On Tuesday, 8 April, we invited you to a first part reports on the many reasons why men offer sex for sale and what working conditions exist. In today's second part, Manuel Hurschmann, qualified social pedagogue and head of the Stricherprojekt "Nighthawk" from Essen's AIDS service organisation, gave an introduction to poverty prostitution. We will be addressing this aspect in more detail in the coming weeks.
On the other side of the coin of sex for sale - poverty prostitution - the services of our "Nachtfalke" centre are also used particularly frequently: There are those without regular residence status in Germany. They are not entitled to social benefits and there are only a few ways for them to get money. Or men with an addiction problem: one of them once said to me "I'd rather go prostitution than have to break the bank" - here, selling sex becomes a legal alternative for raising money. Then there are those who live on the streets and prostitute themselves for a place to sleep. In the area of so-called poverty prostitution, we often encounter people who fall through all the cracks due to their problematic situation - either because they are not entitled to it due to their background or because they do not fit into existing services. The latter is particularly often the case when problems such as addiction and mental illness are added together. And for those living on the street, it is often more obvious to go shopping than to go to the JobCentre at eight o'clock in the morning with perfectly completed application forms and apply for social benefits. In many cases, people are approached in pubs or on the street, whereby it is not always the provider who makes the first move and approaches potential customers, but sometimes the other way round. This can lead to misunderstandings if someone is offered money even though they are not offering sex for money. The working conditions in this area of prostitution are generally moderate to poor, with sex only ideally taking place within the four walls of a flat or hotel room.
otherwise it happens in the loo of a hustler pub, in the car or elsewhere. Sex work can therefore be associated with poor working conditions and take place due to a lack of suitable alternatives - which, incidentally, also applies to many other fields of work.
In addition to earning money, there are other incentives to offer sex for sale. Firstly, for many, sex work means an increase in self-esteem. There are also providers who cannot admit to their homosexual feelings and say: "I'll do it for money, that's different." Others, on the other hand, say: "I'd rather go prostitution in Germany than be discriminated against in my home country because of my homosexuality." But statements such as "I enjoy sex, why shouldn't I earn money with it?" are also motives. You can of course ask one or two critical questions about a young man's statement "I no longer enjoy sex if I don't get paid for it", but you should also consider whether you know people who say that they could never enjoy sexuality if money was involved.
Above all, we want providers of sex for sale to be treated with respect - regardless of the reasons why they offer Sex 4 Cash.
