The German Institute for Applied Crime Analysis (DIAKA) welcomes the decision of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag to end inhumane conditions in prostitution
"It is high time to put human dignity back at the centre of political action - also and especially when it comes to the suffering of girls and women in prostitution."
Inge Bell, Chairwoman of DIAKA
"Germany has become a paradise for human traffickers due to misguided prostitution policies. That is why we now need a clear paradigm shift, a jolt in the direction of human dignity. And across all party boundaries."
Former Senior Criminal Counsellor Helmut Sporer, Deputy Chairman of DIAKA
The German Institute for Applied Crime Analysis DIAKA welcomes the decision of the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag to end inhumane conditions in prostitution and to criminalise the purchase of sex - and thus to further develop the internationally proven "Nordic model" for Germany.
Today, on 7 November 2023, the CDU/CSU parliamentary group in the Bundestag adopted a position paper on prostitution with an overwhelming majority: "End inhumane conditions in prostitution - punish the purchase of sex". In it, it calls for a fundamental change in prostitution policy: with a so-called "three-pillar model", it wants to revise prostitution legislation in Germany, taking its lead from the internationally proven "Nordic model".
The three-pillar model provides for exit assistance, victim protection and witness protection programmes for girls and women in prostitution - they remain unpunished even if they continue to offer sexual services - and clear action against all profiteers in prostitution, a ban on the operation of brothels and prostitution establishments, stronger and more specialised prosecution of human trafficking and forced prostitution and, probably the toughest measure, the punishment of clients, i.e. a ban on buying sex, as well as a ban on client forums on the Internet - with the aim of stopping demand. The Union thus wants to further develop the so-called "Nordic Model", which is already successfully practised in 8 countries worldwide (including Sweden, France and Canada) and is also known as the "Equality Model", as a national model for Germany.
The experts at the German Institute for Applied Crime Analysis DIAKA expressly welcome this landmark decision by the CDU/CSU: "It is high time to put human dignity back at the centre of political action - also and especially when it comes to the suffering of girls and women in prostitution," says Inge Bell, Chairwoman of the DIAKA Board, "This groundbreaking and fundamental reorientation of the CDU/CSU parties is a step in the right direction. Because it corrects a historical aberration: Germany has been lagging behind international innovative models of success for over 20 years - to the detriment of hundreds of thousands of women in prostitution who are exposed to violence, coercion and exploitation on a daily basis."
The Union's position paper declares the previous prostitution legislation of the red-green government of 2002 a failure, with organised crime structures, gangs and clan crime dominating the milieu. Protection regulations introduced later have also come to nothing - overall, the situation of girls and women in prostitution has worsened: "Those affected, street workers, exit support organisations and law enforcement agencies continue to report that violence, coercion and exploitation characterise the scene" - according to the position paper.
Germany now occupies "an inglorious special position in other European and international countries" and has become a destination for sex tourism and a "magnet for johns". According to the Union paper, the structures in the milieu, with a few exceptions of self-determined sex workers, are "deeply inhumane and especially contemptuous of women". Punishing the purchase of sex is necessary in order to "finally be able to effectively help the countless victims of forced prostitution, violence and exploitation and to prevent new victims".
With its third pillar in particular - stringent law enforcement on the ground - the Union is also responding to criticism from security experts that the 2002 reform has made police work in many areas of the criminal milieu more difficult, even impossible. This is why there are to be specialised police units and the police's expertise is to be significantly strengthened: "Brutal violence and exploitation have been flourishing in the milieu for many years in an almost completely uncontrolled and uncontrollable manner," says Helmut Sporer, former senior criminal investigator and deputy chairman of the DIAKA, "Human trafficking, forced, poverty and misery prostitution have been taking place for over 20 years in a completely legal environment - and with a state-guaranteed brothel infrastructure. Germany has become a paradise for human traffickers due to misguided prostitution policies. That is why we now need a clear paradigm shift, a jolt in the direction of human dignity. And across all party boundaries."
Downloads
The position paper "Ending inhumane conditions in prostitution - punishing the purchase of sex" [in German] is available for download here:
This DIAKA Press release [in English] is available for download here:
This DIAKA Press release [in German] is available for download here:
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