Overview
- Health Minister Nina Warken endorsed a sex-purchase ban, telling Rheinische Post that Germany should adopt the Nordic model, keep sellers decriminalized and expand exit support.
- Bundestag President Julia Klöckner set off the latest debate at the Alice-Schwarzer-Stiftung’s Heldinnen-Award in Berlin, calling Germany the “Puff Europas” and urging a ban on prostitution and buying sex.
- The Nordic model penalizes buyers and brothel operators while leaving sex workers straffrei, an approach already used in Sweden, Norway, Iceland, France, Ireland, Israel and others.
- Germany currently treats sex work as legal and regulated under the 2002 Prostitutionsgesetz and the 2017 Prostituiertenschutzgesetz, with about 32,300 registered sex workers and far higher estimates overall.
- Sex-worker groups and social organizations warn a buyer ban can push activity into riskier settings, while research on outcomes in countries like Sweden and France is mixed; the governing coalition remains split and no legislation has been advanced.