History Main / BandOfBrothels

* The comedy film ''Film/NightShift'' deals with this as its subject matter. The protagonists are two men who work the night shift at the city morgue. They decide to become pimps but they dial it up to eleven with the execution. They unionize their girls, give them most of the money they earn (as opposed to their previous pimps who got the larger share), give them health benefits and even invest some of their money in legitimate businesses making them the richest and healthiest working girls in New York.

* ''Film/WhamBamThankYouSpaceman'' has Wild Mary's.

* The city of Camorr in the ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' series by Scott Lynch had two such organizations dividing up areas of the city. It's revealed they fought a very long and bloody gang war to take control and form a monopoly, so much so that when MagnificentBastard Capa Vencarlo Barsavi took over the entire city's criminal underworld, over a hundred gangs all told, he chooses to enter into a partnership with them in exchange for their nominal fealty to him rather than enforce subservience to the extent he does on the rest of the city.

* The Taiwanese art-house movie ''Film/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.

* In ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' two cowboys badly injure a working girl. Her fellow ladies of the night pool their resources and put a bounty on the heads of the wrongdoers. Clint Eastwood's particular brand of badassery ensues.

* A dedicated Teamsters union worker was attending a convention in Las Vegas and decided to check out the local brothels. When he got to the first one, he asked the Madam, "Is this a union house?" "No," she replied, "I'm sorry it isn't." "Well, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?" "The house gets $80 and the girls get $20," she answered. Offended at such unfair dealings, the union man stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable, hopefully unionized shop. His search continued until finally he reached a brothel where the Madam responded, "Why yes sir, this is a union house. We observe all union rules." The man asked, "And if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?" "The girls get $80 and the house gets $20." "That's more like it!" the union man said. He handed the Madam $100, looked around the room, and pointed to a stunningly attractive blonde. "I'd like her," he said. "I'm sure you would, sir," said the Madam, then gestured to a ninety-two-year-old woman in the corner. "But Ethel here has sixty-seven years seniority and according to union rules, she's next."

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

** Also, in the episode "Heart of Gold", the occupants of a local brothel are all willing to fight and die to protect the baby of one of their own. Well, almost all. The brothel's owner is herself a former Companion who wanted to improve common prostitutes' lives by better treatment.

** 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.) They also assumed that even if the Church did not control prostitution, prostitution would happen anyway, and better that they control it than anybody else

[[quoteright:350:[[Film/SinCity 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 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.'']]
%%

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

* Being a fleet of GenerationShips, the Exodan Fleet of ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' has the tryst clubs as part of the Health and Wellness division. They're unionized, well appointed, and well regarded, to the point where abuse of sex workers has completely faded out of Exodan culture by the time the books take place. The closest anyone gets to an actual incident is [[spoiler:Kip forging an ID to sneak in underage]], which is stopped near immediately.

[[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 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."]]

* ''Manga/InterspeciesReviewers'': The band of brothels is managed by the ''government''. CuteMonsterGirl prostitution is a fact of life, and the elected government regulates the industry, providing financial support to ensure the working conditions of welfare of the girls - and presumably to get some of the coin adventurers keep spending there via taxation.

* 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 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 [[Webcomic/GeneCatlow Furriston]] brothels are illegal due to their tragic history.

* In ''Film/{{Unforgiven}}'' two cowboys badly injure a working girl. Her fellow ladies of the night pool their resources and put a bounty on the heads of the wrongdoers. Clint Eastwood's particular brand of badassery ensues.

* ''Film/WhamBamThankYouSpaceman'' has Wild Mary's.

* The comedy film ''Night Shift'' deals with this as its subject matter. The protagonists are two men who work the night shift at the city morgue. They decide to become pimps but they dial it up to eleven with the execution. They unionize their girls, give them most of the money they earn (as opposed to their previous pimps who got the larger share), give them health benefits and even invest some of their money in legitimate businesses making them the richest and healthiest working girls in New York.

* ''Literature/KushielsLegacy'' by Jacqueline Carey: Prostitution is a sacred profession; there is no shame in it whatsoever, and the prostitutes (male and female) are all [[HighClassCallGirl erudite and intelligent]]. The Court of Night Blooming Flowers is the collective for the oldest and most prestigious brothels in the capital. There is a larger guild as well that provides assistance and sets regulations for the less prestigious establishments and independents. There is a system of houses, each [[FloralThemeNaming named after a flower]] and specializing in an...aspect of sexuality (though, in this world, [[EveryoneIsBi alternative couples are common]]); for example, Valerian specializes in prostitutes who [[TooKinkyToTorture like pain]], to put it delicately, and Cereus house is famed for its particularly erudite (verbally and sexually) servants.

* The creation of an association of this kind is the main plot in Creator/MarioVargasLlosa's novel ''Pantaleon y las Visitadoras'' (known in English as ''Literature/CaptainPantojaAndTheSpecialService'').

* Creator/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.
* The Cult of Ashera mentioned in Neal Stephenson's ''Literature/SnowCrash'', which used cult prostitutes to spread their metavirus.
* The Liethe clan in Donald Kingsbury's ''Literature/CourtshipRite''; although they're more like courtesans or geisha than simple prostitutes. They are highly skilled in the arts of music and dance as well as love and only make themselves available to the rich and powerful. They also have many secrets and an agenda of their own.
* Literature/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 Temple of Venus in ''Literature/OneNationUnderJupiter''.
* ''Literature/CaptainFrenchOrTheQuestForParadise'': crosses with SchoolOfSeduction with the Order of Carnal Pleasures on the planet Dolores Rose. The ladies of the Order are unionized and are trained in many arts besides lovemaking. They have also installed "happiness meters" in every bed of their Happy Houses to properly charge clients for the amount of pleasure received (above the minimum, of course). Also, the word "prostitute" is frowned upon on the planet.
* In ''Literature/TalesFromNetheredge'', the [[RedLightDistrict Harem of Caen]] is a variation of this whose supervising authorities protect the ''customers' ''rights (and whims) vastly over the interests of the workers, who have only each other for support and care.
* Being a fleet of GenerationShips, the Exodan Fleet of ''Literature/TheLongWayToASmallAngryPlanet'' has the tryst clubs as part of the Health and Wellness division. They're unionized, well appointed, and well regarded, to the point where abuse of sex workers has completely faded out of Exodan culture by the time the books take place. The closest anyone gets to an actual incident is [[spoiler:Kip forging an ID to sneak in underage]], which is stopped near immediately.

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

* In the mini-series ''Series/{{Ascension}}'' there are the Stewardesses who combine this with both {{Geisha}} and the HoneyTrap as they are run by the Captain' wife and used to gather information for both her and her husband's benefit.
* The US version of Series/ShamelessUS, offers a kind of deconstruction of this idea when Mickey tries to intervene in the plight of local prostitutes by organizing a "strike." The madam of the brothel responds by simply smuggling in more Russian immigrants to replace the old ones. The lesson being that there will always be women in desperate situations who’re willing to trade sex for a better life, and people who’re more than willing to take advantage of that.

* The TabletopGame/ForgottenRealms setting of ''TabletopGame/DungeonsAndDragons'' 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.
* 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 Ecstasy 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.

[[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."]]

* Casca from ''{{Manga/Berserk}}'' was taken in the protection of a band of prostitutes in a refugee camp when she wandered away from the protection of the elf cave that Guts left her in. So protective are they of the wayward, insane girl that they bandaged Casca up as a syphilis victim in order to keep the lecherous eyes of men off of her, as they did not force her into prostitution due to her condition. The girls are led by Luca, [[HookerWithAHeartOfGold one of the few genuinely nice characters]] in the Berserkverse, who acts much more as a [[TeamMom mother figure]] rather than a madame, splitting her shares evenly among the other girls and coming to their aid in the most dangerous of situations.

* The ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'' fic ''[[http://www.fanfiction.net/s/5055274/5/The-Graduation-Class The Graduation Class]]'' is largely concerned with the inner workings and selection processes of the Guild of Assassins. But for one adult entry to Assassination, it was only her second career choice. Her first job interview was with the, ermm, Guild of Seamstresses. Read more about how this Guild recruits for new members in this chapter.

* A dedicated Teamsters union worker was attending a convention in Las Vegas and decided to check out the local brothels. When he got to the first one, he asked the Madam, "Is this a union house?" "No," she replied, "I'm sorry it isn't." "Well, if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?" "The house gets $80 and the girls get $20," she answered. Offended at such unfair dealings, the union man stomped off down the street in search of a more equitable, hopefully unionized shop. His search continued until finally he reached a brothel where the Madam responded, "Why yes sir, this is a union house. We observe all union rules." The man asked, "And if I pay you $100, what cut do the girls get?" "The girls get $80 and the house gets $20." "That's more like it!" the union man said . He handed the Madam $100, looked around the room, and pointed to a stunningly attractive blonde. "I'd like her," he said. "I'm sure you would, sir," said the Madam, then gestured to a ninety-two-year-old woman in the corner. "But Ethel here has sixty-seven years seniority and according to union rules, she's next."

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', there's the [[UnusualEuphemism Seamstresses' Guild]]. "Hem Hem." Let's just say that they don't sew a lot. There's a British English expression: "plain sewing" which refers to a sexual service... arguably, a form of massage. Seattle in the 1800s used the same term. Their motto was "A stitch in time will cost you a dime. All night alterations for a dollar." By the later books, there is in fact a non-negligible degree of sewing going on. This is because enough people didn't realize that seamstresses was an euphemism, so the Guild hired a number of non-euphemistic seamstresses to cover that sort of need, as well (it helped that non-euphemistic seamstresses are one of the few groups in the city ''not'' to have a guild). As to the more protective aspects of these sorts of guilds, the Seamstresses themselves don't need to do much, because they have [[NeverMessWithGranny Dotsie and Sadie, the Agony Aunts]], on their side to brutalize anyone that tries anything funny; not even the most hardened criminals want a visit from them.

* The city of Camorr in the ''Literature/GentlemanBastard'' series by Scott Lynch had two such organizations dividing up areas of the city. It's revealed they fought a very long and bloody gang war to take control and form a monopoly, so much so that when MagnificentBastard Capa Vencarlo Barsavi took over the entire city's criminal underworld, over a hundred gangs all told, he choose to enter into a partnership with them in exchange for their nominal fealty to him rather than enforce subservience to the extent he does on the rest of the city.

* The Liethe clan in Donald Kingsbury's ''Literature/CourtshipRite''; although they're more like courtesans or geisha than simple prostitutes. They are highly skilled in the arts of music and dance as well as love, and only make themselves available to the rich and powerful. They also have many secrets, and an agenda of their own.

* The US version of Series/ShamelessUS, offers a kind of deconstruction of this idea when Mickey tries to intervene on the plight of local prostitutes by organizing a "strike." The madam of the brothel responds by simply smuggling in more Russian immigrants to replace the old ones. The lesson being that there will always be women in desperate situations who’re willing to trade sex for a better life, and people who’re more than willing to take advantage of that.

* A line in ''VideoGame/SaintsRowTheThird'' by Zimos the pimp reveals that his prostitutes unionized and forced him to offer medical benefits and paid vacation time.

* In ''Webcomic/RiversideExtras'', the all-female gang the Roses, led by Ma Oceana, started out as this, but has expanded to selling opium. Their dominance in the sex trade is the main reason they're the second biggest outfit in Riverside, though.

* The International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture and Education focuses on the collection and preservation of art by and about sex workers.

* One of the oldest ones is the "Rode draad" or "red thread" in the Netherlands. The name lampshades their infamous red light districts and is a Dutch-language pun about having something in common. Bonus pun: the Dutch word for sewing ("naaien") is slang for screwing. It is probably an additional play on the Biblical story of Jericho, where the "innkeeper" Rachab put a red thread out of her window as a signal to the Israelites. Appropriately, the organization takes its 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.

** 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.) They also assumed that even if the Church did not control prostitution, prostitution would happen anyway, and better that they control it than anybody else

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

Certainly a WeirdTradeUnion. Sometimes the HookerWithAHeartOfGold will be a member; there's sure to be at least one MissKitty, possibly running the whole thing. Often goes with UnproblematicProstitution (with implications or outright statements that they're the people who keep it Unproblematic), but not always.

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

* TruthInTelevision: There is such an organisation in the UK called the ''International Union of Sex Workers''. They're part of the GMB, and an article was written 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).
** There is also the English Collective of Prostitutes.
** In general there are a [[http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Category:Sex_worker_organizations lot of these]], including the admittedly silly-sounding Canadian Guild of Erotic Labour and the International Sex Worker Foundation for Art, Culture and Education, which also focuses on the collection and preservation of art by and about sex workers.

* This is also dead serious in some South American nations; they want their rights.
* The equivalent US organization is COYOTE, for Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics. FunWithAcronyms, indeed.
* And the Finnish sex workers' organization is called SALLI. Salli is both a traditional woman's name and the second person imperative form of the verb "allow" in Finnish.
* The German equivalent is called Hydra e.V.[[note]]''eingetragener Verein'', "Registered Association"[[/note]]
* New Zealand's Prostitutes Collective were instrumental in passing the Prostitution Reform Act 2003
* One of the oldest ones is the "Rode draad" or "red thread" in the Netherlands. Being both a lampshade of the infamous red light districts and a Dutch-language pun on having something in common.
** Even punnier: the Dutch word for sewing ("naaien") is slang for screwing. Yep.
** And it is probably a play on the story of Jericho, where the whore Rachab put a red thread out of her window.
*** So they're [[Literature/{{Discworld}} seamstresses]] (hem, hem)?
** Appropriately, the organization takes its 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.
* Religious institutions have often taken on the role of "supervisor of the brothels," typically maintaining standards of cleanliness of facilities and ensuring the welfare of the prostitutes. In some cases, this was because the religious authorities held a "better allowed, safe, and under our control than prohibited, dangerous, and out of our hands" attitude towards the practice; in other cases, this was because the prostitution was a religious ritual/duty.

** 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.) They also assumed that even if the Church did not control prostitution, prostitution would happen anyway, and better that they control it than anybody else.
** This is one interpreted meaning of Creator/WilliamBlake's quote "Prisons are built with the stones of law, brothels the bricks of religion."
** Slightly further in the past, most of the... "quality" prostitutes were found in temples.
*** The term devadasi originally described a Hindu religious practice in which girls were "married" and dedicated to a deity (deva or devi). In addition to taking care of the temple, and performing rituals, they learned and practiced Bharatanatyam and other classical Indian arts traditions, and enjoyed a high social status. Over time, the institution became identified with prostitution.
* The temple prostitution of Ishtar is OlderThanDirt. Makes sense, as Ishtar was ''literally'' the goddess of sex.
** And of War, but not of Childbirth.
* The Sex Workers Outreach Project USA protested against ''VideoGame/GrandTheftAuto'''s use of DisposableSexWorker.

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', there's the [[UnusualEuphemism Seamstresses' Guild]]. "Hem Hem." Let's just say that they don't sew a lot. There's a British English expression: "plain sewing" which refers to a sexual service... arguably, a form of massage. Seattle in the 1800s used the same term. Their motto was "A stitch in time will cost you a dime. All night alterations for a dollar." By the later books, there is in fact a non-negligible degree of sewing going on. This is because enough people didn't realize that seamstresses was an euphemism, so the Guild hired a number of non-euphemistic seamstresses to cover that sort of need, as well (it helped that non-euphemistic seamstresses are one of the few groups in the city ''not'' to have a guild).

* In ''Literature/{{Discworld}}'', there's the [[UnusualEuphemism Seamstresses' Guild]]. "Hem Hem." Let's just say that they don't sew a lot. There's a British English expression: "plain sewing" which refers to a sexual service... arguably, a form of massage. Seattle in the 1800s used the same term. Their motto was "A stitch in time will cost you a dime. All night alterations for a dollar."
** By the later books, there is in fact a non-negligible degree of sewing going on. This is because enough people didn't realize that seamstresses was an euphemism, so the Guild hired a number of non-euphemistic seamstresses to cover that sort of need, as well (it helped that non-euphemistic seamstresses are one of the few groups in the city ''not'' to have a guild).
*** Plus customers appreciated being able to get their socks darned while they ''[[UnusualEuphemism got their socks darned]]''.