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Prostitution - Ein deutscher Skandal: Wie konnten wir zum Paradies der Frauenhändler werden?
Prostitution – ein »Beruf wie jeder andere«?
Prostitution ist das älteste Gewerbe der Welt. Prostitution wird es immer geben. – Stimmt das? Ist nicht ganz Ähnliches vor gar nicht so langer Zeit auch von der Sklaverei gesagt worden? Und wird die nicht heute von allen HumanistInnen und DemokratInnen geächtet? In Ländern wie Schweden oder Frankreich redet man im Zusammenhang mit Prostitution von der Menschenwürde der Frauen – und Männer. Und bekämpft die internationale Frauenhandels-Mafia. Nur in Deutschland wird der Verkauf von Körper und Seele verschleiernd »Sexarbeit« genannt und gilt die Prostitution als ein »Beruf wie jeder andere« – und nur in Deutschland öffnete eine rot-grüne Gesetzesänderung 2002 den Frauenhändlern Tür und Tor.90 % aller Prostituierten in Deutschland kommen aus den ärmsten Ländern in Osteuropa und Afrika. Doch auch die meisten deutschen Prostituierten landen in der Altersarmut. In dem von Alice Schwarzer herausgegebenen Band informieren Autorinnen und Autoren über den Skandal des »deutschen Sonderweges«, die bittere Realität der Frauen in der Prostitution – und den Kampf von Feministinnen an ihrer Seite.
Prostitution ist das älteste Gewerbe der Welt. Prostitution wird es immer geben. – Stimmt das? Ist nicht ganz Ähnliches vor gar nicht so langer Zeit auch von der Sklaverei gesagt worden? Und wird die nicht heute von allen HumanistInnen und DemokratInnen geächtet? In Ländern wie Schweden oder Frankreich redet man im Zusammenhang mit Prostitution von der Menschenwürde der Frauen – und Männer. Und bekämpft die internationale Frauenhandels-Mafia. Nur in Deutschland wird der Verkauf von Körper und Seele verschleiernd »Sexarbeit« genannt und gilt die Prostitution als ein »Beruf wie jeder andere« – und nur in Deutschland öffnete eine rot-grüne Gesetzesänderung 2002 den Frauenhändlern Tür und Tor.90 % aller Prostituierten in Deutschland kommen aus den ärmsten Ländern in Osteuropa und Afrika. Doch auch die meisten deutschen Prostituierten landen in der Altersarmut. In dem von Alice Schwarzer herausgegebenen Band informieren Autorinnen und Autoren über den Skandal des »deutschen Sonderweges«, die bittere Realität der Frauen in der Prostitution – und den Kampf von Feministinnen an ihrer Seite.
- GenresFeminismNonfiction
336 pages, Paperback
First published November 7, 2013
4 people are currently reading
74 people want to read
About the author
Alice Schwarzer
56 books28 followersAlice Schwarzer is a German journalist, a prominent contemporary feminist and founder and publisher of the feminist journal EMMA, as well as a columnist of Germany's best-selling tabloid, Bild.
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Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews
May 29, 2014
I've read/am reading several non-fiction books about prostitution and sex-work currently. One reason is the late acceptance of prostitution even among people I would consider feminists or know to be politically active within the humanist movement. An acceptance which ranges from shoulder-shrugging to enthusiastic in cases, and practically never these days is critical of selling sex and what this entails on the level of ethics and those who sell themselves.
Another reason of course is the recent porn-debate and subsequent porn-filter/censoring in the UK, and its background ( http://steelwhisper.wordpress.com/201... ), which is not as zany as people opposing the new policies maintain (that it's not helpful and other measures need to be undertaken is something else).
And during this reading spree occurred the posts of Tanja Rahm, an ex-prostitute, whose letter was widely published in several big broadsheets here in Europe:
https://www.facebook.com/abolishprost...
and the answer by an author who frequents prostitutes (cautious, that's really a bit much!):
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rvsof4
I've been barely on the fence about prostitution all these years, meaning while I do not look down upon women prostituting themselves, I consider the system and the punters as something rather loathsome, and have now for a long time leaned towards the Swedish solution. Usually this resulted in quite negative comments from friends and acquaintances, who consider prostitution as some sort of sex-positive expression of a liberal mindset. The next step in such discussions then would be to point towards The Netherlands and Germany, where prostitution has been legalised around the turn of the millennium, and the women now pay taxes and are inscribed into health insurance, and can "freely" work wherever they please.
Alice Schwarzer is a well-known, hardcore continental feminist, maintaining her own feminist magazine and with a track record of being acerbic and allegedly very over the top. Sort of a German Andrea Dworkin. So I expected her book to be biased, inflammatory, definitely one-sided, and decided to read it both to get the most extreme standpoint, as well as to read something from out of a country where prostitution has been legalised. That's now nearly a decade and half past, so some consequences ought to be in evidence.
Well, I was put into my place. Not only was this a rather balanced work, with essays from everyone touched by the topic: punters, their wives, street prostitutes, dominatrixes, women working in small and very large brothels, detectives trying to do something about white slavery, and various people and organisations who work with and for prostitutes. Some of the info was mind-boggling, such as "flatrate fucking", or that between 2002 and 2012 the amount of trafficked prostitutes working in quite normal brothels in Germany went up from an estimate of initially 25% to a shocking 70% and by now (2014) is considered to be as high as 85% in some areas.
Trafficked means exactly what it says, these are women pressed into prostitution, mostly in eastern countries, then "imported" into The Netherlands and Germany where the legalised state of prostitution means that the law enforcement is practically toothless dealing with this. Instead of a betterment of the prostitutes the legalisation appears to have made things importantly easier for pimps, brothel owners and slavers. Prostitution has become a financial asset, to the point that bankers and companies invest money in the supersized brothels which are getting built at the moment.
The former "professional prostitutes" however have lost custom and suffered a decline in payment with the advent of the women from abroad who will work for less money and without condoms--that pressure much worse than formerly the young drug-dependent street whores. Also interesting, the several outspoken organisations of prostitutes who try to paint a positive picture of women "willingly and without coming to any harm choosing that profession for personal pleasure and freedom" are largely managed by ex-prostitutes now owning brothels and importantly supported by male and female brothel owners. Honi soit qui mal y pense.
In the Netherlands politicians have begun to actively contemplate turning the clock back and the anti-punter movement is currently gaining momentum. Interestingly not in Germany where, as Schwarzer shows, politics and politicians are being influenced by abovementioned lobby groups.
It is a very interesting read, which I can recommend. Much more balanced than I thought, and it certainly taught me a few things I didn't know.
Another reason of course is the recent porn-debate and subsequent porn-filter/censoring in the UK, and its background ( http://steelwhisper.wordpress.com/201... ), which is not as zany as people opposing the new policies maintain (that it's not helpful and other measures need to be undertaken is something else).
And during this reading spree occurred the posts of Tanja Rahm, an ex-prostitute, whose letter was widely published in several big broadsheets here in Europe:
https://www.facebook.com/abolishprost...
and the answer by an author who frequents prostitutes (cautious, that's really a bit much!):
http://www.twitlonger.com/show/n_1rvsof4
I've been barely on the fence about prostitution all these years, meaning while I do not look down upon women prostituting themselves, I consider the system and the punters as something rather loathsome, and have now for a long time leaned towards the Swedish solution. Usually this resulted in quite negative comments from friends and acquaintances, who consider prostitution as some sort of sex-positive expression of a liberal mindset. The next step in such discussions then would be to point towards The Netherlands and Germany, where prostitution has been legalised around the turn of the millennium, and the women now pay taxes and are inscribed into health insurance, and can "freely" work wherever they please.
Alice Schwarzer is a well-known, hardcore continental feminist, maintaining her own feminist magazine and with a track record of being acerbic and allegedly very over the top. Sort of a German Andrea Dworkin. So I expected her book to be biased, inflammatory, definitely one-sided, and decided to read it both to get the most extreme standpoint, as well as to read something from out of a country where prostitution has been legalised. That's now nearly a decade and half past, so some consequences ought to be in evidence.
Well, I was put into my place. Not only was this a rather balanced work, with essays from everyone touched by the topic: punters, their wives, street prostitutes, dominatrixes, women working in small and very large brothels, detectives trying to do something about white slavery, and various people and organisations who work with and for prostitutes. Some of the info was mind-boggling, such as "flatrate fucking", or that between 2002 and 2012 the amount of trafficked prostitutes working in quite normal brothels in Germany went up from an estimate of initially 25% to a shocking 70% and by now (2014) is considered to be as high as 85% in some areas.
Trafficked means exactly what it says, these are women pressed into prostitution, mostly in eastern countries, then "imported" into The Netherlands and Germany where the legalised state of prostitution means that the law enforcement is practically toothless dealing with this. Instead of a betterment of the prostitutes the legalisation appears to have made things importantly easier for pimps, brothel owners and slavers. Prostitution has become a financial asset, to the point that bankers and companies invest money in the supersized brothels which are getting built at the moment.
The former "professional prostitutes" however have lost custom and suffered a decline in payment with the advent of the women from abroad who will work for less money and without condoms--that pressure much worse than formerly the young drug-dependent street whores. Also interesting, the several outspoken organisations of prostitutes who try to paint a positive picture of women "willingly and without coming to any harm choosing that profession for personal pleasure and freedom" are largely managed by ex-prostitutes now owning brothels and importantly supported by male and female brothel owners. Honi soit qui mal y pense.
In the Netherlands politicians have begun to actively contemplate turning the clock back and the anti-punter movement is currently gaining momentum. Interestingly not in Germany where, as Schwarzer shows, politics and politicians are being influenced by abovementioned lobby groups.
It is a very interesting read, which I can recommend. Much more balanced than I thought, and it certainly taught me a few things I didn't know.
November 24, 2017
Du hast dieses Buch nicht gelesen? Dann bilde dir keine Meinung über Prostitution!
December 29, 2017
You would probably think that as a feminist this woman is biased but she has REASON.
August 21, 2020
Einigen Leuten kann ein Realitätscheck nicht schaden.
January 11, 2025
Erinnerung an die schöne Zeit wo Schwarzer noch nicht hauptberuflich geschwurbelt hat.
Displaying 1 - 5 of 5 reviews