In the famous Dutch sex industry there has appeared a new trend.

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty correspondent in Amsterdam Sophia Kornienko

reports about the popular Upperware Parties, or parties emploing intimate toys.

16 juni 2006. Sex industry friendly and sensitive to women... Sex industry targeted at the woman as its end consumer? We are not speaking about a cramped store with walls covered in porn-magazines and a male shop assistant hardly inviting for a conversation. Everything started five years ago when Dutch entrepreneur Conny de Buijzer and her husband began their company named Sexclusively and organized the first Upperware Party in the country.

Conny de Buijzer: Every party is planned by a consultant. The party usually takes place at the home of the hostess, who invites at least ten lady-friends. The consultant presents the products on offer, approximately 60 different items. The guests can view all items up close, hold them in their hands, feel how they vibrate. All of that is naturally a lot of fun. Later they can order the items they liked most from the consultant, and our company sends the order to the hostess. Many woman immediately make an order - the atmosphere is free and easy, and one does not even have to go to a shop. Moreover that at a shop you would not ask to feel that and touch this - they'll think you are obsessed!

I am in the very hart of Amsterdam, at a bar belonging to a Dutch University. About 60 girls studying at Amsterdam University will be here today to take part in a hip Upperware Party. In the center of the medieval hall there is a bar counter, two buckets of beer and a very long table full with vibrators. "Hush!Girls!", roars the contralto of the sorority's pursy chairwoman across to the giggling crowd. "I am listening here!" At the table covered with toys consultant Brenda tells about the advantages of the "two in one" set with two electric attachments - a toothbrush and a clitoral stimulator.

Conny de Buijzer: At the parties we provide detailed explanations, give sort of a lecture with a certain doze of humor. We sell not just vibrators, but also lingerie, massage items, bath items, erotic treats - anything up to hi-tech toys. Among other things, we inform the ladies about how to find their G-spot: many women still don't have a clue where tot look for it. We equip them with special tools which make the search for this sacramental spot much easier.

Sophia Kornienko: Men are not allowed to such parties?

Conny de Buijzer: No, no! No men.

Sophia Kornienko: And what is the average age of women who attend?

Conny de Buijzer: The age varies. Always above 18. A couple weeks ago I put up a party for 65+ women. So basically, there come women of any age, however the majority falls between 30 and 40.

Every month a handful of companies hold over 300 Upperware Parties in The Netherlands; Conny's company is already taking orders for 6 months ahead. In this new wave of success, the most modest family businesses make up to 15 thousand euros a month.

Conny de Buijzer: Our consultants receive 25 new items every half a year, which creates enough variety for repeated parties. When I was just starting, production companies offered skin-colored toys, today the fashion has gone wild - the toys come in all possible colors of the rainbow and are becoming more and more technologically advanced. Why have our parties become such a success? Similar parties to sell cosmetics or expensive underwear have been out there long ago. Such parties are perfect for girls to meet up and have a good chat. And yet, at some point you start yearning for something new. We found a free niche in the market. Why had it remained free? Because to many, this topic continues to be a taboo, and by transferring it into the home environment, into the circle of friends, we have achieved good results. At the end of every party women come up to me with such gratitude in their eyes, they say that they are definitely goint to tell all their friends that this turned out to be so simple and so normal.

Sophia Kornienko: And do Muslim women, immigrants ever attend your parties?

Conny de Buijzer: Almost not. Once there came a woman wearing a Muslim shawl on her head. A friend had brought her. And, you know, she did buy some toys! As for our web-site, Muslim women also place orders there, I've noticed quite a few. We organize parties across the whole country. I must say that an evening in the South is very different from an evening in Amsterdam. If you hold a party in a small town in the North of Holland the sales are the same as in Amsterdam, but the women prefer to make their orders one by one, somewhere in the kitchen, so that their friends don't hear. In Amsterdam, quite the opposite: the girls just yell to eacht other that "I want this thing!"

The university girls were a little shy to approach the toys display at first, but rushed towards it after the presentation was over, pushing one another out of the way, reaching over to feel the silicon gadgets.

Conny de Buijzer: This is positively a new trend. The parties are growing in popularity every day. However it would be wrong to say that the taboos are broken. This issue remains very delicate - and perhaps, rightly so. Indeed, it is something intimate, personal, and striving for complete spontaneity in this matter would be a wrong thing to do.

Sophia Kornienko for Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty, Amsterdam.