Prostitution Act (Prostitutionsgesetz) | |
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Bundestag | |
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Citation | Text of the Law (In German) |
Territorial extent | Germany |
Enacted | 20 December 2001 |
Commenced | 1 January 2002 |
The Prostitution Act (Prostitutionsgesetz - ProstG) is a federal law in Germany that regulates the legal status of prostitution as a service in order to improve the legal and social situation of prostitutes. The law was promulgated on 20 December 2001 and has been in force since 1 January 2002. [1] At the same time the Strafgesetzbuch (Criminal Code) §180a [2] (exploitation of prostitutes) and §181a [3] (pimping) were amended so that the creation of an adequate working environment is no longer punishable as long as no exploitation of prostitutes takes place.
Sexual acts in the context of a prostitution contract are now valid to establish claims for compensation since the law came into force. This has not only significance for civil law, but also criminal law (property offences). In addition, prostitutes can now regularly insure in the statutory health, unemployment and pension insurance.
Prior to the entry into force of the Prostitution Act, contracts for sexual services were generally regarded as immoral within the meaning of Section 138(1) of the BGB (civil code). The legal consequence of immorality was the nullity of the contract. Therefore, neither a claim of the customer for the provision of the service nor a claim of the prostitutes for the agreed consideration is valid. The result was the practice of prepayment; A refund of the fee was excluded in this case according to §817 sentence 2 BGB .
According to the Administrative court of Berlin, prostitution was no longer immoral even before the Prostitution Act: "[...] the state obligation to protect human dignity (Article 1(1) sentence 2 GG) must not be misused to harm individuals through interference with protecting individual self-determination as it were from itself." [4] The European Court of Justice has made it clear that prostitution is a gainful employment that is" part of the common economic life "within the meaning of Article 2 EC. [5] Rulings on immorality, however, have not been passed in civil law, due to doubts about enforceability, compensation for bad performance, etc.
This civil-law assessment also had an impact on the concept of criminal law and thus, in particular, on fraud, which requires financial loss. If the work of the prostitutes could not justify a claim, it did not belong to the criminally protected assets. Anyone who used sexual services and thus fooled about his willingness to pay, committed no fraud for lack of financial loss. The Federal Court accepts this principle. On the other hand, the prostitute, who accepts money and misleads the customer about their willingness to provide sexual services, commits a fraud, as the customer's "good money" was, in the vast majority of view, despite the immoral purpose of the client's protected assets.
This legal position was judged by the legislature to be in need of reform.
The legislative procedure was initiated in May 2001 and included several expert hearings. In addition to the factions of the government parties SPD and Greens, the opposition factions of the FDP and the PDS voted in favour of the bill introduced by the government on 19 October 2001 in the Bundestag. Only the CDU/CSU faction opposed the law. [1]
"If sexual acts have been carried out against a previously agreed charge, this agreement constitutes a legally enforceable claim. The same applies if a person, in particular in the context of an employment relationship, provides for the provision of such acts for a previously agreed fee for a certain period of time."
— §1 ProstG [6]
§1 states that after the provision of sexual services, the provider is entitled to payment of the promised consideration. It clarifies that the customer does not have a claim for the performance of the service, or that the provision of the service is enforceable. As judgements on the establishment of marital union are not enforceable, (§120 paragraph 3 FamFG), [7] enforcement would be inconsistent and possibly unconstitutional as a violation of Art. 1 GG (respect for human dignity).
§2 of the law ensures that the objection of immorality is excluded because of the nature of the service. It should not be required in court to prove the quality of the services provided. However, other circumstances, such as inability to work and probably also immorality because of usury are not excluded. [8]
In addition, the payment claim can not be assigned. Beyond the wording, the claim also can not be asserted by means of the power of attorney or process status, although substitution (acting in a foreign name) remains possible. This makes trading in such claims impossible.
"For prostitutes, the limited right to give instructions in the context of a dependent activity does not preclude the assumption of employment within the meaning of social security law."
— §3 ProstG [9]
In §3 the conditions for admission to social security are created.
The enforceability of fees in practice is of little importance, since payment is almost always made in advance.
The advertising ban for sexual services (Section 119 OWiG) [10] was not repealed by the Prostitution Act. The offence (Section 120 OWiG) [11] and the offence (Section 184d StGB) [12] of prohibited prostitution, i.e. the infringement of a restricted area decree issued on the basis of Article 297 of the CCAIL, also remained unchanged.
Since human dignity, as the highest constitutional value (Article 1 of the Basic Law), is not at the discretion of the state, or even by law, prostitution, according to some lawyers, continues to be immoral. [13] In particular, it argues that § 2 ProstG only excludes the objection of immorality and § 1 speaks only of a "legally effective demand", however, does not order positively that the contract is not immoral or even effective. Also, the lack of enforceability of sexual performance shows clearly that it is still not a normal contract. However, the legal relationships are finally regulated by the Prostitution Act.
Although § 180a StGB criminalises the "exploitation of prostitutes", the paragraph is rarely used, as both economic dependence and personal dependence are difficult to prove. A conviction in criminal proceedings is unlikely without the statement of those affected.
The magazine EMMA , which holds a critical view on prostitution in general, claims the Prostitution Act promotes forced prostitution. [14]
The Federal Social Court found, in a judgment of 6 May 2009, that the Prostitution Act was enacted to protect employees and not to promote business. [15] A brothel operator can not demand the placement of prostitutes by the Federal Employment Agency.
In the coalition agreement negotiated by the CDU, CSU and SPD after the 2013 general election, a "comprehensive revision" of the Prostitution Act was announced. In this context, the legal basis for the control of prostitution sites by the regulatory authorities should be improved. In the same section of the coalition agreement, albeit without a direct legal link to the Prostitution Act, the governing parties also announced measures against forced prostitution and trafficking. Thus, the victims should be better protected and corresponding offenders punished more consistently. In the future, action should also be taken against people "who knowingly and wilfully exploit the predicament of victims of trafficking and forced prostitution and abuse them for sexual acts". [16] [17]
In September 2016, the Prostitute Protection Act was passed, which introduced a compulsory registration for prostitutes, a compulsory permit for the prostitution industry and other regulations, such as regular, compulsory health advice and use of condoms.
The Mann Act, previously called the White-Slave Traffic Act of 1910, is a United States federal law, passed June 25, 1910. It is named after Congressman James Robert Mann of Illinois.
Prostitution in Germany is legal, as are other aspects of the sex industry, including brothels, advertisement, and job offers through HR companies. Full-service sex work is widespread and regulated by the German government, which levies taxes on it. In 2016, the government adopted a new law, the Prostitutes Protection Act, in an effort to improve the legal situation of sex workers, while also now enacting a legal requirement for registration of prostitution activity and banning prostitution which involves no use of condoms. The social stigmatization of sex work persists and many workers continue to lead a double life. Human rights organizations consider the resulting common exploitation of women from East Germany to be the main problem associated with the profession.
An eingetragener Verein, abbreviated e. V., is a legal status for a registered voluntary association in Germany. While any group may be called a Verein, registration as eingetragener Verein confers many legal benefits, because it confers the status of a juridical person rather than just a group of individuals. The legal status must be mentioned in the name as well. Like certain other corporate bodies, an eingetragener Verein can apply for the status of a charitable organization.
Prostitution in Taiwan was made illegal under a 1991 law. Legislation was introduced in 2011 to allow local governments in Taiwan to set up "special zones" where prostitution is permitted. Outside these zones prostitution is illegal. As of 2017 no "special zones" had been opened.
An unenforceable contract or transaction is one that is valid but one the court will not enforce. Unenforceable is usually used in contradiction to void and voidable. If the parties perform the agreement, it will be valid, but the court will not compel them if they do not.
Prostitution is legal in India, but a number of related activities including soliciting, kerb crawling, owning or managing a brothel, prostitution in a hotel, child prostitution, pimping and pandering are illegal. There are, however, many brothels illegally operating in Indian cities including Mumbai, Delhi, Kolkata, Bangalore, and Chennai. UNAIDS estimate there were 657,829 prostitutes in the country as of 2016. Other unofficial estimates have calculated India has roughly 3–10 million prostitutes. India is widely regarded as having one of the world's largest commercial sex industry. It has emerged as a global hub of sex tourism, attracting sex tourists from wealthy countries. The sex industry in India is a multi-billion dollar one, and one of the fastest growing.
Prostitution is illegal in the vast majority of the United States as a result of state laws rather than federal laws. It is, however, legal in some rural counties within the state of Nevada. Additionally, it is decriminalized in the state of Maine. Prostitution nevertheless occurs elsewhere in the country.
Prostitution in Denmark was partly decriminalised in 1999, based partly on the premise that it was easier to police a legal trade than an illegal one. Third-party activities, such as profiting from brothel administration and other forms of procuring, remain illegal activities in Denmark, as do pimping and prostitution of minors.
Prostitution in Austria is legal and regulated.
Prostitution in Switzerland is legal and regulated; it has been legal since 1942. Trafficking, forcing people into prostitution and most forms of pimping are illegal. Licensed brothels, typically with a reception and leading to several studio apartments, are available. One estimate puts the number of street sex workers in Zurich at 5,000.
Prostitution in South Africa is illegal for both buying and selling sex, as well as related activities such as brothel keeping and pimping. However, it remains widespread. Law enforcement is poor.
Prostitution is the business or practice of engaging in sexual activity in exchange for payment. The definition of "sexual activity" varies, and is often defined as an activity requiring physical contact with the customer. The requirement of physical contact also creates the risk of transferring diseases. Prostitution is sometimes described as sexual services, commercial sex or, colloquially, hooking. It is sometimes referred to euphemistically as "the world's oldest profession" in the English-speaking world. A person who works in this field is called a prostitute, and sometimes a sex worker, but the words hooker and whore are also sometimes used to describe those who work as prostitutes.
The legality of prostitution in Europe varies by country.
This is an overview of prostitution by region.
Prostitution laws varies widely from country to country, and between jurisdictions within a country. At one extreme, prostitution or sex work is legal in some places and regarded as a profession, while at the other extreme, it is considered a severe crime punishable by death in some other places.A variety of different legal models exist around the world, including total bans, bans that only target the customer, and laws permitting prostitution but prohibiting organized groups, an example being brothels.
An "eG" or eingetragene Genossenschaft is a "registered cooperative society" under German Law. Unregistered cooperatives are also possible in Germany but practically never used in practice. In 2004 there were 5470 registered cooperative societies.
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The Prostitutes Protection Act (Prostituiertenschutzgesetz) is a German Federal Law that was enacted on 21 October 2016 and came into force on 1 July 2017. Core elements are the introduction of a permit requirement for all prostitution trades and a registration certificate for prostitutes. The intent of the law was to better protect prostitutes and fight crime. Interest groups criticized the law, which they claim penalizes and endangers prostitutes and a constitutional complaint was filed in June 2017.
Im Winkel, together with Gußstahlstraße, has been the red-light district of Bochum, Germany, since the early part of the 20th century. The local names for the street are "Eierberg", "Gurke", "Riemenschleifer" (belt-grinder) or "Riemenwalzwerk".
The Linienstraße is a street in Dortmund, Germany, known for prostitution. The street is located north of the city's main railway station Dortmund Hauptbahnhof in the Stadtbezirk Innenstadt-Nord district. There have been brothels on Linienstraße since the beginning of the 20th century. Under the "Sperrbezirk" regulations, prostitution in central Dortmund is only permitted in Linienstraße.