The Prostitute Protection Act (ProstSchG) is a law that regulates all matters of prostitution in Germany and keeps an eye on businesses by enforcing strict regulations. This law became fully effective on 1 July 2017.

REGULATIONS FOR SEX WORKERS

The Law applies to female, male and trans* sex workers, no matter where you work: on the street, at a bar, a club, brothel, sauna, nudism clubs, as an escort, at “brothel flats”, massage or SM studio, in prostitution vehicles (e.g. “love mobiles”), as a sexual assistant, or whether you do house calls or hotel visits.

If you work as a prostitute, you need to have a registration certificate and a valid health consultation certificate, and you have to carry them with you when you work.

The REGISTRATION CERTIFICATE is a small booklet that includes:

- your photograph

- your first and last name

- your date and place of birth

- your nationality

- the federal states or cities you are planning to work in

- its validity and the issuing office

HINT! All federal states or municipalities where you want to work in the future will be listed on the certificate. Insist on having all 16 federal states listed. In this way you are free to move about and independent from the authority.

You can have both certificates issued with an ALIAS NAME. This can be your artist’s name, e.g. Natasha or Lisa. If you are controlled by the police, they can determine your identity with the photograph and by comparing with your passport.

ATTENTION! If you are 21 or older, you have to renew the Registration Certificate every two years. If you are under 21, every year.

The HEALTH CONSULTATION CERTIFICATE includes:

- your first and last name

- your date of birth

- the health office that issued the Certificate, the issuing and expiration date

To get a Health Consultation Certificate you must go to the local health office (Gesundheitsamt) and present your ID or passport. In some cities you may have to pay a fee.

The consultation consists of receiving advised on how to prevent diseases, contraception, on pregnancy and the risks of alcohol and drug abuse.

ATTENTION! If you are 21 or older, you have to renew the Health Consultation Certificate every 12 months. If you are under 21, every six months.

IMPORTANT! The ProstSchG does not require mandatory health examinations.

THE REGISTRATION

1. you must go to the registration authority

2. you have to present your ID or passport

3. immigrants (non-EU members) must also provide a work permit

4. you need two recent photographs

5. your first and last name, date and place of birth, nationality, registered address or mailing address

6. the Health Consultation Certificate, which cannot be older than three months.

7. before starting work or if you already work in prostitution: your first registration is valid for three years, and the health consultation certificate is valid for two years

- To get the Registration Certificate you have to figure out which authority is responsible for issuing it because it varies from town to town.

- The same about the Health Consultation Certificate: you have to find out which Health Office you have to go to get it.

HINT! Talk about this with your colleagues, get information online or from a professional consulting centre for prostitutes listed in this website under ‘Germany’.

During the registration you will receive advice and information on the ProstSchG, other laws relevant for the sex industry, on health insurance and social security, health-related and social counselling centres, emergency help and tax obligations.

This information should be given in a language you understand.

According to this law, you should register in the city where you will be working most of the time.

Some authorities ask for a fee for the certificate, some don’t! The authority should decide about your application straight away or at the latest within 5 days.

- You must always carry both certificates with you when working, to present them to the authorities if necessary. If you don’t have the certificates, you won’t be allowed to work for a brothel manager.

- If you are controlled and you are not carrying the certificate with you, you may receive a verbal warning, followed by a fine of up to EUR 1,000.

- Brothel managers will collect your personal data and present it to the authorities if necessary.

- The brothel manager must hand you a receipt for the room rent, room fees, your commission or your share of the earnings, for your tax declaration, and if necessary report this to the authorities.

The registration authority will forward your personal data to the tax office.

- You have to register your work with the tax office and you will receive your tax ID.

- You have to submit your tax return for income, VAT and trade tax for each calendar year to your tax office.

But that's not all. You also need to know about the following:

- you have to let the authority know about any change to your situation within 14 days: if you get married and change your name or if you have a new address, etc.

- as a sex worker, you are required to wear condoms during sexual intercourse (vaginal, oral and anal) – even if it’s the customer and not you who gets punished,

- it is not allowed to advertise for sexual intercourse without a condom – no paraphrasing or abbreviations,

- you are no longer allowed to sleep in the room you work in,

- however, you are allowed to work and live alone in your flat,

- if you are sharing a house, a flat or an apartment with another colleague, you are operating a prostitution business and you have to apply for a  prostitution business permit,

- your data is deleted by the registration authority at the latest three months after the termination of your work or after your registration certificate has expired.

www.prostituiertenschutzgesetz.info (Information on the new Law in seven different languages)

The information above was taken from the brochure ‘Successful Business, The Prostitute Protection Act from A to Z’. www.bsd-ev.info/publikationen/ (available in Bulgarian, English, German, Hungarian, Romanian, Spanish and Thai)

Published by Bundesverband Sexuelle Dienstleistungen e.V.

Tel +49 (0)174 91 99 246 | info@bsd-ev.info | www.bsd-ev.info

Editing, coordination + copyright: Stephanie Klee

December 2018