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Leeds Live
Leeds Live
National
Kristian Johnson

Life for Leeds sex workers told through the sordid online reviews left by punters

Buried away in the murky corners of the internet lies a website where hundreds of men come together to share their experiences of visiting sex workers in Leeds.

The Holbeck Managed Approach is a regular topic of conversation for members of barepunting.net - a sick website where people proudly boast about having sex with prostitutes without protection.

The forum is full of discussions between men using online pseudonyms to hide their identity as they chat about visiting sex workers in the 'legal' sex zone in Leeds and how much they pay.

Not all of the men on the forum are from Leeds though. In fact, one man recently posted to say that he wanted "expert advice from the locals" ahead of a weekend visit to the city.

"Any recommendations for local girls?" he asked.

"What part of Holbeck is the RLD? (I'll be staying in the area).

"I've fired out a couple of messages.... but keen for some expert advice from the locals."

Much of the talk is about specific women who work in the Managed Approach, the best times to visit and even how much a paltry £30 will get you.

Some of the men directly reference Save Our Eyes, a local campaign group who argue the sex zone has had a detrimental effect on the area with used needles and dirty condoms littering the streets.

In a brazen reply, one man says: "Obviously we do our bit for the cause as we don’t use condoms = less litter! Haha."

A sex worker stands on a street in the Holbeck Managed Approach (2018 Getty Images)

Many of the men openly reference the fact that some of the women are reliant on the money to pay for drugs, but brush it off as "useful information" that members of the website can use as a shameless bargaining chip.

One post about a woman's drug habits saw a member reply: "Useful information though for any of us to follow. Cheers mate."

Perhaps one of the most disturbing messages on the website is from a man who caught gonorrhoea - but continued visiting the Managed Approach and having unprotected sex.

"Lesson learnt? Nah, I've been frequenting Holbeck RLD for some weeks/months now."

He then said he developed "severe stomach cramps" and was diagnosed with hepatitis C - but such is his desperation to pay for sex that he still won't stop visiting prostitutes in Holbeck.

"It's most likely that I caught it through unprotected sex during my jaunts through Holbeck," he said.

"Time to stop being silly and go back to the boring world of covered sex!"

The website is undoubtedly a seedy underworld of vile comments and degrading content, but some of the men do seem to have some sort of affection towards the woman they boast about paying for sex with.

One man recently penned a post about how one of the sex workers is "an amazing person".

"I feel so lucky to have been in bed with her 42 times," he said.

"I cherish every single one of them, hoping to make it number 43 tomorrow."

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