German MPs promote sex purchase ban

The book 'The Nordic Model - A Possibility for Germany?' was written by Social Democrats (SPD), the Christian Democrats (CDU) and the liberal FDP. The editors are the former member of the Bundestag Frank Heinrich (CDU) and the representative of the German Evangelical Alliance in Berlin, Uwe Heimowski. Other authors include Leni Breymaier (SPD) and Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker (CDU).

According to Heinrich and Heimowski, the liberal legislation on prostitution did not help women.

Instead, forded prostitution and precarious conditions are regular, writes the German Christian magazine PRO. According to Social Democrat Leni Breymaier, the German red-light district is firmly in the hands of internationally active organised crime. "They have their laws, their judges, their enforcers. The women hardly have access to our help systems, do not have health insurance, and often do not know which city they are in. It is a billion-dollar business at the expense of women."

German broadcaster 3sat writes reports that, according to a study, prostitutes are exposed to a high degree of danger and harm to body and soul through their work. According to 3sat, women who worked as prostitutes for years and who managed to quit believe that there is hardly anyone who volunteers to prostitute themselves: "If you have to serve 20 customers a day, it is physically and mentally unbearable."

Criminalised

However, in Sweden, the prostitution debate has seen a paradigm shift since 1999. Since then, there has been a sex purchase ban, in which the sex buyer is punished. "In contrast to the conventional prohibition of prostitution, the victims were no longer additionally criminalised and accordingly made greater use of offers of help because they had no criminal consequences to fear," the authors write.

The Nordic model offers sex education for young people, decriminalisation of prostitutes and exit programs in addition to the ban on buying sex. "Many of the women are battered and broken in body and soul. It's not about morality; it's about human rights. "

Christian Democrat Elisabeth Winkelmeier-Becker is convinced. "For most women, prostitution means "permanent hurtful and humiliating sexual abuse and a life of total dependency", Winkelmeier told PRO. According to her, a comparison with other legal professions ignores reality. "Only about 80 out of an estimated 400,000 prostitutes are in employment with health and pension insurance that is subject to social security contributions."

Winkelmeier-Becker is certain: "We have to decide: The 'freedom' of the few self-determined prostitutes is in fact at a cost intolerable attacks on hundreds of thousands of young women who apparently cannot be protected with existing laws and controls. "

The book on the Nordic model is now intended to convince the rest of the politicians in the German Bundestag of the need for new legal regulation. The editors have sent it to all MPs.