Maryanne Kenworthy | |
---|---|
Born | 25 May 1956 |
Nationality | New Zealand |
Occupation | Madam |
Known for | Langtrees founder |
Children | 4 |
Mary-Anne Kenworthy (born 25 May 1956, in Rotorua, New Zealand) is a Western Australian brothel owner and businesswoman. Kenworthy is an advocate for the legalisation of prostitution and improving the rights of sex workers. [1]
Kenworthy's business projects include media interests such as TV and Internet. Until 2022 she owned Langtrees 181 Kalgoorlie. She owns Langtrees VIP Perth and Langtrees VIP Canberra.
Born in New Zealand, Kenworthy entered the sex industry there in 1981 at age 26. She had three children at the time. In 1983, she travelled to Australia on holidays and purchased her first non-containment escort agency in Midland, the Agency Escorts & Moonlight Escorts. In 1984 Kenworthy was accepted into the WA Containment system with the permission of Detective Sergeant Gage. [2]
In 1992, Kenworthy relocated to Burswood and opened Langtrees of Perth. In 1998 she purchased a brothel in Kalgoorlie. In 2000, Kenworthy reopened it as the Goldfields theme bordello. It was the only functioning tourist bordello. [3] On 6 June 2002, she became an Australian citizen.
In 2012 the Kalgoorlie business closed down. In 2013, Kenworthy opened Langtrees of Kalgoorlie Guest Hotel. [4] In 2015, Kenworthy purchased Darwin Escorts in Darwin, Australia. The business was known as Langtrees VIP Darwin before closing in 2022. In July 2019, she put the Kalgoorlie premises up for sale. [5] It was sold for over $1 million in 2022. [6]
Kalgoorlie is a city in the Goldfields–Esperance region of Western Australia, located 595 km (370 mi) east-northeast of Perth at the end of the Great Eastern Highway. It is sometimes referred to as Kalgoorlie–Boulder, as the surrounding urban area includes the historic townsite of Boulder and the local government area is the City of Kalgoorlie–Boulder.
A brothel, bordello, ranch, or whorehouse is a place where people engage in sexual activity with prostitutes. However, for legal or cultural reasons, establishments often describe themselves as massage parlors, bars, strip clubs, body rub parlours, studios, or by some other description. Sex work in a brothel is considered safer than street prostitution.
Prostitution in New Zealand, brothel-keeping, living off the proceeds of someone else's prostitution, and street solicitation are legal in New Zealand and have been since the Prostitution Reform Act 2003 came into effect. Coercion of sex workers is illegal. The 2003 decriminalisation of brothels, escort agencies and soliciting, and the substitution of a minimal regulatory model, created worldwide interest; New Zealand prostitution laws are now some of the most liberal in the world.
Prostitution is illegal in the vast majority of the United States as a result of state laws rather than federal laws. It is, however, legal in some rural counties within the state of Nevada. Additionally, it is decriminalized to sell sex in the state of Maine, but illegal to buy sex. Prostitution nevertheless occurs elsewhere in the country.
Prostitution in Ireland is legal. However, since March 2017, it has been an offence to buy sex. All forms of third party involvement are illegal but are commonly practiced. Since the law that criminalises clients came into being, with the purpose of reducing the demand for prostitution, the number of prosecutions for the purchase of sex increased from 10 in 2018 to 92 in 2020. In a report from UCD's Sexual Exploitation Research Programme the development is called ”a promising start in interrupting the demand for prostitution.” Most prostitution in Ireland occurs indoors. Street prostitution has declined considerably in the 21st century, with the vast majority of prostitution now advertised on the internet.
Procuring, pimping, or pandering is the facilitation or provision of a prostitute or other sex worker in the arrangement of a sex act with a customer. A procurer, colloquially called a pimp or a madam or a brothel keeper, is an agent for prostitutes who collects part of their earnings. The procurer may receive this money in return for advertising services, physical protection, or for providing and possibly monopolizing a location where the prostitute may solicit clients. Like prostitution, the legality of certain actions of a madam or a pimp vary from one region to the next.
Sheri's Ranch is a legal brothel in Pahrump, Nevada. Unlike other brothels in the state, it styles itself as a resort, with upscale rooms and furnishings, sports bar, tennis courts, a spa and outdoor swimming pool.
Deborah Jeane Palfrey, dubbed the D. C. Madam by the news media, operated Pamela Martin and Associates, an escort agency in Washington, D. C. Although she maintained that the company's services were legal, she was convicted on April 15, 2008, of racketeering, using the mail for illegal purposes, and money laundering. Slightly over two weeks later, facing a prison sentence of five or six years, she was found hanged. Autopsy results and the final police investigative report concluded that her death was a suicide.
Prostitution in Australia is governed by state and territory laws, which vary considerably, although none ban prostitution outright.
Mattie Silks, or Martha Ready, was a prostitute and leading madam in the late 19th century American West.
Shirley June Finn, née Shewring, was an Australian brothel keeper, nightclub operator and socialite who was shot dead at about midnight on 22–23 June 1975 in Perth, Western Australia. Her body, dressed in an elaborate ball gown and expensive jewellery, was found at dawn in her car, which was parked on a golf course next to a busy freeway. The murder is notable because of Finn's close relationship with Western Australia Police detectives who, in that era, controlled and regulated Perth's prostitution and gambling activities. The crime remains unsolved.
Mame Faye, born Mary Alice Faye, was a madam from Troy, New York. She ran a brothel at 1725 6th Avenue in the heart of the red-light district, which was known as The Line, from approximately 1906 to 1941. Her clients included politicians, factory workers and military men.
Josephine "Chicago Joe" Airey, was an Irish-born American prostitute, madam, and proprietor of brothels, dance halls, a variety theatre, and saloons in Helena, Montana. She eventually became the most influential landowner in Helena. She was known as "Chicago Joe" Hensley following her marriage to James T. Hensley.
Bon Ton is a high-end escort agency chain in New Zealand. It initially operated two escort agencies - one in the capital city Wellington and a second in the nation's largest city Auckland. It now operates in Queenstown. Bon Ton is a French term which means "good taste". The luxury escort agency is owned by Jennifer Souness, a former model who modeled for various European fashion labels.
The Dumas Brothel was a brothel in Butte, Montana. The brothel was founded by French-Canadian brothers Joseph and Arthur Nadeau in 1890 and named after the nominal owner, Delia Nadeau, née Dumas, who was Joseph's wife. It grew considerably through the years, with the miners employed by the city's copper mines often patronizing the establishment. After several changes of the "madams" and continuing pressure from authorities, the brothel closed in 1982, described as "a rare, intact commentary on social history". At the time of its closure, it was the longest operating brothel in the United States, having operated years after prostitution was made illegal. After closing, the brothel changed hands several times, eventually becoming a tourist attraction owned and managed by a series of Butte residents.
Langtrees is Australia's largest bordello brand, with premises in Perth and Canberra. It is owned by Mary-Anne Kenworthy, Australia's most well-known madam.
Prostitution in Oceania varies greatly across the region. In American Samoa, for instance, prostitution is illegal, whereas in New Zealand most aspects of the trade are decriminalised.
Hay Street is a street in Kalgoorlie, Western Australia. For most of the history of Kalgoorlie, it was a notorious red light area.
Shirley Margaret Brifman was an Australian sex worker and brothel madam who was known as a whistleblower on police corruption. She died at the age of 36 in suspicious circumstances, in what was ruled a suicide.