Talk on the topic of "Sex for Money"

In the photo: host and moderator Florian Weber.

The SWR citizen talk show “let’s be honest…” in the Old Fire Station in Mannheim will be dealing with the currently topical discussion about a ban on prostitution in Germany on May 5, 2021, starting at 22 p.m.

“Sex for money: should it be banned?” asks moderator Florian Weber and speaks to sex workers and customers, politicians and experts on the subject.

Virus-safe distancing rules in a brothel? It is obvious that these cannot be guaranteed at the moment. For this reason alone, experts assume that commercial prostitution will probably remain prohibited for a long time to come.

That's a good thing, say critics of the industry, an opportunity for the state to ban the business of paid sex even after the pandemic has passed - and for good.

Forced labour for women, especially from Eastern Europe, Asia and Africa, without adequate social protection – that is what prostitution actually means and is therefore still unacceptable, say many politicians and social associations.

Especially now, in Corona times, many prostitutes live with their pimps and have to pay for a roof over their heads with their bodies. This is unacceptable and must be banned urgently.

Those who want to permanently ban prostitution will only ensure that it takes place in back rooms again in the future, warn opponents of a ban.

And: Germany was right to create a legal framework for sex workers that at least protects them to some extent.

Is Germany too liberal in its approach to prostitution? Or would a total ban be a dangerous step backwards, because it would mean that the legal possibility of health insurance and retirement provision would fall by the wayside?

Florian Weber talks about this with politicians who are now again calling for a ban, with sex workers and those who have left the sex trade, as well as with experts who - also with a view to the practice among our European neighbours - can assess whether a ban on prostitution would be an effective means of combating human trafficking or whether it would actually encourage it.

Included are:

Leni Breymaier (SPD, Member of Parliament, co-initiator of the parliamentary group “Prostitution, where to?”), Philipp Fernis (FDP, State Secretary in the Ministry of Justice RP), Dr. Julia Wege (social worker from Mannheim), Manfred Paulus (retired Chief Detective Inspector from Ulm) and Salomé Balthus (prominent high-class prostitute, writer and philosopher).

© Photo: Alexander Kluge, SWR, Südwestrundfunk