In 2001, the German parliament almost totally deregulated prostitution. The majority, left-wing coalition of Social Democrats and the Green Party trumpeted the new law as a reform that would end prudishness about sex work and bring the business into the open so prostitutes could bargain for higher pay and claim social insurance. <\/p>\n
Things havent quite gone according to plan. Large brothels have popped up in various cities, packed with women and girls lured by human traffickers from poverty-stricken Eastern Europe and handed over to pimps upon arrival. <\/p>\n
Charles Lane <\/p>\n
Lane is a Post editorial writer, specializing in economic policy, financial issues and trade, and a contributor to the PostPartisan blog. <\/p>\n
Archive <\/p>\n
Sex tourists from around the globe flock to German establishments that offer unlimited sex for a flat rate of 100 euros (about $135) or, sometimes, gang-bang parties, according to extensive exposs of what some in the German press call modern slavery. Meanwhile, there has been no increase in prostitutes signing up for social benefits. <\/p>\n
Amid a growing backlash from womens rights advocates, Chancellor Angela Merkel is promising tougher rules. A likely reform is the elimination of flat-rate brothels, though how that would be enforced is anyones guess. <\/p>\n
Now the Supreme Court of Canada is trying its hand at prostitution reform. The justices unanimously struck down the countrys prostitution laws and ordered parliament to rewrite them within a year. Will this experiment end better than Germanys, or will it confirm that theres something inherently exploitative about prostitution that neither market forces nor enlightened legislators and judges can eradicate? <\/p>\n
Prior to the courts ruling, Canadian law took a characteristically middle-of-the-road approach. Performing sex acts for money was not a crime. But it was illegal to solicit customers, operate a brothel or live off the avails of prostitution Canadian for pimping. Basically, prostitution was permitted but contained. <\/p>\n
To the Supreme Court, however, this arbitrary scheme imposed dangerous conditions by preventing prostitutes from working indoors, from hiring drivers, receptionists or bodyguards, and from talking to would-be clients ahead of time to screen out potential abusers. <\/p>\n
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Lane: Legalizing prostitution doesn\u2019t make it safer<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" In 2001, the German parliament almost totally deregulated prostitution. The majority, left-wing coalition of Social Democrats and the Green Party trumpeted the new law as a reform that would end prudishness about sex work and bring the business into the open so prostitutes could bargain for higher pay and claim social insurance Continue reading