Editing Prostitution in Germany (section)

== Legal situation ==
Prostitution is legal in Germany. However, since 2017, prostitutes are required to obtain two-year valid registration certificates after undergoing prescribed health advice, while businesses involved in prostitution must possess legal permits.<ref name=registrationobligated /> Both prostitution without the use of condoms and the advertisement of prostitution involving either no condoms or pregnant women, are illegal as well.<ref name=registrationobligated /> Prostitutes may work as regular employees with contract and also supposed to register with the local authority which provides them a certificate of registration, colloquially called [[:de:Prostituiertenschutzgesetz|Hurenpass]], though the vast majority work independently.<ref name=ab/> Brothels are registered businesses that need a special brothel licence;<ref name="fede" /> if food and alcoholic drinks are offered, the standard restaurant licence is also required.

Prostitutes have to pay income taxes and have to charge [[VAT]] for their services, to be paid to the tax office. In practice, prostitution is a cash business and taxes are not always paid, though enforcement has been strengthened. The ''[[States of Germany|Länder]]'' [[North Rhine-Westphalia]], [[Baden Württemberg]] and Berlin have initiated a system where prostitutes have to pay their taxes in advance, a set amount per day, to be collected and paid to tax authorities by the brothel owners. North Rhine-Westphalia charges €25 per day per prostitute, while Berlin charges €30. In May 2007, authorities were considering plans for a uniform country-wide system charging €25 per day.<ref>[https://www.welt.de/welt_print/article889956/Staat_will_Prostituierte_staerker_zur_Kasse_bitten.html Staat will Prostituierte stärker zur Kasse bitten], ''[[Die Welt]]'', 23 May 2007. {{in lang|de}}</ref>

Until 2002, prostitutes and brothels were technically not allowed to advertise, but that prohibition was not enforced. The ''[[Bundesgerichtshof]]'' ruled in July 2006 that, as a consequence of the new prostitution law, advertising of sexual services is no longer illegal.<ref>[http://juris.bundesgerichtshof.de/cgi-bin/rechtsprechung/document.py?Gericht=bgh&Art=en&Datum=2006-7&nr=36793&linked=pm&Blank=1 Kontaktanzeigen Prostituierter in Zeitungen wettbewerbsrechtlich nicht generell unzulässig], press release of the ''Bundesgerichtshof'', 13 July 2006. {{in lang|de}}</ref>  Many newspapers carry daily ads for brothels and for women working out of apartments. Many prostitutes and brothels have websites on the Internet. In addition, sex shops and newsstands sell magazines specialising in advertisements of prostitutes ("Happy Weekend", "St Pauli Nachrichten", "Sexy" and many more).

Foreign women from [[European Union]] countries are allowed to work as prostitutes in Germany. Women from other countries can obtain three-month [[tourist visas]] for Germany. If they work in prostitution, it is illegal, because the tourist visa does not include a work permit.

[[Pimp]]ing, (''Zuhälterei'' = exploiting and/or controlling a sex worker) admitting prostitutes under the age of eighteen to a brothel, and influencing persons under the age of twenty-one to take up or continue work in prostitution, are illegal. It is also illegal to contract sex services from any person younger than 18, per Article 182 (paragraph 2) of the Criminal Code.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.gesetze-im-internet.de/stgb/__182.html|title=§ 182 StGB - Einzelnorm|website=www.gesetze-im-internet.de}}</ref> Before 2008 this age limit was 16.<ref>{{cite web|last1=Boyes|first1=Roger|title=Heavy petting could leave teen couples at the mercy of child prostitution law|url=http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3037079.ece|website=Times Online|access-date=18 May 2018|date= 12 December 2007 |archive-url= https://web.archive.org/web/20080907214738/http://www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/news/world/europe/article3037079.ece |archive-date=7 September 2008}}</ref>{{bettersourceneeded|reason=Source only describes a law to be passed not a law which was passed. While law may be 18 now, the source is insufficient to prove it changed in 2008 as it's possible the proposed law change didn't happen as planned at the time.|date=March 2022}} This law also applies to Germans traveling abroad, to combat [[child prostitution]] occurring in the context of [[sex tourism]].

=== Municipal regulation ===
The first city in Germany to introduce an explicit prostitution tax was [[Cologne]]. The tax was initiated early in 2004 by the city council led by a coalition of the conservative [[Christian Democratic Union (Germany)|CDU]] and the leftist [[German Green Party|Greens]]. This tax applies to [[striptease]], [[peep show]]s, [[pornography|porn]] cinemas, sex fairs, [[massage parlor]]s, and prostitution. In the case of prostitution, the tax amounts to €150 per month and working prostitute, to be paid by brothel owners or by privately working prostitutes. (The area ''Geestemünder Straße'' mentioned above is exempt.) Containment of prostitution was one explicitly stated goal of the tax. In 2006 the city took in €828,000 through this tax.<ref>[http://www.spiegel.de/international/0,1518,454749,00.html Sex Tax Filling Cologne's Coffers.] ''Spiegel Online'', 15 December 2006</ref> The neighboring city of Bonn collects a nightly sex work tax of six euro from street prostitutes in the Immenburgstrasse by vending machines identical to German parking meters. All other areas of the city are Sperrbezirk (off-limits for street prostitution).

Every city has the right to zone off certain areas where prostitution is not allowed (''Sperrbezirk''). Prostitutes found working in these areas can be fined or, when persistent, jailed. The various cities handle this very differently. In Berlin prostitution is allowed everywhere, and [[Hamburg]] allows street prostitution near the [[Reeperbahn]] during certain times of the day. Almost the entire center of [[Munich]] is ''Sperrbezirk'', and under-cover police have posed as clients to arrest prostitutes.<ref>{{cite news|title=Polizei überführt über 800 illegale Prostituierte|newspaper=Abendzeitung|date=23 December 2008|url=http://www.abendzeitung.de/muenchen/75632|language=de|url-status=dead |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110903034107/http://www.abendzeitung.de/muenchen/75632|archive-date=3 September 2011}}</ref> In [[Leipzig]], street prostitution is forbidden almost everywhere, and the city even has a local law allowing police to fine customers who solicit prostitution in public.<ref name=ab/> In most smaller cities, the ''Sperrbezirk'' includes the immediate city center as well as residential areas. Several states prohibit brothels in small towns (such as towns with fewer than 35,000 inhabitants).

This concept has been the subject of a number of legal challenges. In [[North Rhine-Westphalia]] a [[Minden]] court has ruled against 'Sperrbezirk',<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.nw-news.de/owl/11222929_Prostitution_in_neuem_Licht.html|title=Prostitution in neuem Licht|first=Neue|last=Westfälische}}</ref> as have courts in [[Hesse]] and [[Bavaria]].<ref>{{cite web|url=https://www.anwalt24.de/fachartikel/staat-und-verwaltung/23686|title=Skandal im Sperrbezirk: Wohnungsprostitution in Frankfurt am Main grundsätzlich zulässig. Frankfurter Sperrgebietsverordnung in Teilen unwirksam.|date=5 February 2013|language=de|trans-title=Sperrbezirk Scandal: Home-based prostitution permitted in principle in Frankfurt am Main. Frankfurt's restricted area regulation partially ineffective.|website=anwalt24.de}}</ref><ref>[http://www.br.de/nachrichten/oberbayern/inhalt/bordell-ausweitung-dachau-prozess-100.html Kampf um Sex-Clubs: Stadt Dachau unterliegt im Bordell-Prozess. BR.de 01.08.2014] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20140917154529/http://www.br.de/nachrichten/oberbayern/inhalt/bordell-ausweitung-dachau-prozess-100.html |date=17 September 2014 }}</ref> The court ruled that a general prohibition of prostitution infringed a basic right to choose one's occupation, as laid down in the 2002 Prostitution Act.

=== Health ===
Annual health checks for prostitutes are mandated by law in Germany.<ref name="fede" />
Previously, in [[Bavaria]] (''Bayern''), law mandates the use of condoms for sexual intercourse with prostitutes, including oral contact.<ref>[https://web.archive.org/web/20090306195044/http://www.muenchen.de/cms/prod1/mde/_de/rubriken/Rathaus/50_kvr/ordnung/sperrbezirk/pdf/prostitutionsbroschuere.pdf Prostitutionsbroschuere], Munich</ref><ref>{{citation|url=http://www.sueddeutsche.de/muenchen/prostitution-in-muenchen-sex-ist-kaeuflich-liebe-nicht-1.59624|title=Sex ist käuflich, Liebe nicht|date=5 February 2010|newspaper=sueddeutsche.de|last1=Wild|first1=Beate}}</ref> In 2017 this was extended to the whole of Germany.<ref name="fede" />