Prohibited Sexual Behavior and Sexual Violence

Prostitution: Legal Aspects 5

One of the most negative aspects of prostitution has always been the way in which some men take advantage of prostitutes by controlling them and collecting their earnings. Such a man is commonly called a “pimp”. There are also a few women who share in the earning of prostitutes, for example, by running a brothel. Such a woman is usually called a “madam”. Some madams may honestly care about the well-being of their “girls”, and there may also be pimps who provide much needed protection and stability to their “women”, but these do not cause the present growing concern. In the “real world”, the picture is grim, and many governments therefore punish pimping even where postitution as such is not a crime. (However, many legislatures allow the running of brothels and do not define this as pimping.) In any case, where prostitution is illegal, one usually finds more prostitutes depending on pimps. Conversely, the decriminalization of prostitution reduces the number and influence of pimps.
Today, the most serious problem is the connection between pimping and trafficking. Its victims are either helped to enter a new country on tourist visas or are brought in illegally. Without a legal residence permit, however, they are trapped in utter dependency and become victims of physical abuse and economic exploitation. This way, quite against their will, they help finance a network of criminals who live off their earnings.

Foreign “sex workers” in Germany
In 2001, the German Federal Crime Office analyzed the cases of 987 trafficking victims. Of these, 69% came from Eastern Europe. 3% were younger than 18; 51% were between 18 and 24; 32, 3% were older than 24. The ages of the others were unknown. The map shows the percentages according to some of their countries of origin (Lithuania:12,1%, Latvia 4,1%). Not shown here: 9,9% of the victims came from Africa and Asia; 21% came from still other regions. (Source: Bundeskriminalamt (BKA))