Karlsruhe, Germany (dpa) – Brothels across Germany staged an open day on Thursday to draw attention to the plight of sex workers during the coronavirus pandemic.
The organizers argue that prostitution should be allowed again under strict hygiene rules.
Laura, who runs the Lauras Girls establishment in the German city of Karlsruhe, said the business will not survive if it is not allowed to reopen by September at the latest.
The brothel has been closed since March 14.
Laura, who only gave her first name to dpa, argued that the restrictions are driving sex work into illegal territory. “The checks are lost,” she said.
The brothel manager called for dialogue but said that there has been no response from politicians so far. “We are not being heard,” she added.
There are no reliable figures on how many people work in the sex industry in Germany.
Under the Prostitutes Protection Act, around 32,800 people had officially registered as sex workers by late 2018.
However, Johanna Weber of the Professional Association for Erotic and Sexual Service Providers explained that sex workers generally only register if they have to, for example if they are required to by their employers in brothels, fetish studios, sauna clubs and other establishments.
The open day, which offered “no sex, only information,” comes after a protest in Hamburg at the weekend, in which around 400 prostitutes and brothel owners campaigned for a reopening of their industry in the city’s famous Reeperbahn red-light district.
They carried banners reading “Sex work must not be made illegal by the coronavirus” and “We are hygiene experts.”
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