I am in Switzerland to study sex trafficking in this liberal country known for its perfectionism, precision and punctuality. Switzerland`s reputation for having a humane asylum system in which the state recognizes the plight of those who come to Switzerland to escape poverty, violence and humiliation runs counter to the country`s desire to see women sold on the streets in broad daylight. These are women from desperately poor regions such as Moldova, Romania, West Africa and Southeast Asia. Sex trafficking has been legal in Switzerland since 1942, and its prostitution laws and policies suggest that some forms of slavery are more acceptable than others among so-called liberal citizens. What my anonymous contacts in the world of human rights and law enforcement told me during my trip convinced me that the legalization of sex trafficking leads to an increase in legal and illegal sex markets, which leads to an increased normalization of prostitution and the devaluation of women in Switzerland. Acceptance of sex trafficking is a green light for traffickers and other exploiters, while promoting a laissez-faire attitude on the part of the police. Human trafficking is a much more serious problem in countries such as Germany, the Netherlands and New Zealand, which have legalized or “normalized” sex trafficking than in those that have adopted the Nordic model, in which the sex buyer is criminalized and the prostituted person is decriminalized and supported by prostitution. I hear a car horn behind me – my taxi is holding the queue. It turns right, and I`m on a paved loop the size of a football field. Along the road are 10 covered wooden sheds (about 10 feet apart), the size of a typical bus shelter.

Some are sprayed with prizes. The cost of services varies depending on the barter between the sex worker and the client. According to my taxi driver (a self-proclaimed “prostitution expert”), a quick sliding job costs about $50; Full service, $100; and about $200 to “put things in the opposite direction.” Each shed houses two to six prostitutes, all in provocative outfits. All women, not men or transgender people – who usually visit Zurich`s LGBT brothels or bars. Working girls – mostly Roma (who in Europe are often discriminated against and pejoratively called “gypsies”) from Central and Eastern Europe – smoke, chat, drink in Swiss warehouses and wait for customers to pass by and select them. When I go around the route in a taxi and check them out in their seduction clothes, I feel like I`m in a dirty amusement park. Call it Humper Cars. After my visit to the Drive Thru brothels, the taxi driver takes me to one of the 300 registered brothels in the city. It is located in langstraße, the city`s most notorious red light district. The four-story building has five bright windows per floor, through which young women in underwear are visible.

Although women are clearly advertised, this differs from the so-called “window prostitution”, which is characterized by the fact that women are always on the ground floor and in brothels with single occupancy, unlike multi-room rooms. After watching the activities in the prostitution zone in the early hours of the morning, the next morning, I go to Venusia, a notorious brothel on the outskirts of the city, to request an interview with Mrs. Lisa, a regular spokesperson for the benefits of legalized prostitution. The street where the brothel is located is grey, ugly and close to a busy road. As I approach the main entrance, two men come out laughing, one makes a sexual gesture to the woman who bids them farewell. The Drive Thru brothels were considered a great success by the Swiss in the summer. But when I look at the condom-filled garbage cans and clinical organization in the area, I can only think that the Swiss government is spending a lot of public money to make it easier for men to pay for sex with financially desperate women. I wonder how many women could be supported by prostitution with the amount of money that has been spent on these institutions so far. My trip to Switzerland is coming to an end.

Window brothels, sex clubs, strip joints, street supplies and four-story brothels all operate with impunity, with the number of women put into prostitution increasing and traffickers, pimps and Johns arrogantly going about their business, with little fear of conviction or criminalization. I think of how little I knew before about how sex trafficking is prevalent and normalized here, despite my years of intensive research and reporting on the global sex market. Full-service sex work is only legal if the seller is over 18, and it is a criminal act to pay for sex with someone under the age of 18. [3] This age was raised in 2013 from 16 years (the age of sexual maturity of the country) to bring the country into line with a Council of Europe treaty signed in 2010. The maximum penalty for those who pay for sex with prostitutes of 16 or 17 years is three years in prison. The maximum penalty for persons under 18 years of procuring is ten years in prison. [9] [10] (see Article 195 of the Swiss Criminal Code [11]). There are even special tips to help brothels resume operations in the age of the coronavirus. Where the advice to companies in Switzerland is to “leave the doors open as much as possible so as not to touch them”, the professional association of sex workers, Prokore, admits that “in order to protect the privacy of sex workers and customers, the doors of the rooms in the companies should not be left open”. Around 3,000 women are registered as prostitutes in Zurich – a number that continues to grow, although increasing competition between women has led to a sharp drop in the prices of “services”.

Zurich`s Altstetten neighborhood and a street where street prostitution was allowed were closed when the Drive Thru brothel opened, and street prostitution is illegal in most parts of the city. The same year that the Drive Thru brothel opened, street prostitutes in Zurich had to start buying residence permits per night for 5 francs each at a vending machine in the area. In addition, a law has been passed since 2003 to prohibit “window prostitution”. It is legal to advertise “massages” in Swiss tabloids. Yes, prostitution is legal in Switzerland. This surprises many foreigners who see the country as a conservative nation of dairy farmers and buttoned-up bankers; but Switzerland has long adhered to social-liberal values and the free thinking of its citizens. But alongside other countries that have legalized their sex trafficking, such as the Netherlands, Germany and some Australian states, the feminist abolitionist movement is beginning to emerge. Gärner said demand was high from the start because “men online” were waiting for a date. Although the number of visitors today is about the same as before Corona, the situation is very different in brothels in Switzerland.

During my time at Ben` house, I hear about the growth of temporary pop-up lounges in apartments or sublet hotels and Airbnb brothels. According to Ben, legalization provides the perfect cover for illegal trade. Small owner-occupied brothels in New Zealand, for example, don`t need a license to operate as long as no more than four people sell sex on the premises at the same time. In Zurich, mini-lounges with up to two rooms in the same building have been exempt from licensing since July 2017. These lounges are allowed in residential areas where there is currently a ban on licensed brothels. Prostitution is not only legal, but it is also considered a form of independent economic activity – taxed and regulated like any industry in Switzerland. Sex workers must have health insurance and work visas to apply for the necessary permits from the government. Most importantly, sex workers must declare that they are voluntarily entering the field; Everything else is considered human trafficking.