Overview

• CDU and CSU propose outlawing payment for sexual services with penalties for clients to protect against exploitation and human trafficking.
• Prostitution has been legal since 2002, with about 30,600 registered workers—80 percent of whom lack German citizenship—and advocates warn many more operate unregistered.
• The police union’s claim that up to 90 percent of women in prostitution are not there voluntarily is disputed by activists like Stephanie Klee, who question the data’s reliability.
• Sex workers in the 3sat series caution that a purchase ban could drive the industry underground, increasing health risks, violence and unregulated street work.
• Former trafficking victims such as Anna and Natalja featured in the documentary support a client ban, hoping it would encourage women to seek alternative employment.