You report in "In Germany Sex Workers Feed the Meter" (9/1/11) that the city of Bonn is taxing prostituted women for the "… privilege of street walking." Prostitution is no privilege – it is a practice of sex discrimination, a human rights abuse and is inextricably linked to sex trafficking. It is a social injustice that stems from the world oldest inequality – that of women. Prostitution arises from social conditions such as sexual abuse, poverty, racial or ethnic inequality and gender discrimination. Nor can prostitution be characterized as ‘work.’ The prostituted are subjected to sexualized degradation and violence. A recent Canadian study found that the prostituted face a 40 times higher rate of murder than those not in prostitution.
Legalization of this oppression is a misguided and now failed social policy that ignores the underlying social inequities that create it. Germany's legalization of prostitution has made Germany a magnet for sex trafficking. Germany is the destination of choice in Europe for traffickers and buyers of commercial sex. Further, legalization of prostitution protects no one. Five years after legalizing prostitution, the German government issued a report that expressly acknowledged that legalization has failed to improve the conditions of the prostituted. The Netherlands has also issued reports that reach similar conclusions.
It is a betrayal of human rights values to profit from a human rights abuse. You do not tax oppression, you work to abolish it. Sweden, Norway, Iceland and a number of other countries have passed groundbreaking legislation that discourages the demand for commercial sex. The Nordic Model is based on the recognition that commercial sexual exploitation is violence against women and presents a serious obstacle to achieving equality for women. Adopting this inspired legal approach is how we end the oldest oppression and stand a chance to end human trafficking in our lifetime.”
Norma Ramos, Esq.
Executive Director
Coalition Against Trafficking in Women