Prostitutes are posing as masseuses in adverts submitted to popular local websites and newspapers to attract clients.

Online adverts are quite explicit – among genuine adverts from qualified masseuses in the health and beauty section of one local website are adverts featuring raunchy photos and suggestive text. The advertisers use words such as “sensual” and “erotic” to promote their services and highlight facilities such as showers at their premises.

The Sunday Times called 10 of the numbers listed with raunchy adverts; six of the people who answered the phone said they provide full sexual intercourse in exchange for money and the other four said their massages included sexual acts.

Two of the respondents – a woman calling herself Nikita and a pre-operation transsexual – said independently of one another that they operate from a building on Rudolph Street in Sliema “close to the police station” – which is in the heart of a residential area near to Dingli Street.

‘Nikita’ offered “a good time, not massage” and when pressed for more details she said she offered full sex for €100. The transsexual offered a similar act for €70.

Another two respondents – seemingly Eastern European women, one of whom was speaking on behalf of a male ‘masseur’ – said they operated from an apartment in San Ġwann from 8 a.m. until 8 p.m. and a sexual act was available with a massage.

‘Lady Jaja’, who described herself as a 23-year-old Maltese girl and posed in lingerie sucking a lollipop in her advert, said she offered “a good time, everything” at a house in Fgura. She also asked the journalist if he was black, and said “good” when the answer was “no”.

A woman from Gudja said she works from a private house in Gudja and offers a massage and full sex for €50, while ‘Maxigirl’ charges €100 per hour for sexual acts. Another Maltese-accented woman – Xantel – would provide a massage with a sexual act for €50 and a pre-operation transsexual was available in the south of Malta for “anything you want”.

Another woman contacted by the newspaper was a qualified masseuse offering Tantra massages that she described as particularly beneficial for abused women and depressed men. Though insisting that she does not provide sexual intercourse, the massage does have a sexual element.

Many genuine masseuses who advertise in this section make it a point to state on their adverts that they do not offer sexual services.

The Sunday Times spoke to one such masseuse who said that despite pointing out in her advert that she does not offer ‘extras’, she receives more calls from men seeking sexual services than she does from people seeking a genuine massage.

“I hear things about some of the other people who advertise offering extras and that’s their choice but I don’t do that. Recently one man even offered me €800 (for sex) but I turned it down. People can do what they want with their lives but I wish they wouldn’t ask me – I just like giving massages,” she said.

Yesterday the site also featured an advert from someone looking for “females to do massages in (a) private place. No need (for) experience. Good wage per hour”. The Sunday Times called the number listed with the advert to see what was required but the call went directly to a mailbox number.

When contacted yesterday, the website’s founder said: “We remove adverts reported to us that we deem to be illegal from the advert description. We also regularly cooperate with the police. Advertisers should be aware they are fully responsible for the adverts they are posting and that if anyone provides illegal products or services, they face the possible consequences of that.”

The prostitutes also target local newspapers with classified adverts using subtle innuendo.

Prostitution itself is not illegal in Malta. However, brothels are illegal and it is against the law to loiter or solicit for prostitution in any place exposed to the public.

Criminal lawyer Joe Giglio said adverts on public websites and in newspapers were clearly public solicitations.

He said that although the adverts did not specifically state that sex was for sale, the fact that they listed phone numbers and, when contacted, informed potential clients they provided sexual services for money meant it would be difficult for them to successfully argue in court that they were not publicly soliciting for the purpose of prostitution.

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