Global Economic Crisis Pummels German Sex Industry

by Amanda Kloer · 2009-04-23 12:00:00 UTC
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Well, folks, in case you hadn't noticed there is a recession going on.  And no industry is exempt, not even the sex industry.  In Germany, the commercial sex industry is attempting to boost sales with marketing tools including mail-in rebates, senior citizen discounts, and "all-day" passes.  It brings a whole new meaning to the phrase "stimulus package".

Apparently, when times are tight in Europe, a visit to the brothel is the first luxury to go.  Many venues have seen revenue decline as much as 50%, leading some to take the Vegas buffet approach to selling sex:

Berlin's "P*ssy Club" has attracted media attention with its headline-grabbing "flat rate" -- a 70-euro admission charge for unlimited food, drink and sex between 10 a.m. and 4 p.m.
Germany has also seen an influx in low-priced "amateur prostitutes", women who have turned to prostitution out of economic necessity.  These women, if they haven't already fallen under pimp control, are often a breath away from being sucked into a situation of trafficking.
Many women who end up trafficked into commercial sex industries start out in voluntary prostitution due to economic need.  But then something changes- they fall under the power of a pimp or get lured to another city- and their freedom is taken away.  Many women sucked into prostitution are promised that they get to pick the clients, make their own hours, and keep all their money.  But in trafficking, the trafficker/pimp makes all these decisions for the woman.  No one can choose to be trafficked.  Even if a woman chooses to enter prostitution, she does not choose to be enslaved, raped, forced to have sex, stolen from, or controlled.
I fear the toxic combination of a legal sex industry, increasingly desperate women, and criminal entrepreneurs will exacerbate Germany's trafficking industry.  And that indsutry, sadly, will not be solved with a recession.
Image from chinadaily.com
Amanda Kloer is a Change.org Editor and has been a full-time abolitionist in several capacities for seven years. Follow her on Twitter @endhumantraffic
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