Crisis slashes appetites for paid sex
Times are hard, even for the oldest profession in the world, amidst the global crisis. The skirts are getting shorter and shorter - but so too is the queue for sex services, with fewer men paying for it.
In Germany, where prostitution is legal, revenues in brothels have fallen by around 40% over the past six months.
The principles of marketing are more or less the same in every business, be it a brothel or a supermarket. The club Pascha in Cologne has responded to the economic crisis with its own stimulus package - free entrance for elderly men, flat rates and even a money-back guarantee for the customer if he`s not satisfied.
With seven floors devoted to selling sex, the club is the biggest brothel in Europe. Before the crisis, they boasted around a thousand clients daily, but now that figure has dropped by half.
Natalie pays Pascha 600 euros a week for her room in the club. But she says that now her profits barely cover the costs.
Fabian and his friend are two of the club`s most devoted customers; they go several times a week. To save on their habits, Fabian agreed to get a tattoo with the club`s logo.
It`s all part of the brothel`s aggressive marketing campaign, and Fabian is one of the youngest clients with a tattoo. The majority who signed up are actually in their late sixties.
Marion is one of those who helps prostitutes find a new job or protect themselves in their current one. She says her work has got very busy recently.
She says: "There are more and more women after the crisis who are going on to the street. The cake is getting smaller and prostitutes are paid less. They are now pressured into having sex without a condom or doing things they would never agree to do before."
The "cake" Marion talks about is one where half-a-million prostitutes work legally. Many others work without registering and paying taxes.
Unlike in official brothels, girls in the streets often refuse to be filmed. Many believe that what they do now is temporary, just to make ends meet. But when pushed on how "temporary", they normally answer, "After I pay for university" or more vaguely, "After the crisis ends.
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