Status: 08/28/2021 4:59 p.m.
The Women’s Union advocates a complete ban on prostitution. Diakonie Deutschland thinks little of it. There is a risk that buying sex will then take place illegally – prospects for an exit are necessary.
Diakonie Deutschland believes that a ban on prostitution is the wrong way to go. “Where prostitution or the purchase of sex are forbidden and clients are punished, prostitution takes place illegally and worsens the situation of prostitutes enormously,” explained Maria Loheide, head of social policy at Diakonie Deutschland.
In secret, prostitutes are not available for specialist advice centers. For example, they could not demand payment or the use of condoms and lived in constant fear and dependence.
Loheide called for more support for women and men in prostitution so that they could find an alternative perspective. Because prostitution is not a profession like any other. The state must consistently support prostitutes in order to improve their situation. It is necessary to strengthen their rights, to ensure good health care and better criminal prosecution of human trafficking, said Loheide.
“Humiliated and Humiliated”
On Friday, the CDU’s Women’s Union (FU) called for a ban on prostitution. In most cases women are not voluntarily prostitutes, said chairwoman Annette Widmann-Mauz the newspapers of the editorial network Germany.
Even in the registered prostitution, women are “humiliated, humiliated, degraded”, and this is also legally secured by the Prostitution Act, she complained. In a first step, the purchase of sex by pregnant women and women under the age of 21 should be banned and the punishment for suitors should be expanded, demanded Widmann-Mauz, who is also the federal government’s integration officer.
When asked why from the point of view of the CDU women, in addition to forced prostitution, every purchase of sex should generally be prohibited in the future, Widmann-Mauz said: “The question is whether the state makes the dignity of women and their most intimate things a legal commodity.”
Discussions in several parties
Prostitution is currently permitted in Germany under certain conditions; prostitutes have had access to social insurance since 2002. However, there are criminal regulations against forced prostitution. The discussion about a ban based on the example of Sweden and France has recently been held in several parties.
With information from Hans-Joachim Vieweger, ARD capital studio
CDU Women’s Union calls for a ban on prostitution
Hans-Joachim Vieweger, ARD Berlin, August 28, 2021 5:14 p.m.