History Main / BandOfBrothels

[[quoteright:350:https://static.tvtropes.org/pmwiki/pub/images/all_aim_at_dwight.jpg]]
[[caption-width-right:350:“The girls all know the score. No escape. No surrender. No mercy. We got to kill every last rat bastard one of them, every last one. Not for revenge. Not because they deserve it. not because it'll make the world a better place. We need a heap of bloody bodies so when the mob boss, Wallenquist, looks over his charts of profits and losses, he'll see what it cost him to mess with the girls of Old Town.” ]]

!!Examples

[[folder:Anime And Manga]]

[[folder:Comics]]
* The prostitutes of Old Town in ''Comicbook/SinCity''. They have struck a deal with the cops to keep the police out of their section of the city (The police receive free services from the prostitutes, a cut of the profits, and receive a guarantee of no-harm while in Old Town) and this leaves the girls free to keep the pimps and mobs out themselves. Old Town is in essence its own little self-governing city, with a leadership and armed enforcers to make sure their women are treated properly by their clients.
* In the ''ComicBook/{{Buck Godot|Zap Gun for Hire}}'' stories by Creator/PhilFoglio, Buck's friend Louisa dem Five runs a brothel, the Velvet Fist -- and has established, as of the "Gallimaufry" arc, a Velvet Fist franchise on the title SpaceStation.

[[folder:Fan Fic]]

[[folder:Films]]

* [[http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0264802/ Live Nude Girls Unite!]] The women at a San Francisco strip joint unionize. Documentary.

[[folder:Live Action TV]]
* The Guild of Companions in ''{{Series/Firefly}}'', although Companions are more like Ancient Greek ''Hetairai'', or a cross between prostitutes, geishas, therapists, and confessors (''hetaira'' itself ''means'' "companion" in Greek, so possible ShoutOut).

* The entire premise of ''{{Series/Harlots}}''.

* The TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting of ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has an unconventional take on this: the church of Sharess is mostly ''composed'' of prostitutes of all ends of the spectrum, including males, and while Sharess is only a demipower, the church has powerful allies and more influence in certain quarters than one would expect. Sharess is the goddess of pleasure.

* Some ''TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}}'' novels imply that institutionalized prostitution is relatively common.

[[folder: Web Comics]]
* In ''WebComic/{{Drowtales}}'', the [[UnusualEuphemism Guild of Flowers]].

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This is an organization that supervises, um, you know. Working girls. Ladies of the night. Women of negotiable affection. Those in {{the oldest profession}}. Those who turn tricks for goods and/or money. They who walk certain streets. Soiled Doves. Women who follow camps. Girls who are on call. Courtesans. In groups: [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Tray of Tarts, a Blazon of Strumpets, an Anthology of Pros]]. [[note]][[You mean EuphemismBuster Prostitutes?]][[/note]]

This is an organization that supervises, um, you know. Working girls. Ladies of the night. Women of negotiable affection. Those in {{the oldest profession}}. Those who turn tricks for goods and/or money. They who walk certain streets. Soiled Doves. Women who follow camps. Girls who are on call. Courtesans. In groups: [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Tray of Tarts, a Blazon of Strumpets, an Anthology of Pros]]. In other words: ''[[EuphemismBuster Prostitutes.]]''

This is an organization that supervises, um, you know. Working girls. Ladies of the night. Women of negotiable affection. Those in {{the oldest profession}}. Those who turn tricks for goods and/or money. They who walk certain streets. Soiled Doves. Women who follow camps. Girls who are on call. Courtesans. In groups: [[HurricaneOfEuphemisms Tray of Tarts, a Blazon of Strumpets, an Anthology of Pros]]. In other words: ''[[BrutalHonesty Prostitutes.]]''

* In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "Republic of Murdoch", it turns out George's "aunts" are a group of prostitutes who formed a sort of collective in the old rectory (the rector was George's adoptive father). Leads to a SugarWiki/{{Funny Moment|s}} when Murdoch has a very circumspect conversation in which he tries to ascertain if the occasionally naive George actually ''knows'' this. (He does.)

* The ''TabletopGame/OldWorldOfDarkness'' game ''TabletopGame/WerewolfTheApocalypse'' has the Aethera Inamorata, a faction within the Children of Gaia [[{{Splat}} tribe]] composed of sexual healers. They're all about the spirituality of sex and maintains the tribe's close ties to the Cult of Ecstacy tradition of Mages. They were originally known as "Houris" and/or "The Hours," and claim that agents of the game's EldritchAbomination mutated that name into "whore" and turned sex into something seen as dirty and shameful by society.

** Appropriately, the organization takes it's left-wing, or "red", roots very seriously. It is one of the powerhouses of Dutch politics, and has done valuable work in multiple areas, including law enforcement, workplace safety regulations and public healthcare reform.

* In the ''Series/MurdochMysteries'' episode "Republic of Murdoch", it turns out George's "aunts" are a group of prostitutes who formed a sort of collective in the old rectory (the rector was George's adoptive father). Leads to a CrowningMomentOfFunny when Murdoch has a very circumspect conversation in which he tries to ascertain if the occasionally naive George actually ''knows'' this. (He does.)

* TruthInTelevision: There is such an organisation in the UK called the ''International Union of Sex Workers''. They're part of the GMB, and I remember an article from a few years back about table-dancers joining the GMB as well, inspired by the example. (The GMB is Britain's General Union -- basically a way for those who aren't part of the huge professions to have a chance at some representation at the higher levels).

* In The Basalt City Chronicles, the Order of the Courtesan (basically a "saint" in the Smilodon religion) oversees baths and brothels. This creates some InUniverse ValuesDissonance, as in [[GeneCatlow Furriston]] brothels are illegal due to their tragic history.

* And in the Expanded Discworld of author [[Creator/AAPessimal A.A. Pessimal]], Mrs Sandra Battye has in fact secured Guild status for the ''other'' sort of [[Fanfic/TheNewGuild Seamstress]]. Read more '''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5016509/1/The-New-Guild here]]'''.

* The TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting of ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has an unconventional take on this: the church of Sharess is mostly ''composed'' of prostitutes of all ends of the spectrum, including males, and while Sharess is only a demipower, the church has powerful allies and more influence in certain quarters than one would expect. Completely [[JustifiedTrope understandable]] in that Sharess is the goddess of pleasure (And going by her [[WhipItGood favored weapon]], all flavors thereof).
** Not quite on that last note: Sharess is ChaoticGood. Masochism and the like are the purview of LawfulEvil Loviatar, while other, darker, pleasures fall under the banner of NeutralEvil Shar. Sharess's angle is more humanitarian-both prostitutes and escorts who take pride in their professions, and those fallen into those professions who struggle to stay morally decent people.

* This is one interpreted meaning of Creator/WilliamBlake's quote "Prisons are built with the stones of law, brothels the bricks of religion."

* JudgeDee often has to deal with these, usually because a young girl was sold or kidnapped and put to work there (which was illegal at the time).

* The TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting of ''[[TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons Dungeons & Dragons]]'' has an unconventional take on this: the church of Sharess is mostly ''composed'' of prostitutes of all ends of the spectrum, including males, and while Sharess is only a demipower, the church has powerful allies and more influence in certain quarters than one would expect. Completely [[JustifiedTrope understandable]] in that Sharess is the goddess of pleasure (And going by her [[WhipItGood favored weapon]], [[FetishFuel all flavors thereof]]).

* In the ''Literature/VorkosiganSaga'', Beta Colony has its [=LPSTs=]: Licensed Professional Sexual Therapists. The hermaphrodite ones are especially popular.

** Even the Catholic Church (of all institutions!) had some specially-sanctioned prostitutes, on the basis that they acknowledged that men have certain [[ImAManICantHelpIt "needs"]] and would commit rape if they couldn't get those "needs" fulfilled. (Rape was seen as being about sex, not power and control.)

This is an organization that supervises, um, you know. Working girls. Ladies of the night. Women of negotiable affection. Those in {{the oldest profession}}. Those who turn tricks for goods and/or money. They who walk certain streets. Soiled Doves. Women who follow camps. Girls who are on call. Courtesans. In groups: [[HurricaneofEuphemisms Tray of Tarts, a Blazon of Strumpets, an Anthology of Pros]]. In other words: ''[[BrutalHonesty Prostitutes.]]''

* Not a technical organization, but [[Anime/PrincessMononoke Lady Eboshi's]] headquarters in Irontown is staffed largely by ex-prostitutes.

* SpiderRobinson's ''Callahan's Lady'' series is about a bar/brothel run by Lady Sally, wife of [[Literature/CallahansCrosstimeSaloon Mike Callahan]]. The working girls have generous benefits, are well taken care of, and the sex is consensual and mutually supportive.

->[[AC:Often Licked, Never Beaten]]

* ''[[DeuceBigalow Deuce Bigalow II]]'' has the European Association of Gigolos.

* Not a technical organization, but [[PrincessMononoke Lady Eboshi's]] headquarters in Irontown is staffed largely by ex-prostitutes.
* The Taiwanese art-house movie ''FlowersOfShanghai'' is about the lives of Chinese "Flowers" (i.e. high-class prostitutes) in 19th-century Shanghai. The whole movie takes place within the confines of the houses of pleasure, without a single outdoors shot.

* The Cult of Ashera mentioned in Neal Stephenson's ''SnowCrash'', which used cult prostitutes to spread their metavirus.

* In ''[[SeventhSea 7th Sea]]'', "Jenny's Girls" are an important political group.
* Some TabletopGame/{{Warhammer 40000}} novels imply that institutionalized prostitution is relatively common.

* Rose Haibara, the protagonist of ''RoseGunsDays'', is the madam of club Primavera, a high-class establishment for [[InsistentTerminology ladies of the night]], which has other establishments related to it and over the course of the story becomes a mafia group, as well as a semi-political nationalistic organisation which pretty much rules City 23 (a district of [[AlternateHistory this story's]] Tokyo).

* In ''{{Drowtales}}'', the [[UnusualEuphemism Guild of Flowers]].