Prostitution in the Czech Republic
Encyclopedia
Prostitution in the Czech Republic
is not illegal, but organized prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings, pimping etc.) is prohibited. The enforcement of these laws, however, can be lax. Ever since the Czechoslovakia
n Velvet Revolution
(1989) led to the creation of the two independent states Czech Republic and Slovakia
, prostitution
has been flourishing, and has contributed its share to the region's booming tourist economy. It is widespread in Prague
and areas near the Republic's western borders with Germany
and Austria
. In 2002, the Czech Statistical Bureau estimated the trade to be worth six billion crowns ($217 million) a year. Current estimates indicate there are 10,000 to 25,000 prostitutes in the country. In Prague, the city's third district (Praha 3), immediately east of the center, is home to much of the city's sex industry. , prostitutes could be found in the local Czech classifieds newspapers for approximately 1,000 crowns per hour.
, where customers get free sex with the sex acts being broadcast on the internet.
An analysis of hospitalization records reveals that syphilis
rates have steadily risen from 1.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990 to 13.7 per 100,000 in 2001, an eightfold increase.
The Government of the Czech Republic fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. In 2004, the Czech Government strengthened its anti-trafficking legislation and turned its pilot victim assistance program into a nationwide government-funded program. While enforcement statistics improved during the reporting period, sentences imposed on traffickers remained low.
The Czech government has attempted to legalize and regulate prostitution, but these efforts have failed.
In 2005, the Czech government approved a law to license prostitutes and confine the trade to certain areas as part of an effort to curb prostitution and reduce organized crime. However, the law needed the approval of the parliament and the parliament failed to approve it.
"The assumption is that it is unrealistic to effectively ban prostitution," the ministry proposal said. "It is only possible ... to set rules so the public does not perceive prostitution as a serious public order problem or health risk."
The plan called for prostitutes to buy licenses, undergo monthly health checks, pay taxes and have health insurance. Annual licenses would have only be issued to Czechs and other European Union
nationals older than 18 who had no criminal record. It would have been illegal to operate without a license, and those who refused to register would have been prosecuted and would have faced fines. Soliciting sex would have been banned near schools, playgrounds, churches and cemeteries.
The general opinion is that while prostitution should be legal and sex workers registered, politicians seem unwilling to take a stand and many doubt that workers would register in the first place. UK police superintendent John Mottram, working as an advisor to the Czech government on organised crime, said that the interior ministry in Prague does not see prostitution as a priority. "Unfortunately, they are not devoting the kind of attention to it which I think they should."
Opposition to the Czech government's plan to legalize prostitution came from a group of international human-rights activists representing diverse political and philosophical positions. 110 signatories for organizations representing millions of members sent a letter to Czech President Václav Klaus
and other government officials, urging them to reconsider.
Czech Republic
The Czech Republic is a landlocked country in Central Europe. The country is bordered by Poland to the northeast, Slovakia to the east, Austria to the south, and Germany to the west and northwest....
is not illegal, but organized prostitution (brothels, prostitution rings, pimping etc.) is prohibited. The enforcement of these laws, however, can be lax. Ever since the Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia
Czechoslovakia or Czecho-Slovakia was a sovereign state in Central Europe which existed from October 1918, when it declared its independence from the Austro-Hungarian Empire, until 1992...
n Velvet Revolution
Velvet Revolution
The Velvet Revolution or Gentle Revolution was a non-violent revolution in Czechoslovakia that took place from November 17 – December 29, 1989...
(1989) led to the creation of the two independent states Czech Republic and Slovakia
Slovakia
The Slovak Republic is a landlocked state in Central Europe. It has a population of over five million and an area of about . Slovakia is bordered by the Czech Republic and Austria to the west, Poland to the north, Ukraine to the east and Hungary to the south...
, prostitution
Prostitution
Prostitution is the act or practice of providing sexual services to another person in return for payment. The person who receives payment for sexual services is called a prostitute and the person who receives such services is known by a multitude of terms, including a "john". Prostitution is one of...
has been flourishing, and has contributed its share to the region's booming tourist economy. It is widespread in Prague
Prague
Prague is the capital and largest city of the Czech Republic. Situated in the north-west of the country on the Vltava river, the city is home to about 1.3 million people, while its metropolitan area is estimated to have a population of over 2.3 million...
and areas near the Republic's western borders with Germany
Germany
Germany , officially the Federal Republic of Germany , is a federal parliamentary republic in Europe. The country consists of 16 states while the capital and largest city is Berlin. Germany covers an area of 357,021 km2 and has a largely temperate seasonal climate...
and Austria
Austria
Austria , officially the Republic of Austria , is a landlocked country of roughly 8.4 million people in Central Europe. It is bordered by the Czech Republic and Germany to the north, Slovakia and Hungary to the east, Slovenia and Italy to the south, and Switzerland and Liechtenstein to the...
. In 2002, the Czech Statistical Bureau estimated the trade to be worth six billion crowns ($217 million) a year. Current estimates indicate there are 10,000 to 25,000 prostitutes in the country. In Prague, the city's third district (Praha 3), immediately east of the center, is home to much of the city's sex industry. , prostitutes could be found in the local Czech classifieds newspapers for approximately 1,000 crowns per hour.
Current situation
According to the Czech Ministry of the Interior, there are over 860 brothels in the Czech Republic, of which 200 are in Prague. Most of the country's prostitution centers in the Northern Bohemia and Western Bohemia regions and in the capital city. Brothels line the country's roads to Austria and Germany, the source of many customers. Weekend trips to Prague for some tourists also include visits to erotic clubs. There are almost 200 websites for prostitution services in the Czech Republic, up from 45 in 1997, which enable sex tourists to book their travel and appointments to buy sex acts before they leave home. Prague has the world's first online brothel, Big SisterBig Sister (brothel)
Big Sister is a brothel and associated voyeuristic pay site, located in Prague, Czech Republic. It is the only brothel where customers can use the women's services free, subsidized by paying Internet viewers; live video and audio streams and archived videos of the activity in the brothel are...
, where customers get free sex with the sex acts being broadcast on the internet.
An analysis of hospitalization records reveals that syphilis
Syphilis
Syphilis is a sexually transmitted infection caused by the spirochete bacterium Treponema pallidum subspecies pallidum. The primary route of transmission is through sexual contact; however, it may also be transmitted from mother to fetus during pregnancy or at birth, resulting in congenital syphilis...
rates have steadily risen from 1.6 cases per 100,000 inhabitants in 1990 to 13.7 per 100,000 in 2001, an eightfold increase.
Human trafficking
The Czech Republic is a source, transit, and destination country for women and children trafficked from Ukraine, Russia, Belarus, Moldova, Lithuania, Romania, Bulgaria, Slovakia, China, and Vietnam into and through the Czech Republic mainly for the purpose of sexual exploitation. Czech victims and those transiting the country are trafficked to Western Europe and the United States, sometimes via third countries. Internal trafficking occurs from low employment areas to Prague and regions bordering Germany and Austria. Ethnic Roma women are at the highest risk for internal trafficking, and almost always are trafficked by a relative or someone known to them previously.The Government of the Czech Republic fully complies with the minimum standards for the elimination of trafficking. In 2004, the Czech Government strengthened its anti-trafficking legislation and turned its pilot victim assistance program into a nationwide government-funded program. While enforcement statistics improved during the reporting period, sentences imposed on traffickers remained low.
Prosecution
The Czech police increased its capacity to investigate and convict traffickers over the reporting period, although the overall numbers of cases prosecuted pursuant to anti-trafficking legislation remained low and sentences imposed remained weak. Amendments to the Czech Penal Code went into effect in November 2004 making all forms of trafficking illegal, including labor exploitation and internal trafficking. Maximum trafficking penalties were increased from 12 to 15 years, with a minimum penalty of two years. In 2004, Czech authorities investigated 30 individuals and prosecuted 19 under the trafficking statutes. The courts convicted 12 traffickers under those statutes, an increase from five in 2003. Of the 12 convicted, three received unconditional prison sentences of three to five years, and nine received conditional or suspended sentences. Police training curricula included segments on trafficking, and a new internal website for police provided trafficking awareness information. While no government officials were indicted or convicted for complicity in trafficking, allegations continued about the involvement of individual border police officers facilitating illegal border crossings. Czech law enforcement conducted joint anti-trafficking investigations with Germany, Slovakia, Austria, Poland, and Ukraine in 2004.Protection
The Czech Government continued to improve trafficking protection and assistance over the last year. In November 2004, the Model of Support and Protection of Victims of Trafficking in Persons was expanded to a permanent, government-funded program that is open to all foreign and Czech victims. This program involves close cooperation between the government and NGOs, and allows the victims a 30day reflection period to receive assistance and consider whether to assist in prosecuting their traffickers. From January 2004 to January 2005, 14 trafficking victims — including one forced labor victim — took part in the program. Many victims chose to apply for asylum, which allows them legal status in the Czech Republic until their cases are decided — a process involving months to years. The government houses victims and potential victims applying for asylum with other at-risk groups in guarded asylum centers to prevent unwanted contact with traffickers. The government funded several NGOs and international organizations for sheltering and care of victims; two of the Czech Republic’s principal organizations provided shelter to 68 trafficking victims in 2004.Prevention
The Ministry of Interior is currently collaborating with IOM to produce a demand-reduction campaign targeting clients of commercial sex outlets along the Czech-German border area. A government-fund-ed NGO conducted awareness campaigns among potential trafficking victims at schools and asylum centers. The Ministry of Foreign Affairs continued to provide trafficking information to applicants for Czech visas from identified trafficking source countries. The Crime Prevention Department continued awareness programs at schools. In addition to the Czech National Action Plan on trafficking adopted in 2003, the government in July 2004 adopted a plan to combat commercial sexual abuse of children.Failed legalization attempt
Prostitutes in the Czech Republic work in a legal gray area, neither explicitly legal nor illegal, which makes it tough for the state to control disease, the sex-slave trade and underage prostitution.The Czech government has attempted to legalize and regulate prostitution, but these efforts have failed.
In 2005, the Czech government approved a law to license prostitutes and confine the trade to certain areas as part of an effort to curb prostitution and reduce organized crime. However, the law needed the approval of the parliament and the parliament failed to approve it.
"The assumption is that it is unrealistic to effectively ban prostitution," the ministry proposal said. "It is only possible ... to set rules so the public does not perceive prostitution as a serious public order problem or health risk."
The plan called for prostitutes to buy licenses, undergo monthly health checks, pay taxes and have health insurance. Annual licenses would have only be issued to Czechs and other European Union
European Union
The European Union is an economic and political union of 27 independent member states which are located primarily in Europe. The EU traces its origins from the European Coal and Steel Community and the European Economic Community , formed by six countries in 1958...
nationals older than 18 who had no criminal record. It would have been illegal to operate without a license, and those who refused to register would have been prosecuted and would have faced fines. Soliciting sex would have been banned near schools, playgrounds, churches and cemeteries.
The general opinion is that while prostitution should be legal and sex workers registered, politicians seem unwilling to take a stand and many doubt that workers would register in the first place. UK police superintendent John Mottram, working as an advisor to the Czech government on organised crime, said that the interior ministry in Prague does not see prostitution as a priority. "Unfortunately, they are not devoting the kind of attention to it which I think they should."
Opposition to the Czech government's plan to legalize prostitution came from a group of international human-rights activists representing diverse political and philosophical positions. 110 signatories for organizations representing millions of members sent a letter to Czech President Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus
Václav Klaus is the second President of the Czech Republic and a former Prime Minister .An economist, he is co-founder of the Civic Democratic Party, the Czech Republic's largest center-right political party. Klaus is a eurosceptic, but he reluctantly endorsed the Lisbon treaty as president of...
and other government officials, urging them to reconsider.
We are writing to express our profound concern over the prospect that the Czech Republic may be planning to legalize prostitution ... We believe that such action would be a terrible mistake for the country as a whole and, in particular, for the women and children of the Eastern Europe region who will be victims of the Czech Republic sex trade ... We are certain that legalizing prostitution within the Czech Republic will not curb abuses such as child prostitution and enslaving sex trafficking. Organized crime controls the "industry" and, in a legalized regime, it will have an enhanced capacity to do so ... Brothels are sexual gulags for women and girls ... A decision to accommodate traffickers, pimps, and organized crime's slave trade in girls and women [is] an act unworthy of Czechs' traditions of fighting for their own freedom. It is an act we will resist with every democratic means available to us, and will fight in Congress and our legislatures, through our organized women's movements and from tens of thousands of church and synagogue pulpits. At a minimum, we are determined that our efforts will in financial terms alone, be more costly to the Republic — and not in terms of tourism alone — than any hypothetical financial gains claimed. We close by urging you to reject the calls for legalization that sully the reputation of the Czech Republic and dishonor its history. Please take a leadership role in resisting the trade in women and children and please, in a manner consistent with your traditions, maintain the Republic as a model for human rights and democracy.
Organisations helping the prostitutes
- "Rozkoš bez rizika" (R-R, Bliss Without Risk) is a small non-governmental organizationNon-governmental organizationA non-governmental organization is a legally constituted organization created by natural or legal persons that operates independently from any government. The term originated from the United Nations , and is normally used to refer to organizations that do not form part of the government and are...
, founded in 1992 and funded mainly by the state and municipalities. It is dedicated to HIVHIVHuman immunodeficiency virus is a lentivirus that causes acquired immunodeficiency syndrome , a condition in humans in which progressive failure of the immune system allows life-threatening opportunistic infections and cancers to thrive...
/AIDSAIDSAcquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
and STDSexually transmitted diseaseSexually transmitted disease , also known as a sexually transmitted infection or venereal disease , is an illness that has a significant probability of transmission between humans by means of human sexual behavior, including vaginal intercourse, oral sex, and anal sex...
diagnosis and prevention among female sex-workers by educating prostitutes on safer sex techniques, health and self-defense. R-R operates help centres in Prague and BrnoBrnoBrno by population and area is the second largest city in the Czech Republic, the largest Moravian city, and the historical capital city of the Margraviate of Moravia. Brno is the administrative centre of the South Moravian Region where it forms a separate district Brno-City District...
. - "La Strada" is a small civic association active in area of combating human trafficking, founded in 1995. It operates a center in Prague and a phone helpline.
- "Projekt šance" (Project Chance) is a small organisation helping mainly young homosexual prostitutes. Founded in 1995 by László Sümegh it concentrates on streetwork activity and operates a center in Prague.
- Other organisations providing these services are "Katolická charita" (Catholic charity, countrywide), "PREV Centrum" in ChebChebCheb is a city in the Karlovy Vary Region of the Czech Republic, with about 33,000 inhabitants. It is situated on the river Ohře , at the foot of one of the spurs of the Smrčiny and near the border with Germany...
(prevention among children), " Time for Life in the Streets" in Cheb (help for prostitutes), "KARO / Marita P" in Cheb (help for prostitutes) and specialised institutions in civil service and police.
Literature
- Milena Lenderová: "Chytila patrola...aneb prostituce za Rakouska i republiky"
[ Caught by the police patrol, or prostitution at the time of the Austro-Hungarian Empire and the First Czechoslovak Republic] , 2002, ISBN 80-246-0379-9. A study about prostitution in Czech lands during the monarchy and early years of the republic. - Eva Vaníčková: "Dětská prostituce"
[ Children prostitution] , 2005, ISBN 80-247-1138-9. Includes chapter about current situation in the Czech Republic. - Trafficking in Women: The Czech Republic Perspective, 2004, (research document by United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime and United Nations Interregional Crime and Justice Research Institute), .
- Barbara Havelková: European gender equality under and after State Socialism: legal treatment of prostitution in the Czech Republic (MSt. thesis; Faculty of Law; University of Oxford), available at http://ora.ouls.ox.ac.uk/objects/uuid%3Aad0b1fa1-28ca-4400-908b-4b34e08ca064
See also
- Not Angels But AngelsNot Angels But AngelsNot Angels But Angels is a 1994 documentary film about young men in Prague working as prostitutes. The creator of the documentary, Wiktor Grodecki interviews the men, some of whom are underage, to find out more about their lives and how they came to be making a living by selling sex...
(documentary) - Body Without SoulBody Without SoulBody Without Soul is a 1994 documentary film about young boys in Prague working as prostitutes. The creator of the documentary, Wiktor Grodecki interviews the boys whose age ranges between 14-17 to find out more about their lives and how they got into the business...
(documentary) - MandragoraMandragora (film)Mandragora is a 1997 film by Polish director Wiktor Grodecki about the mental and physical decline of a 15-year old boy who runs away from his seemingly distanced father to Prague, where he becomes a victim of the drug and sex scene....
(drama based on the above documentaries by Wiktor GrodeckiWiktor GrodeckiWiktor Grodecki is a Polish film director, screenwriter and producer known for MANDRAGORA Wiktor Grodecki (born 25 February 1960 in Warsaw) is a Polish film director, screenwriter and producer known for MANDRAGORA Wiktor Grodecki (born 25 February 1960 in Warsaw) is a Polish film director,...
)