There are efforts in Germany to prohibit prostitution, more than twenty years after its legalization, due to concerns about the country earning the reputation as the ‘brothel of Europe.’
Legalization of prostitution in Germany dates back to 2002 when a previous center-left government aimed to provide the approximately 250,000 sex workers in Germany with employment rights, welfare benefits, and the ability to sue clients who refuse to pay for services.
Today, some politicians in Germany claim that most of the country’s sex workers have not experienced an actual improvement in their employment rights and conditions.
Dorothee Bär, deputy leader of Germany’s two main Christian Democratic parties, has highlighted that many sex workers in the country are foreign and lack proper documentation, making them vulnerable to exploitation.
According to Bär, “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. “Germany has become the brothel of Europe. The women are mistreated in the worst possible way by their clients and pimps.”
German Chancellor, Olaf Scholz, a member of the center-left SPD, also advocates for a crackdown on the issue. He emphasized, “I find it unacceptable when men buy women. This is something that has always morally outraged me.”
Scholz further stressed the need for a “discussion on how to address the purchase of sex”, and added that “everything must be done to combat it”, garnering support from other parties. Germany’s opposition party, the center-right CDU, seeks to implement the Nordic model, where individuals can be prosecuted for purchasing sex, but sex workers themselves are not subjected to prosecution.