Editorials & Other Articles

reorg

(3,317 posts) Sat Jan 31, 2015, 01:24 AM Jan 2015

Germany plans changes to Prostitution Act

Prostitution is legal in Germany, but sex workers are still stigmatized or viewed as victims even if they are prostitutes by choice. A draft law is set to give them more legal protections, but even it has detractors.

"For a while, I was really proud of my sex work," Nadine said. Draped in a fluffy black coat, the 30-year-old with the curly blond hair said she was proud of her regulars. "You get 150 euros ($169) for a quickie, and you think: Wow! That is so cool."

...

In 2002, the Prostitution Act came into effect in Germany, making the voluntary sale of sex legal. Before then, it was seen as an immoral act and brothel operators could be prosecuted for promoting prostitution. Today, a brothel is a regular, legal business. Sex workers pay taxes, and prostitutes have access to health insurance and social security benefits.

Kerstin Berghäuser runs a brothel in Berlin

In order to pay off debts, Kerstin Berghäuser was a sex worker for eight years. When the Prostitution Act came into effect, she opened her own brothel in Berlin. "I was sure then that I wasn't doing anything illegal," the woman in her mid-forties says. "I wanted to offer the women good working conditions."

...

Sex work is not a job like any other. Prostitutes are still scorned and only few women have the courage to say how they make a living. Yet, sex workers in Germany have the right to demand proper work conditions and work safety guidelines. ...

http://www.dw.de/germany-plans-changes-to-prostitution-act/a-18226421

8 replies

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Germany plans changes to Prostitution Act (Original Post) reorg Jan 2015 OP

Got tired of the old prostitution acts? jberryhill Jan 2015 #1

DU needs a Like button for posts like this one. DavidDvorkin Jan 2015 #4

Then again... It's the Germans jberryhill Jan 2015 #5

The French occupied by Germany probably experienced it jakeXT Feb 2015 #8

A lot of places have legalized prostitution. It never helps lift women out of their 2nd class status fasttense Jan 2015 #2

legalization of the sale of sex is done for the benefit of men, not women. geek tragedy Jan 2015 #3

legalization is not the issue in Germany reorg Jan 2015 #6

German brothel mazoo11 Feb 2015 #7

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)

1. Got tired of the old prostitution acts?

Reply to reorg (Original post)

Sat Jan 31, 2015, 01:56 AM

Jan 2015

I'd think the world's oldest profession would have pretty much seen it all by now.

DavidDvorkin

(19,479 posts)

4. DU needs a Like button for posts like this one.

Reply to jberryhill (Reply #1)

Sat Jan 31, 2015, 03:50 PM

Jan 2015

jberryhill

(62,444 posts)

5. Then again... It's the Germans

Reply to DavidDvorkin (Reply #4)

Sat Jan 31, 2015, 04:33 PM

Jan 2015

So maybe they'll require everyone to go to the bathroom BEFORE having sex.

jakeXT

(10,575 posts)

8. The French occupied by Germany probably experienced it

Reply to jberryhill (Reply #5)

Wed Feb 25, 2015, 11:28 AM

Feb 2015

German medics examined the prostitutes three times each week to ensure there were no illnesses, with any outbreak of venereal disease considered an 'act of sabotage'.
..

The brothels of France were never better looked after than when the Germans were here.'

Read more: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-1175836/Sleeping-enemy-How-horizontal-collaborators-Paris-brothels-enjoyed-golden-age-entertaining-Hitlers-troops.html

fasttense

(17,301 posts)

2. A lot of places have legalized prostitution. It never helps lift women out of their 2nd class status

Reply to reorg (Original post)

Sat Jan 31, 2015, 10:54 AM

Jan 2015

Legalized prostitution does NOT empower women. It merely opens up sex for sale to more people and the gubermint can tax it.

geek tragedy

(68,868 posts)

3. legalization of the sale of sex is done for the benefit of men, not women.

Reply to reorg (Original post)

Sat Jan 31, 2015, 02:47 PM

Jan 2015

the goal is to ease the access of men to women's bodies

To the surprise of no one, legalization has been accompanied by an increase of sex trafficking of women into Germany. Germany is a rich country where women have better options than the sex trade creating a 'supply' shortage so to meet the demand women are imported like automobile parts or citrus fruits.

reorg

(3,317 posts)

6. legalization is not the issue in Germany

Reply to geek tragedy (Reply #3)

Sat Jan 31, 2015, 05:02 PM

Jan 2015

even the most conservative lawmakers don't intend to change that. The proposals under discussion include:

obligatory condom use
mandatory registration for all prostitutes and bordello owners
minimum age for prostitutes: 21
declaring certain practices illegal (flatrate bordellos, 'gang bang parties')

Critics say that such rules are counterproductive and impossible to enforce. Instead of making the lives of the prostitutes concerned better, they only betray an urge to repress and control. According to press reports, the negotiations between SPD and CDU/CSU are currently deadlocked. The CSU is threatening to come up with a legislative proposal of their own this summer if the SPD won't budge until then.

To the surprise of no one, the opening of the borders to new EU members with an impoverished population has led to an increase in prostitutes from these countries, mostly Romania. Reliable statistics on 'sex trafficking' do not exist. One much touted 'study' only shows that 'sex trafficking' has been mentioned more often in the media in countries with liberal laws on prostitution. The number of sex trafficking victims in Germany according to police statistics has actually decreased between 2003 and 2010.

mazoo11

(4 posts)

7. German brothel

Reply to reorg (Original post)

Wed Feb 25, 2015, 10:42 AM

Feb 2015

As a someone who visits Germany frequently, I have to tell that prostitution scene has gone way too crazy in there. In Holland things are just fine, but in Germany things are not. You can read the prostitution guides to all major German cities from here: http://www.wikisexguide.com/wiki/Germany

According to that sex tourism information package, sex costs only 25 euros in Frankfurt and in Cologne you can go to a 100€ / 4 hours all inclusive brothel. I feel that is too much.

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