Prostitution in Austria is legal and regulated.
History Over the Middle Ages there existed an uneasy association between those selling sex (usually women) on the one side, and church and state on the other. While the practice was frowned on, it thrived, and was tolerated. The Habsburg Rudolph I of Habsburg (1273–1291) made it an offence to insult these "gelüstigen Frauen" in 1276. After all they paid their taxes (two pfennigs a week). On the other hand, on Sundays and during Lent, they were obliged to stay away from the towns.
The first recorded mention of the existence of brothels (Freudenhäusern) in Vienna can be found in a charter of Duke Albrecht III (1365–1379). Some councilors wanted to set up a charitable foundation for prostitutes who renounced their sinful life. However very soon councilors were actually establishing brothels and even supported a nunnery from the taxes.
The last time prostitution was completely forbidden in Austria was under Maria Theresa of Austria (1740–1780) who shipped prostitutes along with other "antisocial" people down the Danube to Timișoara in the Banat region of Romania.
However, since this did little to reduce prostitution, Austrian laws changed to consider prostitution as a necessary evil that had to be tolerated but regulated by the state. In 1850, Dr. Nusser of the Vienna police suggested that prostitutes be required to register with the police, receive medical examinations twice a week, and obtain special health certificates. In 1873, Anton Ritter von Le Monnier, head of the Vienna police, reformed Vienna's prostitution law, and health certificates have been obligatory since that time. Prostitutes who complied with the requirements of registration and examinations were no longer prosecuted by the police (regulation system). A newspaper article of 27 October 1874 reported that 6,424 prostitutes had received health certificates and were under observation by police and health authorities. According to police estimates, at least 12,000 more women lived on the proceeds of "free love" without being registered. Most of these were factory workers who received so little pay that they needed the additional income. Of the registered prostitutes, 5,312 were unmarried, 902 widows, and 210 married. The youngest was 15 and the oldest 47 years old.Anna Ehrlich. Auf den Spuren der Josefine Mutzenbacher. Amalthea Signum Verlag, Wien 2005, p. 205f.
Homosexual male prostitution was legalized in 1989. under paragraph § 210 of the penal code (Strafgesetzbuch). A major reason for legalization was to reduce the spread of HIV through regular medical examinations.Statistik Austria: Gerichtliche Kriminalstatistik 2009, , p. 21By Federal Law BGBI. No 243/1989, § 210 of the Criminal Code, making commercial sex between males punishable, is repealed. This legal action is the result of extensive discussion in which proponents argued mainly to the effect that in connection with the spread of AIDS, countermeasures, particularly regular surveys and the official registration of all prostitutes would be seriously undermined by criminalization of male homosexual prostitution. Durch das Bundesgesetz BGBI. Nr. 243/1989 wurde der § 210 StGB, der bislang die gewerbsmäßige gleichgeschlechtliche Unzucht mit einer Person männlichen Geschlechts unter Strafe stellte, aufgehoben. Diese gesetzliche Maßnahme ist das Ergebnis einer ausführlichen Diskussion, in der die Befürworter hauptsächlich dahingehend argumentierten, dass die im Zusammenhang mit der Verbreitung von AIDS getroffenen Gegenmaßnahmen, insbesondere die Durchführung regelmäßiger Untersuchungen sowie die behördliche Registrierung aller Prostituierten, durch die allgemeine Strafbarkeit der männlichen homosexuellen Prostitution in ihrer Effizienz stark beeinträchtigt würden.
Current laws
Prostitution in Austria is regulated under the penal code (Strafgesetzbuch), under Zehnter Abschnitt Strafbare Handlungen gegen die sexuelle Integrität und Selbstbestimmung (§§ 201-220b) (Part Ten: Offences against sexual integrity and self-determination (§ § 201-220b)).
Although sex work itself is not forbidden, Section 207b. Sexueller Missbrauch von Jugendlichen (Sexual abuse of juveniles) allows for prosecution of clients of workers younger than 18. Additional restrictions are specified in § 214 to 217. Medical examinations are required by the AIDS and STD laws. The laws of the federal States of Austria place further restrictions on the times and places where prostitution may occur.Landesbestimmungen zur Ausübung der Prostitution (28 June 2007) The most restrictive law is that of Vorarlberg, where prostitution is legal only in licensed brothels and to date no such licenses have been issued.
The Supreme Court of Austria (Oberster Gerichtshof) held in 1989 that Prostitution was a sittenwidriger Vertrag (Unconscionable contract); therefore, a prostitute had no legal recourse against a customer who refuses to pay.OGH 28 June 1989, 3Ob516/89, In 2012 the Court ruled differently,OGH 18 April 2012, 3Ob45/12g, explaining that prostitution can no longer generally be considered as unconscionable because moral attitudes have changed and prostitution is regulated by local laws. In particular, prostitutes now have the legal right to sue for payment.
Under Strafgesetzbuch § 216, it is forbidden to receive a regular income from the prostitution of another person, so a prostitute cannot legally be considered an employee.
Prostitutes are considered to be self-employed, and since 1986 they have been required to pay taxes. The Arbeits- und Sozialrechts-Änderungsgesetz (ASRÄG) 1997 included them in social insurance. Frauenratgeberin des Bundesministerium für Gesundheit und Frauen, Themengebiet Frauen und Gewalt, Prostitution (28 June 2007)
Current situation +Number of registered prostitutes in ViennaYearFemaleMale18746,42419131,87919201,3871993711200346014200462520061,132Wiener Zeitung: Prostitution in Wien . Dienstag, 10 October 2006 (28 June 2007)18April 20071,352Roman David-Freihsl: Ohne Schutz als "neuer Kick". Der Standard, 25 May 2007, S 10. online version (28 June 2007)21 November 20081.728Martina Stemme: Mit neuen Spielregeln gegen den Strich. Der Standard, 4 November 2008. online-Version (14 January 2009)20112.50020122.758Sandra Ernst Kaiser: Es darf keine Prostitution geben. Der Standard, 24. Juni 2012. online-Version (24. Jun 2012)20133.300Julia Herrnböck: Wiener Bezirksvorsteher: "Wünsche mir Verbot für den Straßenstrich". Der Standard, 26. März 2013.(23. Jul 2013)End 20133.390APA Wien: Zahl registrierter Sexarbeiterinnen in zehn Jahren fast verfünffacht. Der Standard, 26. Juli 2014, S 10.(27. Jul 2014) 67 +Origin of registered Austrian prostitutes CountryPercentage 2011Der Standard, 27 October 2011, p. 10Percentage 2013Romania29%38%Hungary25%26%Bulgaria15%10%Slovakia8%6%Nigeria7%Czech Republic6%4%China3%Austria4%3%Other6% Austrian cities do not have red-light districts like the Bahnhofsviertel (Frankfurt am Main), the Reeperbahn in Hamburg, or the De Wallen in Amsterdam; the sex industry is widely distributed over the cities and its presence often goes unnoticed. Julia Ortner Falter 23/04, 2 June 2004 (28 June 2007)
In April 2007, 1,352 female and 21 male prostitutes were officially registered in Vienna. In 2003, the oldest prostitute was a 71-year-old Austrian woman, who offered her service in the second district of Vienna, the so-called Leopoldstadt. The number of women working legally and illegally at least from time to time as prostitutes is estimated between 3,500 and 6,000; it is estimated that they totally serve 15,000 clients per day. A similar relation of prostitutes to population number can also be found in other Austrian cities. For example, in 2008 there were 120 registered prostitutes in Linz, which has approximately 10% of the size of Vienna.Straßenstrich beim Hessenplatz, Linzer_Rundschau, 22 October 2008, S 3
Before the Wende there was a relatively good cooperation between police and prostitution from which both sides had their benefits: The pimps were allowed to regulate their turf wars themselves; on the other hand they served as informants for the police. After the fall of the Iron Curtain, however, the situation changed. Many young women from the former Eastern bloc came to Austria and were willing to work for less money than the Austrian women. Additionally organized crime groups from southern and eastern Europe entered the prostitution scene in Austria.Roland Girtler: Der Strich. Soziologie eines Milieus. 5. Auflage, Lit Verlag, Wien, 2004. . Zur 5. Auflage: Rückblickendes Vorwort, pp. 9-11.
In the following years, in particular in the 1990s, the number of registered prostitutes decreased and the number of unregistered prostitutes increased. Nowadays 60 to 90 percent are migrants, mainly from the former east bloc countries, among them many commuters from the close Slovakia. For example, the police detained several nurses from Bratislava who earned more money in one night on the streets of Vienna than in a whole month in the hospital in Bratislava.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior considers illegal prostitution as a problem because it comes along with crimes like human trafficking, pimping and rape. In addition, unregistered prostitution creates health problems. A quarter of the arrested unregistered prostitutes had multiple infections with sexually transmitted diseases. On the other hand, according to the health authorities of Vienna, registered prostitutes are the most healthy group of persons. Because of this, the Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior wants to transform illegal prostitution into legal regulated prostitution. Similar to the ministry, several human rights and migrants organizations who highlight the bad life and working conditions of prostitutes want a destabilization of prostitution and improve the working and social conditions of sex workers and to abolish the discrimination in the working rights and in the rights of residence. In early 2007 this topic was also discovered by politics and it was discussed to end the unconscionable state of prostitution and to find a legal regulation similar to the German law.
Support for (migrant) sex workers in Austria exists since the beginning of the 1990s through the NGO LEFÖ (Information, Education and Support for Migrant Women) LEFÖ is the Austrian partner of the pan-European network TAMPEP that provides HIV/STI prevention and health promotion among (migrant) sex workers. Other counselling centres for sex workers exist in Vienna (Sophie) and Linz (LENA). Additionally the organization Maiz in Linz offers consulting for migrants working in the sex industry. Since 2005, the group www.sexworker.at is a platform for sex workers and allies that is based in Vienna and operates in the German-speaking region. They are a self-organisation of sex workers and promote the recognition of sex work as legitimate activity and the self-determination and political inclusion of sex workers into decision-making and policy development, implementation and evaluation.
There is an increase of Nigerian prostitutes in Austria, whereby it was found out that many of them are victims of human trafficking and forced prostitution. The NGO Exit documents stories of these victims to increase public awareness. Furthermore, Exit counsels victims who seek help in special African dialects. The exit was initiated by Joana Adesuwa Reiterer, a Nigerian actress and writer based in Vienna who, after escaping a marriage with a pimp, started her research on human trafficking from Africa to Austria for sexual exploitation.
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