National reforms regulating prostitution to combat human trafficking.
International human trafficking is a flourishing, however often overlooked problem. In order to talk about current legal reforms, IFAIR in cooperation with the Association of Humboldt University initiated a panel discussion on this issue at the Humboldt University in Berlin. We are very happy that not only prominent representatives of teaching, research and legal practice followed our invitation, but that we were able to welcome a representative of the profession itself who gave us a special perspective from the insight on a highly controversial regulatory area.
Particularly the new law of 2017 regulating prostitution was criticised by our guests as such reforms often do not have the effect they actually intend to have. An example is the newly introduced registration process for sexworkers. Highly trained professionals often have to meet with civil servants showing poor knowledge on the matter. Furthermore, the aim of combatting human trafficking and sexual exploitation is often not met for a variety of reasons. When it comes to the registration for example victims of forced prostitution are often forcibly driven to these meetings by their exploiters. The fear of drawbacks from reporting to any official is another major problem and often the reason why a continuing exploitation over several years is even possible.
The reforms of the §232 StGB and the new German law regulating prostitution were lively discussed with students after the official part of the evening. We are very happy about the positive feedback and the remarkable turnout. Accordingly, we will publish a transcript of the evening within this year on IFAIR’s website.
