Germany/Scholz: "Prostitution unacceptable", add restrictions

2023-11-20 08:39:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

Germany/Scholz: "Prostitution unacceptable", add restrictions

Olaf Scholz

Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared open to a possible ban on the sale of sexual services in Germany. The CDU/CSU parties sent this request to the Bundestag.

German Chancellor Olaf Scholz said he would like to see further legal restrictions on sex services in Germany, adding that selling sex services is "unacceptable" and should not be something "normal".

"I don't think it's acceptable for men to buy women, " Scholz said in the Bundestag. "It's something that has always bothered me morally," Scholz added. "I think we have to look at the law and see how this issue can best be resolved," the German chancellor added during a debate in which he responded to the questions of the deputies in the Bundestag.

Christian Democrats and Christian Socials from the CDU/CSU Union parties, the largest opposition parliamentary group in the Bundestag, submitted a request to ban the purchase of sexual services under the so-called "Nordic Model". According to this proposal, pimps and customers should be punished, brothels should be banned. At the same time, prostitutes must be protected to enable them to get out of this environment more easily. The parties CDU and CSU calls for similar rules as in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, Canada, France, Ireland and Israel.

Germany: center of sexual exploitation?

"Unfortunately, Germany has become a center of sexual exploitation and abuse, " said CDU/CSU parliamentary group vice-president Dorothee Bär, responsible for family and culture.

She noted that 25,000 women in Germany are engaged in prostitution. She asked the German chancellor to support the proposal of Christian Democrats and Christian Socials to ban the sale of sexual services.

Scholz did not directly respond to this request, but said it is often associated with abuse, violence and criminal structures. He added that he would welcome a discussion on how to combat such phenomena.

Is sex work legal in Germany?

Eros Center in FrankfurtPhoto: Schöning/IMAGO
The European Parliament also voted to ban sex-based employment in the so-called "Nordic model". Last week, German Family Minister Lisa Paus of the Green Party said the federal government is not planning any changes to Germany's Prostitutes Protection Act. She added that the 2017 law, which came into force with the aim of strengthening the legal position of sex workers, is in force and will be revised until 2025.

Sex work has always been legal in the Federal Republic of Germany, but promoting such work was considered an "immoral" and criminal offense until 2002.

In the GDR (former East Germany), sex work was illegal and officially non-existent. In September last year, the German association "Sexual Services" spoke out against the so-called Nordic model and said that the discussion was moving "to the detriment of a tolerant society and the rights of individuals" and that the affected persons were not included in this debate. ./ DW