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The director of Security, Mario Fehr, explained the measures in the red light district to contain the corona virus in front of the cantonal council. The discussion quickly turned to the sex trade itself.
Starting Thursday, additional measures will be applied to contain the pandemic in the red light district.
It is unclear whether the Zurich governing council only acted on the impetus of parliament. Last week, he added specific measures on prostitution to his ordinance to contain the corona pandemic. As of October 1, the obligation to enter the customer’s contact details and verify their identity and mobile phone number applies in particular.
About two weeks earlier, the cantonal councilors Andrea Gisler (gp., Gossau), Barbara Günthard Fitze (evp., Winterthur) and Jeannette Büsser (gp., Zurich) had presented an urgent inquiry on protection measures against the corona virus in the middle. The trigger was the deployment of the city police in the Lugano bar on Langstrasse at the end of August. Security Director Mario Fehr (sp.) Answered the questions orally in front of the council.
The main goal of the stricter regulations is to ensure that contact tracing works in the sex industry. This also provides the best protection for third parties with suitors, Fehr said. It is your responsibility to take care of the health of your loved ones and family.
Free restricted movement
Last week, however, no information was provided on measures to restrict access to the sex trade by foreign providers. For example, the cantonal economy and labor office does not grant permits to engage in prostitution to third-country nationals, that is, to people from outside the EU and EFTA.
For public health reasons, the Migration Office does not issue family members from EU / EFTa countries a short-term residence permit or a permit of more than 90 days for the same purpose. Fehr explained that these rights under the agreement on the free movement of persons with the EU could be restricted for reasons of public order, safety and health.
Media lawyer Valentin Landmann (Zurich) protested in the discussion on behalf of the SVP that this would violate the agreement on the free movement of persons, the same treaty that the SVP wanted to end in vain with its limitation initiative on Sunday. He didn’t see any contradiction in this. In his second vote, Landmann stated that Switzerland should adhere to this agreement with the EU. In his response, Fehr was amazed at how the SVP championed “unrestricted immigration.”
The Lugano bar moves the mind
By the way, a two-part debate developed. The measures taken by the government had broad support from the Council. For the first signer Andrea Gisler, they are urgent. In Switzerland, brothels would have been the first to reopen after closing, in Germany only in September. She expected brothel operators and clients to be held accountable as well.
Gisler expanded the discussion beyond health issues. Often times, the image of an idyll is cultivated among suitors, in politics, and in the sex trade media. The conditions above the Lugano bar, where some fifty women lived in a confined space, had shown that reality cannot be denied. Prostitutes often cannot get help.
No one overlooked the conditions on Langstrasse. Valentin Landmann emphasized, however, that there was not a sex club there. The concepts of protection for the environment existed and are also being used. There is not a single known case of corona virus infection in such a club.
Sex work is not a driver of this pandemic, said Sibylle Marti (sp., Zurich). Therefore, it is dishonest to apply higher standards than elsewhere. The interpellation is not intended to protect against the virus, but is generally directed against prostitution. For Dr. Bettina Balmer (fdp., Zurich), the concepts of protection should apply equally to everyone, including brothels and prostitution. The pandemic is not over, so traceability of contacts is essential.
The discomfort over the sex trade, regardless of the virus, spreads over party politics. For Barbara Günthard Fitze (evp., Winterthur), a lot seems to happen in a law-free area. Judith Stofer (al., Zurich) said that one had to control this “highly criminal” business. Hans Egli (edu., Steinmaur) spoke undifferentiated of a cruel and inhuman system.
Customers can also commit a crime
Mario Fehr put some things back into perspective with his answer. In fact, the government’s measures do not address the pros or cons of prostitution. These only served to protect the health of the population. When people get very close to each other in closed rooms and are also physically intense, the risk of infection increases.
The security director emphasized that the record of contact details in the sex industry is exactly the same as for clubs and bars. Of course, customers would also be fined, for example, if they prevented their contact details from being collected correctly with a false identification. The canton also has the option of closing sex clubs in the event of serious violations.
The government’s actions were not only aimed at illegal prostitution. Like the human trafficking mentioned in the discussion, this is primarily a matter of criminal prosecution, Fehr said. The recipients are also some 130 relevant companies but from the legal environment in the city of Zurich and in the rest of the canton. The collection of contact details also protects the women who work there.
Specialists criticize the political decision
Rebecca Angelini of Procore, the national association of specialized centers and counseling for sex workers, has a critical view of restricting the free movement of people: “It seems to me that Corona is postponing to impose additional restrictions on the sex industry. “. It is an illusion to think that women in precarious situations would not buy anyway. “Then they just fall into illegality, which makes accessing them and tracing contacts even more impossible.”
In this way, the public health prevention mission can be carried out even less, Angelini continues. In addition, the market situation would get worse: “There is nothing wrong with contact tracing. But excessive restrictions on legal sex work put even more pressure on the industry. ”Politicians forget that this industry is vital to many women.
