The European Union was originally born as a transnational organization for trade. In the mid-twentieth century, when the North American economy seemed to dominate everything, several European countries decided to join forces to strengthen the market . As the decades passed, this group of countries grew, first to twelve, then seventeen, until reaching the current point, with twenty-seven member states . Trade and the free movement of citizens between these countries are assured, but there are also European laws that concern everyone. However, the member countries retain a good part of their autonomy , especially when it comes to legislating. And the fact is that the de facto reality is very different between some states and others. tradition , culture and customs change completely from Greece to Sweden, or from Estonia to Portugal. Each country has its own power to create the laws it deems appropriate, on issues that exclusively concern its borders .
prostitution is one of these controversial issues, treated very differently in European countries. And there is a great debate around this job , cataloged by many as the oldest in the world. Spread throughout Europe, prostitution has legal backing in certain countries, but there are others in which it is totally prohibited. In fact, there are even allegory situations, as it is not included in any specific law. This legislative mess has meant that many European countries have taken the lead to regularize this employment, while others made it illegal . We are talking about border neighbors, territories where in just a few kilometers, the laws on prostitution change completely. And it is a debate that is still open these days, even more than ever, within the feminist movement itself. The importance of feminism today is unquestionable in much of Europe, and the vision of prostitution will also be so in the face of its regularization or abolition . But we find different visions within the movement itself, as well as in the states that make up the European Union.
The European Union and paid sex
paid sex has been going on in Europe for centuries. Legal or illegal, prostitutes have been a major business in many cities since ancient times. It was said that the first thing to be built in a village or city was a church, and the second, a brothel. This speaks perfectly of the natural hypocrisy not of the European, but of the human being himself. Prostitutes are punished and stigmatized for being poor women, but their services are still needed, and they still have jobs. Who goes to them? Obviously, many of those who hate them in public. That is why paid sex has survived in all European territories , even in times as complex as this one that we are living today.
Countries where prostitution is legal
Given the evidence that paid sex has no signs of disappearing now or ever, many countries have understood that it is more important to ensure the health of female workers. Women who engage in this business voluntarily, without being subjected to sexual exploitation, should have the same rights as any other worker. For this reason, many nations have understood that prostitution can be improved if it is legalized and regularized. In the European Union, this position has been accepted by Germany, the Netherlands, Greece, Austria, Hungary, Malta and Latvia . In these last three nations, although prostitution is legal, brothels are prohibited, and girls must work on their own in their homes.
Many of these countries, as we see, have a deep Protestant tradition , and perhaps part of their decision is there. Religion does not influence public or political life in such a direct way, and that allows a greater openness on sexual issues. In fact, Amsterdam , the capital of the Netherlands, has one of the most popular red-light districts in the world, which has even become a tourist attraction. In these countries, prostitutes pay taxes, are included in an official registry and undergo medical check-ups from time to time. This has made it possible not only to improve their situation, but also to get an extra income for the state close to 16,000 million euros in a country like Germany, where the prostitution rate is not so high.
Nations that ban sex work
At the other end of the board we have those p countries that explicitly forbid paying for sex , in one way or another. They are nations that include in their laws a specific section in which this work is pursued, those who perform it and even those who consume it. Romania, Lithuania and Croatia consider prostitution to be illegal, but only prosecute those who carry it out. On the other hand, there are other countries where prostitution is legal, but clients are persecuted, give a slightly strange situation. France, Ireland, Lithuania and Sweden take this path.
In these countries there are specific laws to prosecute paid sex , although in some countries they focus on prostitutes and in others on clients. The result is the same: a danger to the work of these professional mistresses. Does this mean that there is no prostitution in these countries? Nothing is further from reality. In fact, prostitution continues to occur, only outside of legality , as has been the case until now. The safety of girls and clients is lower against sexually transmitted diseases. Slavery networks are running wild, and there is no way of trying to redirect the situation towards something positive for everyone…
Limbs and loopholes
However, what draws the most attention to the issue of prostitution in the European Union is the number of member states that do not have it legislated. Not for the better, not for the worse. Neither legalized nor abolished. There are no concrete laws in these countries, so prostitution remains in a kind of limbo, from which sex workers take advantage of, but also suffer. These countries are Spain, Portugal, United Kingdom (member until recently), Belgium, Luxembourg, Denmark, Italy, Bulgaria, Poland, Czech Republic, Cyprus, Estonia, Slovakia and Slovenia. In most of these nations, brothels and brothels are illegal, but they are camouflaged as hotels or cocktail bars of any kind. Currently, many of these countries are debating whether or not to legalize prostitution , a topic more topical than ever.