Overview
- Julia Klöckner said Germany should outlaw prostitution and the purchase of sex during a laudation at the Alice-Schwarzer-Stiftung's Heldinnen-Award in Berlin.
- She described Germany as the "brothel of Europe" and said existing laws leave women vulnerable to violence, male dominance and coercion.
- Klöckner urged adoption of the Nordic model used in Sweden and Norway, which criminalizes clients, keeps selling sex non-criminalized, and mandates closing brothels.
- Germany's 2017 Prostituiertenschutzgesetz remains in place, requiring registration for sex workers and permits for prostitution businesses such as brothels.
- The Heldinnen-Award honored streetworkers Sabine Constabel and Cathrin Schauer-Kelpin for work helping women exit prostitution and combating forced prostitution, human trafficking and child sexual exploitation.