Germany Installs Street Meters for Prostitutes

They must pay to get a nightly permit to work
By John Johnson,  Newser Staff
Posted Aug 31, 2011 2:32 PM CDT
Updated Sep 4, 2011 11:03 AM CDT
Germany Installs Street Meters for Prostitutes
It's now easier for prostitutes to pay their taxes in Germany.   (Shutterstock)

Prostitution is not only legal in Bonn, Germany, the city has implemented a new "sex tax" for prostitutes who want to ply their trade. City officials also have come up with a novel way to get their money: They've installed automated meters in red-light districts, akin to parking meters, reports Der Spiegel. Prostitutes who want to work must plug in about $9 and get their nightly permit. Those caught without one face fines of about $150.

"It's not fair that some women who work in establishments like sex centers or sauna clubs are taxed only because we can find them more easily there," explains a city official. Plus, many of the streetwalkers come from other countries and struggle with the appropriate paperwork. The permit-dispensing meters makes it a snap. (More Germany stories.)

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