I read this in the Sunday times thought it may interest you 👍
‘Brothel capital of Europe’ considers ban on buying sex
German opposition party wants to adopt Nordic approach to prostitution and says legalisation of sex industry has failed
November 21 2023, The Times
Calls are growing in Germany for an outright ban on prostitution amid warnings that the country has become “the brothel of Europe”, attracting sex tourists from around the world.
The conservative opposition CDU party said that the legalisation of the sex industry in 2002 under a previous centre-left government had failed because it was largely ignored in practice. It gave prostitutes employment rights, access to welfare benefits and the right to sue non-paying clients.
The country now has an estimated 250,000 sex workers, the overwhelming majority of whom are from abroad and without papers, and at the mercy of human traffickers and pimps, according to Dorothee Bär, the deputy leader of the parliamentary group for Germany’s two main Christian Democratic parties, the CDU and the CSU.
“There can be no real equality as long as we accept that hundreds of thousands of women are treated like slaves. It is an offence against human dignity that we urgently need to end,” Bär told Bild newspaper.
Women were trapped in forced prostitution with their bodies bought and sold like cheap goods, Bär said. She added: “Germany has become the brothel of Europe. The women are mistreated in the worst possible way by their clients and pimps.”
The CDU wants Germany to adopt the so-called Nordic model, first introduced by Sweden in 1999, under which customers are liable to prosecution for buying sex, but prostitutes aren’t penalised. It was emulated by Norway a decade later and other countries including France and Israel have introduced similar rules.
Under the proposed legislation, brothels would have to be shut and the renting of apartments to prostitutes would be outlawed.
The measures would not eradicate prostitution but would reduce it, Bär said, adding that pimps and organised criminals had been the main beneficiaries of the 2002 legalisation.
Such a law, which would turn out the lights in one of the world’s most famous sex districts, Hamburg’s Reeperbahn, is also gaining support from members of the ruling Social Democrats. Leni Breymaier, a Social Democrat MP, called the proposal a “giant step in the right direction”.
Last week Olaf Scholz, the chancellor, said he had always been “morally outraged” at men purchasing sex. However, Lisa Paus, the families minister, has said that the government has no plans to change the law.
Sex workers’ organisations are also opposed to changes, arguing that there was no evidence that the Nordic model had lessened prostitution or helped women.
The Professional Association for Erotic and Sexual Services, which represents brothels and independent prostitutes, said punishing clients would only make the work more dangerous.
It said: “Since Sweden was the first country in the world to introduce a sex purchase ban 25 years ago, there have been no studies to suggest that the Nordic model has been a success.
“It is always remarkable to see the means by which the opponents of procuring sex try to realise their moral ideas — at the expense of the rights of sex workers, customers and brothel operators and ultimately at the expense of a tolerant, free and rights-based society.”
