other European countries. Women and children from Eastern Europe, particularly Bulgaria, Romania, and Ukraine, are subjected to sex trafficking in Poland.

According to CATW, an anti-trafficking activist group, human trafficking is a problem in Poland, citing the Polish Deputy Interior Minister. They state that Poland is a destination country for women trafficked from Bulgaria and a transit country for women from Ukraine, Lithuania and Belarus.

The US Trafficking in Persons Report 2010 states that "during the reporting period, the government identified at least 206 victims of trafficking – including 123 children in prostitution – compared with 315 victims identified by NGOs and government authorities in 2008". In 2016,  The National Intervention-Consultation Center for Victims of Trafficking (KCIK) provided assistance to 55 potential victims of sexual exploitation.

The United States Department of State Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons ranks Poland as a 'Tier 1' country.

Sources
 Mariusz Jędrzejko: Prostytucja jako problem społeczny, moralny i zdrowotny. Pułtusk-Warszawa: Akademia Humanistyczna im. Aleksandra Gieysztora, Oficyna wydawnicza ASPRA-JR, 2006, ss. 38–40. (Prostitution as a social, moral, and health problem).
 Emil W. Pływaczewski. The Phenomenon of Prostitution in Poland: Around the Problem of Legalization. In: Przemysław Piotrowski ed., Understanding problems of social pathology. 49-60 Rodopi, Amsterdam 2006.
 Emil Pływaczewski. The Phenomenon of Prostitution in Poland (Around the Problem of Legalization) Australian and New Zealand Society of Criminology conference Sept 2007 p 93
 Violetta Będkowska-Heine and Marek Heine. Some Conditions and Effects of Prostitution.

References


Thomas Granville Brown (February 2, 1885 – November 4, 1950) was an American sport shooter who competed in the 1920 Summer Olympics.

In 1920, he won the silver medal as a member of the American squad in the team 300 metre military rifle, standing competition and the bronze medal in the team running deer, single shots event. In the 1920 Summer Olympics he also participated in the following events:

 Team running deer, double shots - fourth place
 running deer, double shots - place unknown
 running deer, single shots - place unknown

He was born in Halleck, West Virginia and died in Rawlins, Wyoming.

References

External links
Thomas Brown at databaseOlympics.com

1885 births
1950 deaths
American male sport shooters
ISSF rifle shooters
Running target shooters
Shooters at the 1920 Summer Olympics
Olympic silver medalists for the United States in shooting
Olympic bronze medalists for the United States in shooting
Medalists at the 1920 Summer Olympics
20th-century American sportsmen


The Lebanese Peace Party ( Hizb Al-Salam Al-Lubnany) is a centrist Lebanese political party, which was founded on 12 July 2006 by Mr. Roger Edde, a businessman from the city of Byblos in Mount Lebanon, alongside other wealthy businessmen and intellects. Edde serves as the leader of the party.

It promotes itself as a secular centrist force with emphasis on issues related to privatization, decentralization and socio-economic priorities.

The Lebanese Peace party's main headquarters is located in Byblos and enjoys reasonable support in that region.

The party is currently allied to the Lebanese Forces and Kataeb Party and is part of the March 14 Alliance.

It has no members in the Lebanese Parliament.

Yorgo Byeklo is the composer (lyrics & music) of the party anthem.

References

External links

 Lebanese Peace Party Official website
Twitter page

Political parties in Lebanon
March 14 Alliance