'If you don't take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits'

The Telegraph ^ | 30/01/2005 | Clare Chapman

[Truth666]

http://www.google.com/search?q=Hartz+IV+macht%27s+m%C3%B6glich:+Die+Vermittlung+von+langzeitarbeitslosen+

Google found 153 results on the only article on the subject that appeared in the german media (taz, a newspaper owned by mainstream media packaged as "alternative" media).

[Kennesaw]

bump

[redgolum]

So now the German government is officially a pimp.

[Angry Enough]

Paging Margaret Atwood...

[Sally II]

Lol. I remember in high school and JC, they offered tests to assess the job best fit for one's personality. I guess now that prostitution is considered an acceptable occupation in Germany, young girls all over Germany can have the delight of opening up their results and finding: "Congradulations! After evaluating your skills and interests, we have determined that the job you are best suited for is: Prostitution. To find out more about this occupation, please speak to your high school counselor."

[FormerACLUmember]

No wonder the EuroSocialist scum don't want any mention of God in the upcoming EC "Constitution."

This is also the true fqace of the US democrat party which (completely justifiably) sees itself as the American branch of EuroSocialism.

[FormerACLUmember]

fqace = face

[ijcr]

Einmal ist genug. Do you believe the MSM is different in der
mutterland?

[No Dems 2004]

And we wonder why Schroder and the Germans don't like us?

[Cigarboy]

First: If true,this act by the German govt is shameful.
Now, just what we need, another blind bible-thumper.
What profession do you think Mary Magdalen was in?

[JFK_Lib]

The increase in the spread of STDs by legalizing prositution do not come from the legal sex industry itself but from its illegal periphery that would continue to exist but driven to offer what is still illegal - unprotected, sadistic/masochistic, underage, sodomizing, etc.

This periphery will increase as the industry itself sates the illicit yearnings of stupid and naive men who should know better.

Keep prostitution illegal for ever or let evolution take its course with the naive and innocent lured into acts of stupidity.

[critilo]

great headline for the yellow press.

nothing more.

it is true that there is a "clue" in the law, but according to german articles the whole story is based on the assumption, that one could be forced to do such a job.

but, as the government does not offer such jobs, because it does not have such jobs, no one would be forced to do such a job.

how about thinking?

[JFK_Lib]

According to the article:
"Under Germany's welfare reforms, any woman under 55 who has been out of work for more than a year can be forced to take an available job – including in the sex industry – or lose her unemployment benefit.....
The government had considered making brothels an exception on moral grounds, but decided that it would be too difficult to distinguish them from bars. As a result, job centres must treat employers looking for a prostitute in the same way as those looking for a dental nurse."

Where in the article does it say that a woman is only coerced to take government jobs, when the above quote makes it clear it can be any job offered by a legal employer?

Try thinking yourself or presenting some facts instead of making unwarranted assertions.

Good greif.

Besides, it is the logical next step when you consider the European amorality and their tight budgets.

I wouldnt be surprised that they end up doing far worse and little twitters like you will shake their head and tell everyone they are being gullible, bah!

[americanbychoice2]

Hi, getting a work permit in Germany is extremely hard.
You could always apply for a civilian job with dod, or, go there and try to land one through non- appropriated funds.
Very hard

[NormalPerson]

The article is sensationalist as has been noted. The German law on prostitution explicitly states that no one may be coerced into prostitution. The main problem seems to be that benefits may be stopped if an unemployed person turns down a job that is borderline (e.g. as a waitress in a brothel or a table-dancing club).

The fundamental issue behind this problem is the reform of Germany's benefits system. The law currently states that benefits will not be stopped if a claimant who turns down available work can demonstrate that the work that was offered was unacceptable. It is extremely likely that a woman who was unwilling to accept work in a job she found sexually demeaning would have her case upheld. There have certainly been no cases of women whose hearings have failed. Given the willingness of some women to take such employment (however much some may dislike the fact of the sex industry's existence at all), it is surely correct to offer such work through the normal channels.

The difficulty is drawing the line between acceptable and unacceptable. At present, with the exception (ignored by the Telegraph) of the case of prostitution, the decision is made o a case-by-case basis. This level of vagueness is probably inevitable, as an increasingly diverse society such as Germany cannot reasonably expect everyone to subscribe to the same standards in such matters. Like many laws, this one relies of the good sense of judges and other members of the legal profession in interpreting it.