I am currently reading Clemens Meyer's Im Stein, a panoramic mosaic of the sex industry in Germany (review to follow). Meyer doesn't make any moral judgment, but just lets the voices of the prostitutes, brothel owners, pimps, johns, and the police speak for themselves.
Prostitution is legal in Germany. Sex workers pay taxes and receive the same health and pension benefits as any other employee. Is this a good thing? I guess the only logical answer is: it's better than the alternative. I watched the German talk show Günther Jauch the other evening which dealt with the topic. The guests included a young woman who abandoned her studies in computer science to become an enthusiastic prostitute, as well as a bordello magnate who was proud of his exemplary "customer service" ( you might still be able to watch the show on the Mediathek.)
There are an estimated 400,000 sex workers in Germany – more than in any other country in Europe. The overwhelming majority are "independent contractors" and are from countries to the east, such as Romania, Bulgaria and the Ukraine. No question that many are the victims of human trafficking and were "tricked" into the profession in their desire to leave the poverty and dismal prospects in their home countries.
Still, there are a vocal minority who are proud of their independence and vehemently deny that they are being exploited in any way. One anonymous "sex entrepreneur" made her views known in Die Zeit. This woman turned to freelance prostitution after being treated shabbily by the local employent office, where she was only offered minimum wage jobs (actually, there is no minimum wage in Germany). Now she is simply following the neoliberal agenda:
"Niemand kann mir einen Vorwurf machen. Ich liege nicht der Allgemeinheit auf der Tasche, sondern habe das getan, was uns von den Verfechtern des Neoliberalismus ständig gepredigt wird: Ich habe festgestellt, dass es für das, was ich anzubieten habe, einen Bedarf gibt und habe mir meinen Arbeitsplatz selbst geschaffen. Ja, ich verdiene einen Teil meines Lebensunterhaltes mit Sexarbeit und ich bin froh, dass ich mit über 50 diese Möglichkeit für mich entdeckt habe."
("No one can accuse me of being a financial burden on society. I have simply done what the proponents of neoliberalism constantly preach: I discovered that there is a need for the services that I offer and created my own job. Sure I make some of my income by performing sex work and I'm just happy that at the age of over 50 I 've discovered this possibility for myself.)
I wonder what the moralistic libertarians in America ike Rand Paul, who are constantly complaining about the "lazy poor people",would say to this enterprising woman.
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My girlfriend has an interest in the effects of prostitution on our society which borders to paranoia. Therefore I am constantly confronted with research and articles on the results of its legalization in the early 2000s.
Generally I would be libertarian enough to say people should be free to render human kind’s oldest service. However it cannot be denied that Germany has become THE prostitution hub in Europe after the legalization. Flat rate parties with women “encountering” 20+ men in one night are one of the excesses which resulted out of this.
Having said that one can hardly blame Germany for this concentration of prostitution, when IMHO it does not so much stem from prostitution being legal in Germany but from it being illegal pretty much everywhere else in Europe.
Imagine alcohol would be prohibited throughout entire Europe except tiny Belgium (granted such a thing is hard to imagine). We would all know which country would gain the biggest boost in tourism the following year.
I don’t want prostitution anywhere near me and am not afraid to say so. I don’t like porn either and get very impatient with people who tell me oh it’s human nature and you are just an old prude and so on.
I think the Swedes are right to criminalize the buying of sex. If that seems prudish, men, ask if prostitution would be the occupation you would choose for your wives and daughters. Or if it just seems OK as an occupation for “low value” women.
Honestly, how long will it take before the male gender is willing to stop mistreating women and even worse claiming that women could really like such dangerous and humiliating work?
Moralistic liberals like Obama constantly berate black people:
http://www.blackbluedog.com/2013/05/news/dr-boyce-president-obama-lacks-the-moral-authority-to-give-his-lopsided-speech-at-morehouse/
I really like that Germany has a legalized prostitution. More taxes less disease.
Well I guess you think it’s OK to buy sex. I don’t. I think it’s a squalid thing to do.
as opposed to the USA, where we have sexually repressed gun nuts running around schooting up schools and movie theaters. If we had prostitutes here like the good old days we wouldnt have so much violence.
Once, a principle of a highschool I went to in the USA made a strange admission to a sex education class, that as a child his father had taken him to a prostitute to teach him about sex, that in his day it was a common practice! Many of the highschool students balked. I guess they didnt take guns to school and blow each other away in his day either.