Appeal against prostitution

from Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

The Appeal Against Prostitution is a campaign against prostitution and, in particular, the German Prostitution Act , initiated in autumn 2013 by Alice Schwarzer and the magazine Emma , which she publishes, and which is primarily aimed at German federal politics. It was started in the process of publishing Schwarzer's book Prostitution - A German Scandal and subsequently discussed controversially.

prehistory

Alice Schwarzer has been campaigning against prostitution since the first years with her magazine Emma, which has been published since 1977 . At the end of 2006, Schwarzer published a dossier against prostitution in the anniversary edition for the 30th anniversary of Emma (January / February 2007 issue) , which analyzed the “myth of voluntariness”. The publication was criticized by the Prostitute Association Initiative Fair Paysex and parts of the press. A similar dossier followed in 2011. The texts published in Emma since 2006 form the basis of the book published in November 2013 on the anti-prostitution campaign.

The subject of prostitution in Germany was discussed in public even before the appeal began. Prominent examples are the ARD talk show Günther Jauch on the subject of prostitution in December 2012 - with Alice Schwarzer as one of the guests - which was followed by a record number of over six million viewers, and the Spiegel cover story , which appeared in May 2013, Bordell Deutschland: Wie der Staat Frauenhandel und Prostitution promotes and the ARD documentary Sex - Made in Germany: Prostitution and its Profiteers, which was first broadcast in June 2013.

In August 2013, Emma made accusations against the editors of the taz after a critical comment on prostitution by the Stuttgart social worker Sabine Constabel was not published by the taz , as initially planned , but eventually by Emma . The comment referred to a contribution to the debate by the Frankfurt prostitute self-help organization Doña Carmen , which in turn had criticized Alice Schwarzer, previously published in the taz , of equating today's acceptance of prostitution with the earlier acceptance of pedophilia . The Emma editors accused the newspaper of ideological motivation as well as “censorship” and “lies” in connection with the way the responsible editors dealt with the guest commentator Constabel and her text critical of prostitution. Constabel was one of the key contributors to the Emma campaign, which started two months later and featured numerous media appearances.

In October 2012 Chantal Louis spoke of around 150,000 women working in prostitution in Germany.

Campaign “Appeal Against Prostitution” 2013

In October 2013 Alice Schwarzer started the appeal for the abolition of prostitution with the magazine Emma, which she runs. She first sent these to celebrities and well-known organizations with the request to sign them, put the photos of the signatories, according to the principle of the campaign We have an abortion! , on the cover of the November / December 2013 issue and then launched a signature campaign on the Internet , parallel to a tour together with Emma editor Chantal Louis through talk shows and press conferences . With the Emma January / February 2014 issue, the campaign was continued in several articles.

Content of the appeal

The appeal against prostitution calls for the withdrawal of the Prostitution Act of 2002, which codified prostitution as a regular trade under civil law and thus liberalized its practice. As a result, “Germany has become Europe's hub for trafficking in women and a paradise for sex tourists from neighboring countries,” according to the appeal. Instead, a social and legal ostracism of clients , who are called women buyers, is demanded, if necessary, also punishment by means of new criminal law according to the Swedish model . In addition, prevention and awareness-raising work in Germany and in the prostitutes' countries of origin should already be promoted in schools, protection against deportation of witnesses and their right of residence, support for women who want to quit their job, and measures "that are designed to contain and lead in the long term to the abolition of the prostitution system ”.

The reason given is that prostitution is modern slavery with “exploitation and at the same time perpetuation of the traditionally grown inequality between men and women ”, it degrades women to the “sex that can be bought”, brutalizes desire and violates the human dignity of men and women, “including those of so-called 'voluntary' prostitutes'. The Prostitution Act of 2002, however, bears the signature of the traffickers and their lobbyists.

Emma editor Chantal Louis and editor Alice Schwarzer spoke (unlike October 2012) about an estimated 700,000 prostitutes in Germany.

Signature campaign

Currently (according to the magazine Emma ) the total number of signatories of the appeal is over 10,000 (as of December 27, 2013). In addition to the initiator, Emma editor-in-chief Alice Schwarzer, the 90 first signatories include:

as well as the following first signatories:

The following individuals followed, among others:

Book publication Prostitution - A German Scandal

The appeal was launched in the media just under a week before the book Prostitution - A German Scandal . The book itself was published on November 7, 2013 by Kiepenheuer & Witsch and is available both as a 322-page paperback and as an e-book. The book was advertised on the homepage of Alice Schwarzer and Emma as "The Book of Appeal". In the Rheinische Post and in Neues Deutschland , opponents accused Schwarzer that the appeal was also a marketing campaign to sell the book. With direct purchase there were two Emma editions.

The book is a compilation of 14 texts by various participants from the prostitution sector, which were written from their personal point of view and which were partly published in Emma 20 years ago . Four chapters roughly divide the book: The consequences of the reform and the resistance , I don't want to lie any longer - prostitutes talking , rich sex tourist and poor prostitutes , look back and block forward . There is also a chronicle from 1871–2013 . Each of these chapters is divided into smaller chapters. All authors paint a negative image of prostitution and reject it. On November 14, 2013, Schwarzer hosted a panel discussion in the Urania , in which she asked the Augsburg detective inspector Helmut Sporer, the social worker Sabine Constabel and an ex-prostitute named "Marie" for discussion.

Other elements of the campaign

As part of the campaign, in addition to the greatest possible dissemination of the actual appeal, the magazine also calls for stickers with the inscription “PROSTITUTION FRAUENKAUF Geht not at all!”, Which the magazine distributes commercially, “to be widely distributed” and “everywhere” in public places to be attached: including expressly in supermarkets, on advertising pillars, in cinemas, on town halls, in front of schools and on the doors of brothels. In addition, the public order office should be called if brothels advertise their sexual services; male friends are said to be sent to prostitution sites to inquire about tariffs. In newspapers, on the Internet and in the neighborhood, the aim is to search for brothels, streets and apartments used by prostitutes, and to research the working conditions of women. Emma calls on anti-prostitution to network with the magazine and other organizations that support the campaign.

reception

Media coverage

The appeal got a lot of media coverage, especially because of the participation of the many celebrities. The appeal helped make prostitution the subject of several high-profile television talk shows where opponents and supporters clashed. The appeal also led to controversial discussions on other TV programs as well as on the radio, in newspapers and magazines and in the online media. On the one hand, numerous commentators made the appeal's arguments their own. On the other hand, critics countered that Schwarzer used questionable numbers and hardly had any sources to show. She declares prostitute self-help groups to be “bought lobbyists” and denies sex workers “the general ability to rationally determine their lives”. To this end, she confused prostitution and forced prostitution in an inadmissible manner, declared self-determined prostitutes to be sacrificed in an inadmissible manner and against their will, wanted above all to enforce their own values ​​and, with the simultaneous book publication, aroused the suspicion that the celebrity campaign was “not just about Morality, but also about marketing ”. A ban and punishment of the suitors would not serve the women concerned, it would be better to strengthen the rights of prostitutes. The editors of the ARD magazine Panorama , which claimed to have played a key role in the debate about the negative effects of the Prostitution Act of 2002 through several critical contributions since 2011, distanced themselves from the appeal against prostitution, which they called a "mendacious campaign against the Prostitutes ”of an“ Alliance of Morals ”. Schwarzer's appeal is not about the need to fight crime, but about morality.

Debate about prostitution on a political level

The publication of the book and the campaign ran parallel to discussions about the punishment of suitors in France and coalition negotiations in the Merkel III cabinet , so that the subject of prostitution once again had its own dynamic and discussions about the fundamental nature of prostitution became loud.

The appeal was rated clearly positively by the domestic political spokesman for the Union parliamentary group in the Bundestag, Hans-Peter Uhl ( CSU ), as well as by the women's union of the CSU , which was running its own campaign “No to forced prostitution”, which was launched at the party congress in November 2013 had drawn up his own demands to the new federal government, even if these, in contrast to the “appeal against prostitution”, relate exclusively to the partial aspect of forced prostitution.

The Working Group of Social Democratic Women did not sign the appeal, but stated that it would campaign for changes to the Prostitution Act. Gregor Gysi from Die Linke expressed concerns about punishing suitors, but human trafficking and forced prostitution would have to be prosecuted more intensely.

In other European countries too, such as Austria and Switzerland, discussions about prostitution and its prohibition were stimulated.

Feminist reception

In a press release on the coalition negotiations on human trafficking and prostitution, the German Women's Council called for better protection for victims of human trafficking and a strengthening of the rights and security of prostitutes. "Populist campaigns that dishonestly combine human trafficking for the purpose of sexual exploitation with prostitution, however, are not helpful in solving the complex problems."

The association Terre des Femmes - Human Rights for Women , whose chairman Irmingard Schewe-Gerigk (since 2009) helped initiate the law of 2002 as a member of Bündnis 90 / Die Grünen , did not sign the appeal, but does not represent a unified position. Board member Juliane Löffler criticized Emma for ignoring the voices from the industry. The Terre des Femmes urban group Rhein-Main, on the other hand, supports the appeal, as the demands largely coincided with those of Terre des Femmes . After Schewe-Gerigk's appearance on the program Menschen bei Maischberger on November 22, 2013 on the topic of Can prostitution be forbidden? Terre des Femmes published a statement according to which, due to the controversial debate in the association, the board did not want to speak out on behalf of the entire association for the suitors' punishment demanded in the appeal against prostitution . The long-term goal of the association is still a society without prostitution.

The political scientist and journalist Antje Schrupp put forward five theses on prostitution . In it, she describes prostitution for women as “a possibility of achieving a relatively good income that they cannot achieve otherwise or only with difficulty”, and thus as an “alternative to the other labor market , to care marriage , to informal work ”. Rather, the focus should be on the social question .

In an interview with the FAZ in November 2013, the French philosopher and feminist Élisabeth Badinter speaks out against a ban on prostitution. A distinction must be made between the fight against mafia pimp rings and prostitution. Women have the right to do what they want with their bodies. "A prostitution ban would make the situation of prostitutes worse because they would then have to work in secret."

Reception by organizations involved in sex work

Prostitute associations such as Hydra and Doña Carmen as well as the online magazine Menschenhandel heute have rejected the appeal. The professional association for erotic and sexual services , which was only founded in October 2013, vehemently resisted the appeal, which was perceived as an attack, and initiated a counter- appeal as a reaction, Appeal FOR Prostitution . Among the more than 1,700 signatories registered there so far, there are sex workers and other citizens as well as well-known personalities, advice centers for prostitutes, political parties and victims of human trafficking who did not feel addressed by the Emma appeal. Prominent voices among them contradicted Schwarzer's theses and accusations in official statements, talk shows and press releases, which in turn was negatively commented on the Emma website and Schwarzer's website.

Your book presentation in Berlin's Urania was accompanied by violent protests. Doña Carmen sued Emma magazine for misrepresentation and defamation. According to the judgment of November 25, 2013, the Frankfurt regional court found that defamatory information in the second edition could no longer be printed, but allowed the sale of the first edition with these claims because they were insignificant in the context of the book. Doña Carmen rated this as an “inglorious shame judgment”. The Hydra prostitute association refrained from filing a lawsuit and instead published an official statement on defamatory claims in the book, which were republished in a slightly different form in Emma issue 1/14.

A prominent spokeswoman for opponents of the Emma campaign is the prostitute and operator of Café Pssst , Felicitas Schirow , who spoke out against the appeal led by Schwarzer both through the media and through the organization of her own public event Experts could muster to invalidate the positions of the appeal. Schirow and her allies were severely attacked by the initiators of the appeal for their commitment against the appeal, and the two sides did not come together on contentious issues.

Reception by clients

As a reaction to the appeal against prostitution, the client offensive turned in an open letter against client punishment and the accusation of rape often voiced by opponents of prostitution in early 2014.

See also

literature

  • Alice Schwarzer (Ed.): Prostitution - A German Scandal. How did we become a trafficking paradise? Kiepenheuer & Witsch, Cologne 2013, ISBN 978-3-462-04578-9

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Petra Schmackpfeffer: Women's movement and prostitution: on the relationship of the old and new German women's movement to prostitution. (PDF) p. 106ff, BIS Verlag, Oldenburg 1989
  2. ↑ The goods woman. In: emma.de. January 1, 2007, accessed August 27, 2017 (preview).
  3. ↑ “Paula”: EMMA - A critical examination of Alice Schwarzer's dossier on prostitution in EMMA by the young prostitute Paula. In: fair-paysex.de. Retrieved June 29, 2018 .
  4. ↑ http://www.taz.de/!7600/
  5. ↑ Alice Schwarzer on prostitution: "Voluntariness is a myth". In: Spiegel Online . October 31, 2007, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  6. ↑ Reply to Alice Schwarzer: "Prostitution is reality". In: Spiegel Online . November 2, 2007, accessed June 9, 2018 .
  7. ↑ Prostitution: The commodity woman . Dossier. In: Emma . Spring 2011, April 2011 ( emma.de [accessed October 13, 2019]).
  8. ↑ Emma reporter undercover in the brothel. In: meedia.de. December 5, 2012, accessed December 5, 2018 .
  9. ↑ Topic red light district: record rates for Furtwängler and Jauch. In: Spiegel Online of December 17, 2012, accessed on January 14, 2014
  10. ↑ Crime scene red light district - how brutal is the sex business? ( Memento from February 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) ARD broadcast Günther Jauch from December 16, 2012, accessed on January 14, 2014
  11. ↑ Cordula Meyer, Conny Neumann, Fidelius Schmid, Petra Truckendanner, Steffen Winter: Unprotected . In: Der Spiegel . No. 22 , 2013 ( online ).
  12. ↑ Tina Soliman and Sonia Kennebeck: The story in the first: Sex - Made in Germany: Prostitution and their profiteers. ( Memento from June 13, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) ARD documentation from June 10, 2013, accessed on January 14, 2014
  13. ↑ Joachim Käppner: ARD documentary "Sex - Made in Germany": The big puff lie. In: Süddeutsche.de of June 10, 2013, accessed on January 14, 2014
  14. ^ Franziska Mozart: Prostitution Debate: "Emma" accuses "taz" of censorship. In: W&V of August 22, 2013, accessed on January 9, 2014
  15. ↑ Doña Carmen: Debate Pedophilia and Prostitution: The Dignity of Sex Workers. In: taz.de from August 17, 2013, accessed on January 9, 2014
  16. ↑ Alice Schwarzer: Pedophilia Debate in the 1980s: It's Always About Power In: taz.de from August 13, 2013, accessed on January 9, 2014
  17. ↑ The taz lies: Critical article about prostitution rejected! In: Emma.de from August 25, 2013, accessed on January 9, 2014
  18. ↑ Answer to the allegations of "Emma". In: blogs.taz.de. August 22, 2013, accessed May 2, 2020 .
  19. ↑ "About 150,000 women work in prostitution in Germany" Chantal Louis: Deutschlands Sonderweg. In: Emma , Autumn 2012 edition, October 1, 2012 [1]
  20. ^ "Emma" campaign: With celebrities against the "prostitution system". In: Spiegel Online of October 28, 2013, accessed on December 28, 2013
  21. ↑ Overview EMMA January / February 2014 on the Emma website , accessed on December 28, 2013
  22. ^ Appeal against prostitution. (PDF) Retrieved November 13, 2013 .
  23. ↑ http://www.emma.de/sites/default/files/upload/pdf/appell_emma_6_2013.pdf
  24. ^ The appeal against prostitution. Special page. In: emma.de. Retrieved November 15, 2013 .
  25. ↑ EMMA - Appeal against Prostitution, Landesfrauenrat Baden-Württemberg ( Memento of the original from March 4, 2016 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.lfrbw.de
  26. ↑ The first signatories on emma.de.
  27. ↑ The other signatories on emma.de
  28. ↑ http://www.aliceschwarzer.de/thema/alice-tour-311556
  29. ↑ http://www.emma.de/thema/der-appell-gegen-prostitution-111249
  30. ↑ Archive link ( Memento of the original from December 17, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.hb-people.de
  31. ↑ Celestine Hassenfratz: Alice Schwarzer sees red. In: neue-deutschland.de. November 16, 2013, accessed December 20, 2013 . http://www.rp-online.de/politik/deutschland/kolumnen/frauensache/wie-alice-schwarzer-prostitution-skandalisiert-aid-1.3790283
  32. ↑ https://crm.profidata.de/Bestellseiten/EMMA/aktion07.htm
  33. ^ Sticker, in the "EMMA-Shop" on Emma.de , accessed on December 28, 2013
  34. ↑ You can do that! In: Emma.de , accessed on December 28, 2013
  35. ↑ for example: large brothel in Germany - must prostitution be banned? ( Memento of the original from February 15, 2014 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Information on the ARD broadcast Günther Jauch from November 10, 2013; ' (Video, 75:06 min.), ARD broadcast Menschen bei Maischberger on November 26, 2013; '' RTL broadcast SternTV on November 13, 2013; Video log in: Forbid sex for money? (Video, 60:12 min.)  In the ZDFmediathek , accessed on November 6, 2013.  @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / daserste.ndr.de
  36. ↑ Just get rid of it? Prostitution debate. ( with video, 7:02 min.), 3sat Kulturzeit from November 21, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2014
  37. ↑ Sex for money: Abolish prostitution - yes or no? (with audio, 2x 45 min.), broadcast Radiofeuilleton - in conversation in DeutschlandRadio Kultur on November 30, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2014
  38. ↑ Iris Radisch and Anna-Katharina Messmer: Pro / Contra: Abolish prostitution? In: Die Zeit vom November 7, 2013, accessed on January 14, 2014
  39. ↑ Caroline von Bar: Prostitution: Fog in the restricted area. In: Zeit Online from December 6, 2013, accessed on January 14, 2014
  40. ↑ Johannes Richardt: Prostitution: Consistently legalize sex for sale. In: Cicero, December 5, 2013, accessed January 13, 2014
  41. ↑ Juliane Löffler: Leased interpretative sovereignty. In: Friday of October 29, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2014
  42. ↑ Helene Buchholz: Schwarzer and the sex debate. In: NDR Kultur from December 9, 2013, accessed on January 14, 2014
  43. ↑ Dagmar Rosenfeld: Column women affair: How Alice Schwarzer scandalized prostitution. In: RP Online November 4, 2013, accessed January 13, 2014
  44. ↑ Prostitution: “Emma” is on the wrong boat. In: Bronski - the FR blog of November 6, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2014
  45. ^ Heide Oestreich: Commentary on the prostitution debate: Portraits of a whore. In: taz.de of November 2, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2014
  46. ↑ Sonia Kennebeck and Tina Soliman: Liberal Prostitution Act: How Germany became Europe's puff. (Video, 10:18 min.). TV report from ARD magazine Panorama (NDR) from December 19, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2013
  47. ↑ a b Tina Soliman: Red light: The lying campaign against prostitutes. (Video, 8:39 min.). TV report from ARD magazine Panorama (NDR) from December 19, 2013, accessed on January 13, 2013
  48. ↑ No to forced prostitution, ( Memento of the original dated December 30, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. Website of the campaign of the women's union of the CSU @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.nein-zu-zwangsprostitution.de
  49. ↑ http://www.taz.de/!127100/
  50. ↑ Sex workers do not want a ban . ORF.at, October 10, 2013
  51. ↑ Alice Schwarzer: "Fight for Prostitution Ban" , Kurier, November 17, 2013
  52. ↑ "Women can do what they want with their bodies" , dieStandard.at, November 26, 2013
  53. ↑ Schwarzer sharply criticizes Zurich Strichplatz , 20 Minuten Switzerland, November 7, 2013
  54. ↑ Complex problems require differentiated solutions ( memento of the original dated December 2, 2013 in the Internet Archive ) Info: The @1@ 2Template: Webachiv / IABot / www.frauenrat.de archive link was inserted automatically and has not yet been checked. Please check the original and archive link according to the instructions and then remove this notice. , Press release of November 11, 2013.
  55. ^ Juliane Löffler: Interpretation sovereignty leased , Friday, October 29, 2013
  56. ^ Appeal against prostitution | Petition from EMMA, Terre des Femmes , Rhein-Main city group, 26 November 2013
  57. ↑ Position paper on prostitution in Germany. In: Frauenrechte.de. Terre des Femmes, archived from the original on February 25, 2014 ; accessed on April 28, 2019 .
  58. ↑ Annett Otto: “People at Maischberger” on prostitution. “Have you all yelled at each other?” In: Berliner Zeitung, November 27, 2013.
  59. ↑ Debate on prostitution at TERRE DES FEMMES
  60. ↑ Elisabeth Badinter in conversation. FAZ, November 25, 2013, accessed on November 26, 2013 .
  61. ↑ Sonja Dolinsek: Why I reject the appeal against prostitution by EMMA and Alice Schwarzer.
  62. ↑ Schwarzer's "Appeal Against Prostitution" - A reply from Doña Carmen e. V.
  63. ↑ [2]
  64. ↑ Hannah Pilarczyk: Anti-Prostitution Debate: Roar and Flash against Alice. In: Spiegel online . November 15, 2013. Retrieved November 15, 2013 .
  65. ↑ Veronica Frenzel, Sandra Dassler: Prostitution in Berlin. Alarm in the restricted area , Der Tagesspiegel November 14, 2013
  66. ↑ Press release - Inglorious shame judgment in the Doña Carmen vs. Alice Schwarzer , Doña Carmen, November 26, 2013
  67. ^ Clear bill for black people: Frankfurt district court allows Alice Schwarzer to spread untruths , Doña Carmen, November 26, 2013
  68. ↑ “Persilschein für Schwarzer” , Simone Schmollack, taz – die tageszeitung, November 27, 2013
  69. ↑ http://www.hydra-berlin.de/fileadmin/users/main/pdf/Verein/Hydra_Dezember_2013.pdf
  70. ^ Brothel boss Felicitas Schirow: "Alice Schwarzer is a liar" . In: N-24 of December 4, 2013
  71. ↑ Julia Haak: http://www.berliner-zeitung.de/berlin/felicitas-schirow-in-der-urania-wider-die-bevormundung,10809148,25583912.html (with video). In: Berliner Zeitung of December 10, 2013
  72. ↑ Julian Vetten: “Prostitution is not the same as human trafficking!” Experts unite against black people In: n-tv of December 12, 2013
  73. ↑ Julia Neumann: Panel on the prostitution debate: Alle gegen Schwarzer in: taz.de from December 10, 2013
  74. ↑ Chantal Louis: The brothel owner and the judge. In: Emma.de of December 11, 2013
  75. ↑ Open Letter of the suitors offensive on Alice Schwarzer