"The demand for a ban was about asymmetric criminalization, so a ban on the buyer side. The demand is to make it a criminal offense to pay for sexual services. Offering, on the other hand, should be exempt from punishment in order not to further penalize women who are forced to do this work."

"The supply remains. The demand remains. The customer just can't be caught? Will investigators then disguise themselves as hookers to find customers?"

"Yes, in fact, bait offers were also mentioned."

"So if a sex worker throws themselves at a drunk person, you want to rely on that drunk person to remember and keep in mind that they would be doing something illegal should they have sex with that person and pay them for it, but at the same time sex workers no longer have to hide the fact that they are sex workers and can make such an offer completely openly to any drunk person or anyone else?"

"Yes."

"This is just a work and advertising permit? It encourages forced prostitution. Are you sure the demand didn't come from an association for the rights of pimps?"

"Yes, I'm sure of it. This model of asymmetric criminalization was implemented in Hypos a decade ago and since then, there has been a drop in the number of cases involving sexual violence. In contrast, the number of cases in Jena have risen since legalization. That is the main justification."

Marah let her head hang down and put a hand to her forehead. It was rare to see her so aghast.

"So the reason is that the number of cases in another country fell after it was decided that only criminals could report crimes, while the number of cases in their own country rose after it was decided that it would become a legal business that no longer had to be suppressed by the authorities. Are they actually getting progressively dumber every year or is it just my imagination? If sexual services are illegal for me and the sex worker has a black eye, then I'll keep that to myself if they arrest me at the city watch. I am a supporter. I'm almost an accomplice. Maybe I'm a regular customer. Maybe I know the people responsible. I certainly don't want to mess with them. If sexual services are legal and the sex worker has a black eye, then I'll report it to the city watch, then more than one person will probably be helped and there will be more cases. Next time I'll just use a different establishment, because as a normal citizen I certainly don't want to have anything to do with violence. If brothels and sex workers are regularly controlled by the authorities, then you also have more cases, but if instead I allow this to be scaled up as a newly legal trade and don't control it sufficiently, as in Jena, then of course I have many more cases because there are simply more cases due to more customers. Even the incompetent option is still better than criminalizing it in any way. The cases become known more quickly. The cases are less serious. It is easier to investigate. It is easier for people to get out of this work or find a workplace somewhere else. The sex workers are registered as such. They are entitled to social payments. They have health insurance. They have to go to the doctor regularly to be checked for work-related illnesses. If a sex worker gets sick in hypos, then that person goes into debt to get treatment or simply doesn't get treatment and infects other people. If you no longer monitor all of this and can no longer keep track of it, then you naturally have lower case numbers. Incidentally, Hypos embarrassingly still has at least twice as many case numbers as we do, but that's certainly not comparable, so let's ignore that. When it comes to the dark field, meaning the known and unknown cases in total, these are always only estimates based on the bright field and selected factors. Depending on who made the estimate, the figures therefore vary greatly. As a pimp who forces people to do this work and collects all the income myself, at least for the time being, I would give a very low estimate for Hypos, as the conditions are ideal for my business model. The workers can advertise freely. The workers are not constantly arrested. The workers are completely dependent on me. I can do whatever I want with them. I can beat the shit out of them and the state supports me by preventing reports and looking the other way. If it were completely illegal or legal, in both cases my business would be less successful, which is why I'm asking if the proposal doesn't come from an association for the rights of pimps?"

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"It's an association for women's rights." the man said, almost laughing because Marah was so beside herself. She was not even that angry...

"No, it's not. It's a facade. No one is really that stupid. I can't imagine that. The real problem with sex work is that in many cultures and countries it is forbidden or frowned upon to pay for sexual services. THAT drives customers to illegal businesses. THAT promotes the exploitation of sex workers. THAT can be prevented. You cannot prevent supply. You cannot prevent demand. You can only look away or not. If the goal is for women to be abused in the shadows, then of course you can ban sex work, but if instead you want to prevent sex workers from being exploited in this profession, then you just have to do what we do and bring this industry into the public eye, where it can be sensibly controlled and regulated, just like all other industries. With drugs, people were able to learn. Why not here...? It's a rhetorical question. Overall, then, the arguments against sex work are sexism that accuses supposed sexism, the confusion of self-generated local working conditions with the real job profile and the denial of social and state responsibility in the face of the exploitation of workers. These are the arguments of an oppressed person with a distorted image of sexuality from a prudish country with the rule of men. That is immediately clear. If you as a woman have to be afraid to go out alone at night, it is also because of the prudery in your country. The more hidden sex and sexuality are, the higher the real numbers of sexual offenses. That's always the case. That is proven. There are no exceptions. Even a comparison of the bright field of Baele to Jena is more than pathetic. 10 times as many sexually transmitted diseases. 10 times as many teenage pregnancies. 4 times as many rapes. In our country, rape in marriage is included. Not there. In our country, rape of sex workers is included. Not there. In our country, rape can actually be reported to the authorities. Not here. Someone has to have happened to be standing there watching in order for it to be taken seriously. I hope they are very proud of themselves. If men tell women that they can't have too much sex because then they wouldn't be pure or some other nonsense, then that leads to women having less sex and then the men are suddenly surprised that they can't find a partner for uncomplicated sex anymore? Sex work is then also forbidden and hidden and only available to the scum. There is no sex, but men who want sex because, unlike women, they are still allowed to have it. This is the depraved morality of countries that call Baele a fornicating state while at the same time raping their women and abusing their children. They can try to come forward with real arguments if they don't make a complete fool of themselves, so never." During the last sentence, her gaze shifted to the SSW officer. "My tea is empty." she said demanding and slammed her cup down on the vase table.

The SSW officer came straight up to them on the stage, took the cup without comment and went off again to refill it.

.../ End Part