Prostitution can not be regulated, it has to be abolished!

Dr. Ingeborg Kraus, Pamplona/Spain, 26.10.2017. 

On the picture: Ingeborg Kraus, Sonia Sanchez and Sheila Jeffreys.

Thank you for inviting me here to this international conference in Pamplona, to all the organizations that have made this possible, and especially Sara Vicente from the “Comision para la investigacion de malos tratos a mujeres”.

15 years ago, nearly at the same time, Sweden and Germany have choosen a complete different way how to deal with prostitution. Sweden decided to punish the sex buyers and Germany exactly the opposite. Time has gone and we can now see without any misunderstandings, which model has been the most protective for the women and the society.

Prostitution has always been legal in Germany, except a short period of time in the early 20th century.[1] Germany instituted a law in 2002 that tried to make out of prostitution a job as any other. The politicians thought, that it wasn´t prostitution itself that was the problem, but the discrimination of the women by the society and the lack of rights they had. Considering the problem from this perspective, they wanted to strengthen the women as best as possible. (They said): Prostitution should not be seen any more as something “against the good morals“, but as a job. For now on, the women were considered as workers, “sex workers.” And if they are workers, they should have the same rights as any other worker that run a business or is employed somewhere, like having a social security or if their rights are not respected, they should have the right to enforce a claim by legal action. The state didn´t want to put any regulations concerning the sex practices. They said that nobody can say how people should have sex. As they run a business, they are also allowed to make publicity for it. So the new law cancelled the restriction of promoting prostitution. Pimping became forbidden.

Fifteen years after passing the law, what are the outcomes? Continue reading

Abolition means Love!

 

This is the introduction of a lecture held in Stockholm, Sweden on October 2, 2017 for “the conference on the sex trade”, organized by TALITA.

Dr. Ingeborg Kraus

Last year I went on a tour with Simon through Canada and we were a really good team: I was the “baddy”, talking about the situation in Germany and he was the “goody”, offering solutions. And then he said: “Well, Ingeborg, you should come to Sweden, too.” I asked him: “What can I do in Sweden? People will chase me.” “No, you know”, he said, “we are so used to the law, that people don´t realize how lucky they are.”

15 years ago, Germany, in contrast to Sweden, chose to legalize prostitution without any regulations and it turned out to produce hell on earth. I won´t talk in detail about it, Manuela Schon will do this afternoon. But just to give you a couple of examples: before I came here, two police inspectors had briefed me. Helmut Sporer said that prostitution has risen up to 30% since 2002. We have made a huge mistake implementing this law and have gone the totally wrong way. Prostitution has nothing to do with sexual liberation, it is just money that counts, Sporer says. The profit of this business is enormous: we are talking about 15 billion Euros of transactions every year.

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Conference on the sex trade. Stockholm 02.10.2017

With Gail Dines and Ingeborg Kraus. 

Sweden has chosen to punish the sex buyers 1999, Germany has chosen to legalize prostitution in 2002. What are the results? Which model protects women in prostitution the best? How does it influence the society? Which model helps the best in the fight against trafficking in women? It is time to draw a balance! 

Program:

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World Congress on Women’s Health – Dublin 2017

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

Prostitution is Violence against Women!

Speech held by Dr. Ingeborg Kraus on 25th November 2016 in Strasbourg / France.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women the Préfet of the Alsace Champagne-Ardenne Lorraine region, the head of the regional health authority in co-operation with the organizations called centre d´information des droits des femmes et des familles (CIDFF), Mouvement du Nid France and Pénélope 67 have invited to a cross-border symposion related on the subject of “Prostitution and Health: Challenges and Change of Perspective in Europe”. 

I would like to thank the organizers for this German-French symposion. This first event after the introduction of the legislation for abolishing the prostitution system in France located next to Germany has a symbolic meaning to us. I think it is indeed necessary to wake Germany up. Germany, which provides guidelines with regard to a lot of European subjects, may – in this case – need tutoring from France and Sweden.

On the occasion of the International Day for the Elimination of Violence against Women, I would like to report about the dramatic consequences for prostitution after its legalization in Germany and I will prove that prostitution is violence against women. Afterwards, I would like to talk about its psychological impact.

The reason why I want to focus on the vioIence is because the political discussions in Germany have never really recognized the aspect of violence. Prostitution is seen as a private play which is none of the state´s business.[1] Continue reading

Melissa Farley´s response to UN Women

Response to “Consultation seeking views on UN Women’s approach to sex work, the sex trade and prostitution”.

Prostitution Research & Education, US-based NGO
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Melissa Farley, Ph.D., Executive Director. October 31, 2016.

Prostitution Research & Education’s goal has been to reflect the voices of those engaged in prostitution and those who have escaped it. This response is based on 20 years of research on the sex trade. We have produced 39 peer-reviewed publications and additional reports. Many of these publications and also others’ research are posted at www.prostitutionresearch.com.

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Trauma as Pre-condition and Consequence of Prostitution.

Dr. Ingeborg Kraus , Edmonton/Canada, 16.09.2016.

Thank you for inviting me here to Edmonton, especially to Kate Quinn from CEASE.

So, as you heard, I come from Germany, a country that traumatized the entire world during the second world war, and here I am today to talk to you about trauma. And concerning the handling of prostitution, Germany is by no means a role model; in fact, it’s hell on earth. And nobody seems to care, especially women. They don’t speak up. They shut up.

So first of all, I was asking myself: was it a mistake to invite me? An error? Weren’t you paying attention when you invited me?

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