Sex Work Regulation, Anti-trafficking Policy, and Their Effects on the Labour Rights of Sex Workers in Germany

IF 0.8 Q3 INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR

International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations Pub Date : 2020-06-01 DOI:10.54648/ijcl2020011

Inga K. Thiemann

{"title":"Sex Work Regulation, Anti-trafficking Policy, and Their Effects on the Labour Rights of Sex Workers in Germany","authors":"Inga K. Thiemann","doi":"10.54648/ijcl2020011","DOIUrl":null,"url":null,"abstract":"This article provides an analysis of regulatory approaches to sex work, the status of sex workers’ labour rights, and the conflation of sex work and human trafficking, with reference to the example of Germany. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Germany’s approach to the regulation of prostitution and the ways it has been influenced by international debates challenging the status of sex work as work, as well as concerns about human trafficking. It analyses the Prostitution Act 2002 (ProstG), and the Prostitute Protection Act 2017 (ProstSchG), and their effects on the rights and working conditions of sex workers, as well as their aim of improving the safety of vulnerable sex workers and reducing the level of human trafficking and exploitation in the German sex industry. In particular, the article considers the impact of this legislation on those working in the sex industry, especially migrant women and those at risk of exploitation. Through its analysis of the existing approach to sex work in Germany, the direction of reform and the absence of a labour-rights approach to the regulation of sex work and the prevention of trafficking, the article highlights the fact that even a country that is -in principle - willing to accept sex work as work, has failed to grant labour rights to sex workers. The article argues that the Prostitute Protection Act has in some ways increased the vulnerability of sex workers rather than promoting their safety. In addition, it is argued that legislators should consider labour protection and labour rights as an alternative means of protecting sex workers, rather than (re)criminalizing aspects of sex work in the name of ‘protecting’ women by means of prohibition or control. Adopting a labour-rights approach rather than paternalistic approach would have the potential to bring about far-reaching reform of the relevant legislation both in Germany and internationally.\nSex Work, Human Trafficking, Labour Rights, Criminalization, Prostitution, Sex Work as Work","PeriodicalId":44213,"journal":{"name":"International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations","volume":null,"pages":null},"PeriodicalIF":0.8000,"publicationDate":"2020-06-01","publicationTypes":"Journal Article","fieldsOfStudy":null,"isOpenAccess":false,"openAccessPdf":"","citationCount":"0","resultStr":null,"platform":"Semanticscholar","paperid":null,"PeriodicalName":"International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations","FirstCategoryId":"1085","ListUrlMain":"https://doi.org/10.54648/ijcl2020011","RegionNum":0,"RegionCategory":null,"ArticlePicture":[],"TitleCN":null,"AbstractTextCN":null,"PMCID":null,"EPubDate":"","PubModel":"","JCR":"Q3","JCRName":"INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR","Score":null,"Total":0}

引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article provides an analysis of regulatory approaches to sex work, the status of sex workers’ labour rights, and the conflation of sex work and human trafficking, with reference to the example of Germany. It assesses the strengths and weaknesses of Germany’s approach to the regulation of prostitution and the ways it has been influenced by international debates challenging the status of sex work as work, as well as concerns about human trafficking. It analyses the Prostitution Act 2002 (ProstG), and the Prostitute Protection Act 2017 (ProstSchG), and their effects on the rights and working conditions of sex workers, as well as their aim of improving the safety of vulnerable sex workers and reducing the level of human trafficking and exploitation in the German sex industry. In particular, the article considers the impact of this legislation on those working in the sex industry, especially migrant women and those at risk of exploitation. Through its analysis of the existing approach to sex work in Germany, the direction of reform and the absence of a labour-rights approach to the regulation of sex work and the prevention of trafficking, the article highlights the fact that even a country that is -in principle - willing to accept sex work as work, has failed to grant labour rights to sex workers. The article argues that the Prostitute Protection Act has in some ways increased the vulnerability of sex workers rather than promoting their safety. In addition, it is argued that legislators should consider labour protection and labour rights as an alternative means of protecting sex workers, rather than (re)criminalizing aspects of sex work in the name of ‘protecting’ women by means of prohibition or control. Adopting a labour-rights approach rather than paternalistic approach would have the potential to bring about far-reaching reform of the relevant legislation both in Germany and internationally. Sex Work, Human Trafficking, Labour Rights, Criminalization, Prostitution, Sex Work as Work

查看原文本刊更多论文

德国性工作法规、反拐卖政策及其对性工作者劳动权利的影响

本文以德国为例，分析了性工作的监管方法、性工作者劳动权利的状况以及性工作与人口贩运的混为一谈。它评估了德国监管卖淫的方法的长处和短处，以及它受到质疑性工作作为工作地位的国际辩论的影响，以及对人口贩运的担忧。它分析了《2002年卖淫法》（ProstG）和《2017年妓女保护法》（ProctSchG），以及它们对性工作者权利和工作条件的影响，以及它们旨在改善弱势性工作者的安全，降低德国性行业的人口贩运和剥削水平。该条特别考虑了这项立法对性行业工作人员的影响，特别是对移民妇女和面临剥削风险的妇女的影响。文章通过分析德国现有的性工作方法、改革方向以及在监管性工作和防止贩运方面缺乏劳工权利方法，强调了这样一个事实，即即使是一个原则上愿意接受性工作作为工作的国家，也没有赋予性工作者劳工权利。文章认为，《妓女保护法》在某些方面增加了性工作者的脆弱性，而不是促进他们的安全。此外，有人认为，立法者应将劳工保护和劳工权利视为保护性工作者的替代手段，而不是以禁止或控制的方式“保护”妇女的名义（重新）将性工作的某些方面定为犯罪。采取劳工权利方法而不是家长式的方法，有可能在德国和国际上对相关立法进行深远的改革。性工作、人口贩运、劳工权利、定罪、卖淫、性工作即工作

本文章由计算机程序翻译，如有差异，请以英文原文为准。

求助全文

约1分钟内获得全文求助全文

来源期刊

International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations INDUSTRIAL RELATIONS & LABOR-

CiteScore

1.00

自引率

12.50%

发文量

期刊介绍： Published four times a year, the International Journal of Comparative Labour Law and Industrial Relations is an essential source of information and analysis for labour lawyers, academics, judges, policymakers and others. The Journal publishes original articles in the domains of labour law (broadly understood) and industrial relations. Articles cover comparative and international (or regional) analysis of topical issues, major developments and innovative practices, as well as discussions of theoretical and methodological approaches. The Journal adopts a double-blind peer review process. A distinguished editorial team, with the support of an International Advisory Board of eminent scholars from around the world, ensures a continuing high standard of scientific research dealing with a range of important issues.