> Doug quoted:
>> Telegraph (London) - January 30, 2005
>>
>> 'If you don't take a job as a prostitute, we can stop your benefits'
>> By Clare Chapman
http://amptoons.theennead.com/blog/ False story alert: Women in Germany probably not being forced into prostitution by welfare state Filed under: Prostitution, Porn and Sex Work — Ampersand @ 7:47 am
Yesterday I posted a Telegraph article about a woman in Germany being forced to choose between losing unemployment benefits and taking a job in a brothel. It now seems likely that the Telegraph article is not true.
In the comments to yesterday’s post, Alison points to this Reuters article, which says:
A spokesman for the Federal Labour Office said that if job seekers said they were prepared to work as, for example, dancers in strip bars, advisers could put them in touch with any suitable employers, but vacancies would not be displayed in job centres.
He also stressed job centres would not look for prostitutes on behalf of brothels, nor offer sex industry jobs to people who hadn’t specifically mentioned it as an area of interest.
Also, according to Alison, “Germany has special laws about sex work, including a prohibition of coercing people into sex work, and provision that sex workers can quit at any time for any reason, without working (for example) a period of notice.”
Finally, Snopes has been looking in the German press without finding any confirmation of the “be a prostitute or lose your benefits” story (hat tip: Heliologue.)
It’s impossible to say for certain, but it looks likely that the Telegraph story is false. Which is good news, of course. Thanks, Alison! -- Michael Pugliese