Woman who refuses to whore loses unemployment benefits

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'Work As A Prostitute Or Risk Losing Benefits'




[size=+1]By Clare Chapman[/size]

[size=+1]A 25-year-old waitress who turned down a job providing "sexual services" at a brothel in Berlin faces possible cuts to her unemployment benefit under laws introduced this year.[/size]

Prostitution was legalised in Germany just over two years ago and brothel owners -- who must pay tax and employee health insurance -- were granted access to official databases of jobseekers.

The waitress, an unemployed information technology professional, had said that she was willing to work in a bar at night and had worked in a cafe.

She received a letter from the job centre telling her that an employer was interested in her "profile" and that she should ring them. Only on doing so did the woman, who has not been identified for legal reasons, realise that she was calling a brothel. 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. Last month German unemployment rose for the 11th consecutive month to 4.5 million, taking the number out of work to its highest since reunification in 1990.

[size=+1]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.[/size]​

When the waitress looked into suing the job centre, she found out that it had not broken the law. Job centres that refuse to penalise people who turn down a job by cutting their benefits face legal action from the potential employer.

"There is now nothing in the law to stop women from being sent into the sex industry," said Merchthild Garweg, a lawyer from Hamburg who specialises in such cases. "The new regulations say that working in the sex industry is not immoral any more, and so jobs cannot be turned down without a risk to benefits." Miss Garweg said that women who had worked in call centres had been offered jobs on telephone sex lines. At one job centre in the city of Gotha, a 23-year-old woman was told that she had to attend an interview as a "nude model", and should report back on the meeting. Employers in the sex industry can also advertise in job centres, a move that came into force this month. A job centre that refuses to accept the advertisement can be sued.

[size=+1]Tatiana Ulyanova, who owns a brothel in central Berlin, has been searching the online database of her local job centre for recruits.[/size]​

"Why shouldn't I look for employees through the job centre when I pay my taxes just like anybody else?" said Miss Ulyanova.

Ulrich Kueperkoch wanted to open a brothel in Görlitz, in former East Germany, but his local job centre withdrew his advertisement for 12 prostitutes, saying it would be impossible to find them.

Mr Kueperkoch said that he was confident of demand for a brothel in the area and planned to take a claim for compensation to the highest court. Prostitution was legalised in Germany in 2002 because the government believed that this would help to combat trafficking in women and cut links to organised crime.

Miss Garweg believes that pressure on job centres to meet employment targets will soon result in them using their powers to cut the benefits of women who refuse jobs providing sexual services.

"They are already prepared to push women into jobs related to sexual services, but which don't count as prostitution," she said. "Now that prostitution is no longer considered by the law to be immoral, there is really nothing but the goodwill of the job centres to stop them from pushing women into jobs they don't want to do."

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LOL..................

 

For anyone interested in other hip forumer comments, this was also posted in the Women's Forum.

 

I dont go there....forgive me.

 

You mean the women's forum? Why not? We don't bite. We welcome men's opinions as long as they're not sexist and piggish...honestly. Some good stuff goin' on over there.

 

that is sad

I feel better about my situation now

 

then why the segratory title for it? it screams " A PLACE WHERE MEN CAN JUST SHUT THE FUCK UP"

 

Woah there tiger, you couldn't be more wrong. There's absolutely nothing negative about having a forum called "women's issues." SOME PEOPLE might have a problem with some of things that we talk about being discussed elsewhere. And yes, it's a safe spot for women to discuss things that maybe other women will understand more easily or more thoroughly than men....but we've never excluded men from our conversations (at least not that I've noticed) for simply being men.

 

I'm not too comfortable going to the 'womyns' forum either.. I saw what happened with that guy, forgot his name, that called a girl there an 'attention whore' or something similar and was temp. banned from the whole forum (not just that one) because of using the world 'slut'/whore/whatever and that's not allowed over there.. I mean.. sheesh.. maybe there was more to that that I don't know of.. but it's just a bit too weird. I don't like to draw a line between the genders so strictly.. I dunno. Now I think of it, I have more male friends than female ones.. just a coincidence.. but I'm not a girly girl so that might have sth to do with it as well..

I don't know.. I just don't feel too comfortable going there and discuss 'women issues'.. *shivers*

anywho.. I think the law about the prostitute thing is the same over here, although I don't think you can get cut down on your welfare because of refusing such a job.

 

im a guy, but that doesnt mean im not fucking outraged at this. you see i have lots of respect for women (not just beacuse of sex which is also great) .Hearing this is terrible, what the fuck is this world comming to!!!!!!!???women should have all equal rights as men. if i would of lived in the 50's id be shot for saying that.granted is has gotten better with equal rights,,, until now. all you women out there....fight for this shit!!!! im dam serious too. you cant just let society treat you like a fucking sex toy your so much more than that.STAND UP, FIGHT, AND DONT LET THIS BECOME A NEW WAY OF THE WORLD.

 

haha i dont think we will see that happening anytime soon

haha but what if we are im kiddin harhar

 

Wow.. chill out dude..

This is just bureaucracy gone overboard.. and if it was a vacancy for a gigolo and a male would refuse it would be the same thing. Prostitution is double faced but I think it's great that it's legal.. that way the government can control it and the girls get rights, pay taxes etc etc. However, I strongly feel that you should never be forced to do something you really don't want to (same as forcing a muslim to work in a pigfarm or sth..)

"what is the world coming to".. this is the oldest profession and just now it is legalised in a few countries, who want to protect the women by controlling the profession. That's all. The law just needs some tweaking.

 

wow, just wow.

 

oh you got me wrong. I didnt consider it a negative thing to have a place for women to discuss womans issues where a man can shut the fuck up. I know you never excluded them < I have accidentaliy posted there using the active threads feature, but I figured the forum was specifically created for women and I allow them the benefit of not needing to read my ignorance.