According to estimates, up to 400,000 women work as prostitutes nationwide. In order to prevent human trafficking and exploitation, the EU Parliament has spoken out in favor of a ban on the purchase of sex. How useful would that be?
In the Leonhardsviertel in Stuttgart, women sell sexual services for money. Illuminated signs in bright colors are intended to lure customers into the brothels. But there is also a street prostitution and apartments rented by pimps.
Prostitution has been part of the street scene here for many decades – just like the hip bars and small cafés that are opening up more and more in the district. So a normal neighborhood? For social worker Veronika Schürle from the “Esther Ministries” association, which campaigns against forced prostitution, it is not. “Prostitution is not a job, it is violence against women,” she says.
Nordic model as a role model?
That’s why Schürle is in favor of a ban on purchasing sex based on the so-called Nordic model. It comes from Sweden. There, johns are punished for buying sex and brothels have to close. Sex workers and prostitutes, however, are not punished. The aim is to curb exploitation and human trafficking.
Voices in favor of the Nordic model are currently becoming louder again in German politics. Schürle hopes that this will reduce the “huge demand”.
“It’s pathetic what’s happening here”
According to Schürle, forced prostitutes work under deplorable conditions just one street next to the legal red light mile in the Leonhardsviertel in Stuttgart. Many of them come from Eastern Europe. “They are not allowed to afford a day of vacation, even if they are sick or have their period,” says the social worker. Some even worked during the pregnancy until the eighth month, i.e. shortly before the birth.
Abortions are commonplace, says the native Bulgarian: “Even in the sixth month. They are carried out by self-proclaimed ‘midwives’. It’s pathetic what’s happening here.”
With her club, Schürle tries to get those affected like Julia (name changed) out of forced prostitution. Julia worked as a sex worker in Germany on and off for twelve years – initially voluntarily, she says. But a few weeks ago her pimp freaked out and broke her arm. “This time it was a disaster,” says Julia. “He hit me with a rod.” She was then in the hospital for twelve days and was operated on twice. Now Julia has had enough. She goes back to Bulgaria. Veronika Schürle hopes that this will also be a farewell to sex work.
SPD MP calls for a ban on the purchase of sex
For the Baden-Württemberg SPD member of the Bundestag Leni Breymaier, sex work is a question of human rights. Some women did this work voluntarily, says Breymaier. In her opinion, that doesn’t justify the suffering of the many other women “who are humiliated, beaten, destroyed.”
The majority of women in Stuttgart’s Leonhardsviertel do not have health insurance and come from Eastern Europe, Southeastern Europe, Africa or, increasingly, from China. “These are not self-determined women,” says the SPD politician.
Ban warnings
Brothel operator John Heer from Stuttgart is against a ban on buying sex. He fears that the Nordic model would actually worsen the situation for sex workers and prostitutes. “Of course it’s getting more dangerous,” says Heer.
Organizations such as Deutsche Aidshilfe, Diakonie Deutschland and the German Women’s Council also speak out against the Nordic model. They argue that this makes it easier for sex workers and prostitutes to become victims of violence and become infected with diseases.
Several people convicted
It is usually Eastern European gangs or rocker groups that force women into prostitution in illegal brothels or rented apartments. In the past few weeks, the police in Baden-Württemberg managed to catch two gangs. Several people were convicted in Heilbronn and a trial is currently underway in Konstanz.
According to the Federal Criminal Police Office, there were 346 cases of sexual exploitation nationwide last year. But Wolfgang Fink from the Baden-Württemberg State Criminal Police Office is certain that this is just the tip of the iceberg. He is in favor of a general ban on prostitution or at least a higher age limit to protect young women.
Many people refer to Germany as the “brothel of Europe” because of its liberal laws. For LKA official Fink, this is no exaggeration: “That’s actually the case. We are the country in Europe where prostitution is most widespread.”