On International Women's Day, Susanne Hierl (CSU), the legal policy spokesperson for the Union parliamentary group, called for a ban on buying sex in Germany. The CDU and CSU aim to address the intolerable conditions in prostitution by introducing the so-called Nordic Model. This model punishes clients and pimps but decriminalizes sex workers.
The Union's demand for a ban on buying sex was emphasized by Susanne Hierl (CSU) on International Women's Day in an interview with the RedaktionsNetzwerk Deutschland (RND). "In prostitution, there are largely intolerable conditions," Hierl said. "We should therefore try a ban on buying sex. That clients get away without punishment is the wrong approach for me."
The proposal follows the Nordic Model, which criminalizes the purchase of sexual services and their organized facilitation, while decriminalizing sex workers. This model is applied in numerous European countries, as well as in Canada and Israel. The idea was first put forward by Dorothee Bär (CSU) in 2023. Julia Klöckner and Nina Warken (both CDU) have also spoken in favor. Klöckner described Germany as the "brothel of Europe" due to its liberal legislation, while Warken said in November to the Rheinische Post: "Germany must no longer be the bordello of Europe."
The Nordic Model is not included in the coalition agreement, as the SPD rejects it. In December 2023, Federal Family Minister Karin Prien (CDU) established an expert commission to develop proposals for better protection of prostitutes. Hierl also called for exit programs: "We will probably never completely push back prostitution, but we should support the women and offer them exit programs. They should know that they do not have to prostitute themselves, but can finance their lives differently."
Since the Prostitution Act of 2002, prostitution has been a normal trade in Germany. Critics argue that bordello operators and clients have benefited. According to the Federal Statistical Office, the number of registered prostitutes rose to 32,300 in 2024, a 5.3 percent increase from the previous year, but below the pre-crisis level of 40,400 in 2019.
