Posted on 01/29/2005 8:32:29 PM PST by ijcr
A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services'' at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.
Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners who must pay tax and employee health insurance were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.
The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.
She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her "profile'' and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel.
Under Germany's welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job including in the sex industry or lose her unemployment benefit. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.
The government had considered making brothels an exception on moral grounds, but decided that it would be too difficult to distinguish them from bars. As a result, job centres must treat employers looking for a prostitute in the same way as those looking for a dental nurse.
When the waitress looked into suing the job centre, she found out that it had not broken the law. Job centres that refuse to penalise people who turn down a job by cutting their benefits face legal action from the potential employer.
"There is now nothing in the law to stop women from being sent into the sex industry," said Merchthild Garweg, a lawyer from Hamburg who specialises in such cases. "The new regulations say that working in the sex industry is not immoral any more, and so jobs cannot be turned down without a risk to benefits."
Miss Garweg said that women who had worked in call centres had been offered jobs on telephone sex lines. At one job centre in the city of Gotha, a 23-year-old woman was told that she had to attend an interview as a "nude model", and should report back on the meeting. Employers in the sex industry can also advertise in job centres, a move that came into force this month. A job centre that refuses to accept the advertisement can be sued.
Tatiana Ulyanova, who owns a brothel in central Berlin, has been searching the online database of her local job centre for recruits.
"Why shouldn't I look for employees through the job centre when I pay my taxes just like anybody else?" said Miss Ulyanova.
Ulrich Kueperkoch wanted to open a brothel in Goerlitz, in former East Germany, but his local job centre withdrew his advertisement for 12 prostitutes, saying it would be impossible to find them.
Mr Kueperkoch said that he was confident of demand for a brothel in the area and planned to take a claim for compensation to the highest court. Prostitution was legalised in Germany in 2002 because the government believed that this would help to combat trafficking in women and cut links to organised crime.
Miss Garweg believes that pressure on job centres to meet employment targets will soon result in them using their powers to cut the benefits of women who refuse jobs providing sexual services.
"They are already prepared to push women into jobs related to sexual services, but which don't count as prostitution,'' she said.
"Now that prostitution is no longer considered by the law to be immoral, there is really nothing but the goodwill of the job centres to stop them from pushing women into jobs they don't want to do."
The amusing thing here is that the lady...if she takes the job...can under-report all of her income...accept the cash...deposit it into foreign accounts...and retire within 10 years. Having lived in Germany for 12 years now...I've seen the documentaries that talk about this. Most hookers aren't that smart and get stuck into pimp relationships that cause the money to disappear. But there are those few women, who pull in $100k a year, never report more than $30k to the government...and invest the rest wisely.
Just one question.
Who do you think is paying for prostitutes?
The hypocrisy of our prostitution laws make me sick. If you want to be soooo "moral"..tell me why the women are only arrested? Sure, a very few men are busted for "soliciting"...but sure not enough to stop prostitution. I agree this is a stupid policy they have in Germany, if that is the case. But legalized prostitution cuts down on crime, disease, etc. And why is Reno making so much money on this? Let's just quit the 'morality" punishment. If there is a crime ( robbery,assault, etc) committed, arrest the person. If you really want to be non-hypocritical then arrest ALL the customers too, the judges, attorneys, suburban married guys.
Yes I've notice pretty much the same thing. That's why it's so disturbing to see what's going on over there.
A very good point.
If Society accepts prostitution, we will create more prostitutes.
More prostitutes means more disease spread.
That is a CLEVER play on words.
Who does not whore, shall not eat.
Well, the statistics don't prove that out in Nevada.
Dear Mr.*********
Please find enclosed a leather outfit suitable for your new position at The Blue Oyster Club. I would like to point out that while you are working for the minimum wage, it is your responsibility to report all tips and gratuities to the IRS.
Yours faithfully,
The government.
This is too funny. Who wants to visit a government-sponsored hooker? Germany would do well to promote basic man-woman relationships instead of getting sticky about this sort of thing.
But ... but ... but I thought working as a prostitute was supposed to show how *liberated* women had become, and how much *freedom* they had. Oh well.
Make it legal in NY then and see what happens.
The missing link is the benefits. They equate cutting unemployment benefits to coercion to take the unwanted position (no pun intended). If they had any gumption they would get off the couch and find something to do useful to society, and the compensation would follow. That's the natural order of things - not waiting for a government check.
I live to receive this letter.
And my point was, not ALL or even a majority of women support the feminist philosophy, so reveling in the degrading of those of the female sex is very disturbing to me.
________________________________________
I beg to differ on the point of support for this feminist philosophy!! I am old enough to remember the beginnings of this Movement!! I agree that the pendulum is swinging back, but that depends on the moment.
My father always taught me to respect my Mother and other women, especially the elderly women, and to care for them! When the MOVEWMENT surged up, it was like a Tsunami!
The ladies demanded Equality and in doing so gave up a great deal of respect that the men have always had for them! Behind every successfull man there is a strong women, remember that? We never wanted to be successfull without you! You were the reason WHY we strived for the success! A Strong and Powerful Man, bends his knee and ASKS for a women's hand, no small thing to commit to is it, for either party.
My response to your Query is: Give me Liberty or Give me Death. Unlike some, I am willing to pay the wages of freedom.
That's the primary reason I doubt I'll ever get married. I don't particularly like the 50/50 oddds of loosing all my stuff. That, and there's this quote from "Old School": "Well, let me be the first to say congratulations to you man; you have one vagina for the rest of your life. Real smart man."
Nope.
It's already there
Thank you for an intelligent and informed post.
I want my tax dollars to go to police for better salaries, training, education so that they can protect me from terrorists, killers, rapists, and those who want to take my private property (legally or illegally). Legalize prostitution and focus on REAL problems...like assault and illegal aiens.
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