Der Spiegel carries
a probing interview with the spokesperson of the Professional Association of Erotic and Sexual Services – a
newly founded lobbying group for prostitutes in Germany (brothel owners can
join, too, but only if “they themselves are
working or have worked as a prostitute”). Her
profile says she was trained as a precision engineer, tried sex work while
acquiring that kind of education, and has not yet given it up at 45. The new
association will fight a misguided draft law which “lumps prostitution together
with human trafficking,” contains some misguided new restrictions on the sex
industry, and could force many brothels to close down. For this purpose, the
lobbying group will work to correct “the public perception that thousands
of women in Germany are being forced into prostitution.” Instead, the German public will be educated that “there are many
good, clean brothels, and most of the women do these jobs independently and
voluntarily.”
All
this is a perhaps a bit surprising. Who would think that even in Germany
“prostitution” has not yet been accepted as a legitimate career choice, or even
a path to female empowerment? Twelve years after the previous governing
“Red-Green” coalition passed the current permissive law, and after some German
cities have installed machines (resembling parking meters) allowing prostitutes
to make a modest daily contribution to the tax authorities? Meanwhile, the new
association will work to extend the same opportunities, as well as existing
legal protections and social benefits, to migrant sex worker. They have already
set up a working group for that purpose “led by a Bulgarian colleague.”
