Title: 15 Years after adoption of the legalization of prostitution in Germany, evaluating the impact on and the consequences for women’s mental health.

Presenter: Dr. Ingeborg Kraus

Where: 07.02.2017 in Dublin – http://iawmh2017.org/wp/

Introduction/Objective: Germany instituted a law in 2002 that legalized prostitution without any regulation in an attempt to normalise it as a job like any other. It was put in place because it was argued that it wasn’t prostitution that was traumatizing but the stigmatization of these women by society. Fifteen years after passing the law, my colleagues in the field of Psychology and I have analysed the impact of the law on prostition itself and on womens health. This symposium will present the key observations based on direct clinical work & analysis of patient studies, of the mental health impacts of prostitution on women involved in the German sex industry over the last 15 years. I will outline positive approaches as medical practitioners to support and assist women who suffer mental ill-health as a consequence of this experience, and finally; to reflect on a number of recommended policy changes with the objective of more broadly improving the situation. Continue reading →