SEX WORK IN GERMANY – PUBLIC POLICY ANALYSIS FROM A HUMAN RIGHTS PERSPECTIVE

Germany de facto legalized sex work in 2002, which was followed by the introduction of extensive industry-specific regulations on the commercial sex trade in 2017. It is well-established in scientific literature that the legal status of sex work impacts sex workers´ human rights, as well as their legal, economic and social standing. The thesis explores the implications of the legalization of sex work in Germany on the human rights of persons selling sexual services. To test the hypothesis that the German legislation on commercial sex fails its aim to protect, and is a cause of violations of sex workers’ human rights, I conducted a literature review combined with the analysis of relevant laws based on reports from civil society organizations. The results demonstrate that the German public policy on sex work violates and weakens a number of sex workers’ human rights, criminalizes those whom it argues to protect, and constitutes a major step backwards in destigmatizing sex work in Germany.