Berlin - The hordes of beer-swilling men
who have descended on Germany for the World Cup, are proving a
disappointment for the host nation's sex workers, preferring to
party in public rather than spend time with prostitutes.
While some larger red-light establishments in host cities
have seen their cash tills ringing, a lot of prostitutes say the
anticipated boost for Germany's liberal sex industry has failed
to materialise.
The president of Germany's association for sexual service providers, Karolina Leppert, said: "The pent-up sexual demand of horny fans from around the world which has been widely anticipated has not materialised at all.
"Business is pretty dead, even the regulars stay away
because of all the crowds and the hype," said Leppert, who has
been working as a dominatrix in Berlin for eight years.
More than a million foreign soccer fans are expected to
visit Germany during the four-week tournament, many of them from
nations where prostitution is illegal, like the US or Sweden.
In Germany, where it is legal and workers can join unions,
get health insurance or a pension plan, expectations have been
high that fans would visit prostitutes after a match.
But already facing a steep bill for their World Cup trip,
male fans are opting to spend time with fellow fans in host
cities' open-air party venues.
"When they come they don't want to pay entrance, they want
cheap drinks and that doesn't work for us," Antonio, working in
a Berlin champagne bar, said, declining to give his full name.
Antonio said his city centre bar had seen only a 10%
increase in customers, despite being just minutes walk away from
the Brandenburg Gate, a Berlin landmark where some 700 000 fans watched Germany beat Ecuador on Tuesday on huge outdoor screens.
Surveys put the number of those working in full or part-time
prostitution in Germany at 400 000. Many expected more women
from abroad to head to Germany for the occasion.
Yet police in most host cities, like Frankfurt, said the
number of sex workers had hardly changed. Only Munich police saw
an increase and said 800 women now worked in legal brothels.
"This is a 60% rise, but the expected run from
customers hasn't happened yet," said a Munich police spokesperson.-Reuters
