Did You Hear the One about...

The same astute reader who asked about underwire and cancer (below) asked about the credibility of this story she had heard from a reliable source: In 2004 prostitution was legalized in Germany. To receive unemployment benefits one must be willing to work. Brothel posts openings, woman gets call from gov't agency saying she must apply, she objects on moral grounds and loses unemployment benefits.

In 2002-2003 (not 2004), laws in Germany strengthening the legal situation of prostitutes (and, I suspect, making it easier to tax hookers) were passed. A variation on the story cited above was reported by a variety of English-speaking news sources in January 2005, most of them blogs. But the most credible was this piece in the UK paper, The Telegraph. Apparently, the woman does not actually lose benefits but risks losing them.

The story seems to have received little attention in the German press. One could take that as an indication of Germany's moral bankruptcy, but it is also possible the story was exaggerated. Its origin was evidently this 18 December 2004 article in the Berlin newspaper Tageszeitung, which hypothesizes about the risk of cuts in unemployment benefits if women turn down work as prostitutes. The piece included no documentation of this actually happening. To get a rough (very rough) translation, type in the URL for the Tageszeitung story here.

Okay, so maybe she didn't actually lose benefits. Maybe it is just that the laws allow for that risk now. Still. Legalized prostitution is a bad idea.