The best sex industry websites of 2019

Rockit Reports has been publishing annual lists of interesting websites for sex industry watchers since 2013. That makes this the seventh list of the best sex industry sites. Many of the websites listed in the past have unfortunately gone idle or simply disappeared. Changes in the way big search engines rank sites surely has a lot to do with this. But so has the rise of social media, Youtube, and the way people use the internet today.

Call me old fashioned, but I still appreciate the written word. I believe that many of you do too. That’s why you’re here reading this site rather than watching cats chase shadows on Youtube. There is still more to read than any one person could cover in a lifetime. But some of the more useful and interesting information is now becoming more difficult to find. That too seems to have a lot to do with the way we find what we read. Increasingly the internet is being brought “under control” by the most powerful players. That is unfortunately reflected in this year’s list. But this is the reality we face.

Reason

Reason is an American libertarian magazine and website that promotes “free minds and free markets”. Whether or not you agree with their perspective, the site is a great resource for news on prostitution. The editorial stance of the site supports the decriminalization of prostitution. And the many articles they publish on the subject reflect that. They also do some good investigative reporting. Plus, they’re quite prescient. Several years ago they asked why there was no “uber for prostitution”. Not long after that Smooci emerged. How’s that for foresight?

Huff Post

Huff Post is another website that you may or not agree with. Started by Arianna Huffington, the site is widely considered to be an American liberal outlet. For our purposes the site is valuable because it gives significant coverage to sex work and related issues all around the world. Even I read the site regularly. If I didn’t, I would have missed out on the opening of the first ever brothel for people who don’t like human touch. What a loss that would have been!

Sex and Censorship

Sex and Censorship is yet another website that you may or may not agree with. But the thing that makes the site special is that the guy who writes it expects that! Jerry Barnett is an advocate of free speech in the UK. I first found his work when he published a book called Porn Panic. That book is worth a read, and so is Mister Barnett’s site. It’s updated regularly, and a lot of the content covers the way censorship in many forms intertwines with an ongoing war on sex work and human sexuality in general.

David J Ley, Ph.D.

I have been paying attention to Doctor Ley since I read his book The Myth of Sex Addiction in 2012. Doctor Ley has a lot of interesting and relevant things to say about sex. Often, he seems like a lone voice in the wilderness. But his material is no less right on the money, at least in most cases. Doctor Ley frequently writes at Psychology Today. A lot of his material there pertains to sex, non-monogamy, porn and popular misconceptions about sex addiction. It is certainly worth a look, as are the good doctor’s books.

And that’s the list for this year. Of course I still keep up with the active sites from previous years. I imagine that at least some of you do too. As times goes on I will keep looking for more relevant information regarding the commercial sex industry around the world. I am confident that new voices will continue to emerge in some form of another. We may just have to shovel through more shit to find them.