A renewed debate over prostitution has emerged in Germany after Bundestag President Julia Klöckner described the country as the “brothel of Europe” earlier this week, and Health Minister Nina Warken backed a ban on purchasing sex.
“When we talk about women’s rights, but say that prostitution is a job like any other, it’s not only ridiculous, it’s contemptuous of women,” Klöckner said at an event on Tuesday. Germany is “the brothel of Europe,” she added.
Regulation of sex work in Germany is famously liberal compared to other European countries. Sex work has been legal since 2002. The Prostitute Protection Act came into force fifteen years later, aiming to make sex work safer by having sex workers register with authorities. According to the law, brothels need official licences.
Around 32,300 sex workers were registered at the end of 2024, but the real number is believed to be significantly higher as many work outside formal registration and oversight.
Germany’s Health Minister Warken, a Christian Democrat, said that Germany “cannot remain the brothel of Europe” on Wednesday. Like Klöckner, she called for adopting the so-called Nordic model, which criminalises the purchase of sex while decriminalising sex workers. That model is in place in Sweden, Norway, France, and Ireland.
“Like other countries, Germany needs a criminal ban on buying sex for clients,” Warken said, adding that sex workers should remain exempt from prosecution and exit programmes would be expanded.
Prof. Dr. Julia Wege of Ravensburg-Weingarten University, who researches prostitution, trafficking, and women’s social vulnerability, welcomed the renewed discussion on the Nordic model as a way to end or reduce the adverse effects of prostitution on mental and physical health.
“It is not only about prohibition; it is also about prevention, exit programmes, and prosecution,” Wege told Euractiv. While bans are always contested, she argued that “sometimes we need strong signals to reset boundaries”.
In September 2023, the European Parliament passed a resolution in which it called on EU countries to consider adopting approaches to regulating sex work modelled on the Nordic Model. They should include criminalising the purchase of sex and expanding support for those seeking to exit prostitution.
‘Brothel of Europe’
Germany continues to record significant levels of human trafficking for sexual exploitation, with women accounting for more than 90% of identified victims of trafficking for sexual exploitation. Many of those affected come from Germany, Romania, and Bulgaria, among other countries.
Women’s rights and survivor organisations argue that the legalisation of prostitution in Germany has not eliminated coercion, violence, or the influence of organised criminal networks. They call for stronger protections and enforcement, particularly for migrant women.
For Wege, Germany’s liberal approach to sex work failed because it was never designed as a women’s rights policy.
“The 2002 Prostitution Act provided far too much freedom to operators and pimps, and the state withdrew too much,” she said. According to her, a government evaluation in 2004 already showed that migrant women lacked protection and that stronger policing and support services were needed, but it wasn’t pursued.
The researcher also pointed out the economic dimension, arguing that “the lobby is enormous; there is a huge amount of money involved – billions. The state also profits through tax revenue.”
Germany’s central location and EU free movement rules, she said, enabled rapid market expansion, as operators saw the vast potential for money-making.
The men’s ‘lifestyle product’
According to Wege, most women in prostitution do not act autonomously. The line between voluntary and forced prostitution, she added, is often fluid.
Her research identifies a small minority who work independently and a much bigger group – mainly migrant women – who are exploited, traumatised, and economically dependent.
“They do not know the laws, do not go to counselling centres, and do not dare go to the police,” she said, adding that prostitution remains heavily stigmatised.
Many migrant women, she explained, enter Germany’s sex industry not out of choice.
“They don’t come here because prostitution is a great job,” Wege said. “They come because they lack opportunities and face deep inequalities where they are from.”
Attempts to regulate the sector have failed to reduce violence against sex workers. “For the man, it’s a lifestyle product to visit a prostitute. But in reality, serious criminal offences are being committed,” Wege said, referring to violence by buyers and exploitation by pimps.
“Ultimately, we probably need to realise that there is no such thing as a country without prostitution,” she said. “But at least we can send out some very important signals with a Nordic model.”
(vib, mm)
