Abstract
This chapter examines two nations where prostitution is legal and regulated by the state. The central features of each legal system are described, followed by an analysis of struggles over prostitution policy in the postlegalization period. Recent conflicts in Germany and the Netherlands illustrate the kinds of debates and policy proposals that may arise in other nations after prostitution is decriminalized. The legislation resulting from these recent struggles is evaluated.
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Notes
- 1.
A municipality cannot prohibit individuals from selling sex, but it can restrict prostitution businesses for pragmatic reasons.
- 2.
An audit found 8685 unique phone numbers in Internet advertisements of individual sex workers on a random day (Daalder 2015, p. 21).
- 3.
The decrease in the number of window prostitution licenses is partly a function of changes in some cities’ licensing system. Previously, each rented window room was licensed, but now there is licensing of each business, which may include several windows (Daalder 2015, p. 18). The number of window licenses should therefore not be interpreted as the number of operating window rooms.
- 4.
The survey results are not based on a random sample, but included a significant proportion of window workers in Amsterdam. Questionnaires were distributed by female interviewers who visited all window occupants present during 6 days in February 2010. The researchers then conducted an on-site interview or left the questionnaire with the woman and retrieved it later.
- 5.
A major European Commission report on 27 European countries also conflated “identified” and “presumed” trafficking victims (Eurostat 2013).
- 6.
In May 2016, the Supreme Court ruled that bringing someone into the Netherlands to work in sexual commerce would no longer be an offense.
- 7.
Deputy Mayor Asscher also published a book in which he claimed that no woman voluntarily chooses to enter prostitution.
- 8.
Interview with Ministry of Justice official, June 27, 2008.
- 9.
Felicia Anna, “Behind the Red Light District” blog, accessed February 4, 2017 http://behindtheredlightdistrict.blogspot.com/2014/05/forced-into-prostitution.html.
- 10.
The official goal was to reduce the number from 477 to 293 (a 40 percent reduction) and to reduce the number of cannabis bars from 76 to 50 (Project Group Emergo 2011, pp. 283–284).
- 11.
The Public Administration (Probity Screening) Act 2003, BIBOB, allows the authorities to act if “a suspicion arises that criminal offenses are being committed” or if they believe there is a “serious risk that it [the business] will be used to commit or facilitate criminal offenses” (Peters and Spapens 2015, p. 272). Accused offenders may appeal their cases to a civil court, and some have done so.
- 12.
The controversy over Amsterdam’s main RLD is partly due to its location in the heart of the city’s tourist district. Two smaller RLDs exist in residential neighborhoods outside the city center and have not generated controversy.
- 13.
This does not mean that there was consensus among the residents on policies affecting the RLD.
- 14.
The plans included closing some window buildings, restricting working hours, registration of sex workers, and raising the minimum age from 18 to 21.
- 15.
This means that managing someone working in a brothel or other establishment, with rules regarding working hours or prices, is not an offense if the rules are mutually agreed upon (Federal Ministry 2007, pp. 42–43).
- 16.
In Austria, where prostitution is also legal, the number of trafficking complaints (§104a, Criminal Code) filed by the police with the public prosecutor have hovered in the 20s annually: 18 (2010), 22 (2011), 22 (2012), 24 (2013), 35 (2014) (BMI 2014, p. 97). Convictions of traffickers have ranged from 1 in 2011 to 13 in 2013 (Amesberger 2014, pp. 148–149). (These figures include all types of human trafficking.) A separate offense (§217, Criminal Code) outlaws the act of bringing a person into Austria or hiring her or him to come to Austria for sexual services whether or not coercion is involved. The number of §217 complaints filed with prosecutors ranged from 52 in 2011 to 29 in 2014 (BMI 2014, p. 100).
- 17.
Interview with manager of brothel in Frankfurt, March 19, 2011.
- 18.
Austria’s prostitution policy bears some similarities to Germany’s new law. All sex workers are required to be registered with either the police or health authorities. Weekly health checks are mandatory, and sex workers must carry a special identity card indicating that they have passed the health exam. If a person tests positive for a sexually transmitted disease, the card is withdrawn until the person is no longer infected. Anyone who violates this rule is subject to a fine of €70 or incarceration for up to 2 months (Kartusch and Hoebart 2007, p. 19). Each of Austria’s nine provinces (Länder) regulates prostitution somewhat differently. Licenses are required for erotic businesses in five provinces, while the other four provinces allow prostitution only in specific geographical areas (e.g., away from schools, playgrounds, and churches) (Kartusch and Hoebart 2007). Street prostitution is outlawed in seven provinces and zoned in the other two. Representatives of each state meet annually to discuss prostitution issues and consider recommendations for greater regulatory uniformity, but their recommendations are not binding on the provinces and municipalities.
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Acknowledgements
I am grateful to Helga Amesberger, Jenny Künkel, Matt Lehmann, Joyce Outshoorn, Maite Verhoeven, and Gerhard Walentowitz for information relevant to this chapter.
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Weitzer, R. (2017). Legal Prostitution: The German and Dutch Models. In: Savona, E., Kleiman, M., Calderoni, F. (eds) Dual Markets. Springer, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-319-65361-7_24
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