Germany is close to passing a new set of regulations for sex workers that it said would help protect people in the industry.

 

The bill, which received cabinet approval this week, will be voted on by Germany's Legislature. If passed, it would become law in 2017.

 

First, all sex workers will have to use condoms when working with a client. Workers would also have to register with the government. They will have to receive updated health advice every two years, and will be protected from being told "the nature and scale of sexual services" should they work at a brothel.

 

Also, brothel owners will require permits, and those with a history of fraud, blackmail or smuggling will be refused.

 

Fines would cost up to $56,000 for each violation.

 

Cornelia Moehring, an opposition politician, doesn't think the new regulations will be of any use.

 

She argued that most workers "will continue working illegally and really lose any protection. Obligatory condom use can't be checked and is a pure illusion.”

 

Hydra e.V., Germany's sex workers’ association, agreed. The group said the bill was about “controlling us not protecting us.”

 

“It would minimize our already scarce chances of finding another job, if we want, or drive us into illegality if we chose not to register for these very reasons,” the group said in a statement. “Moreover, we are sure that enforced counselling and registration would not present us with the perfect environment for reporting situations of abuse or exploitation. Finally, the legal enforcement of a practice within the realm of sex, however advisable, would affect our right to sexual self-determination over our own bodies.

 

“Our conviction is that sex workers know best what would improve their lives.”