Prostitution in Austria Prohibited Again: Here Are the New COVID-19 Rules

Prostitution, the offering of sexual services by adults, is basically legal in Austria.

Update: Second Coronavirus Lockdown in Austria

Due to the new COVID-19 Protection Measures Ordinance, which came into force on November 3, 2020 and will remain in force until at least November 30, 2020, all facilities for the practice of prostitution will again be closed as of November 3.

At the federal level, the general tax and social security regulations apply. As a rule, sex service providers are considered self-employed. In addition, there are a few specific regulations, especially the obligation to undergo a 6-week examination.

In April 2020, the so-called Covid-19 relaxation decree was passed, according to which paragraph 9 (2) item 7 "Visitors are prohibited from entering facilities for the practice of prostitution".

Prostitution was of course also practised during the Corona crisis, but on a much smaller scale and illegally. The majority of women left for their respective countries before the border barriers were put up, and a few prostitutes stayed in Austria.

The Corona Ordinance only applied until 30 June 2020 inclusive. since then the facilities have been allowed to be entered again.

Prostitution is a particularly precarious and exploitative field of work. Nevertheless, many women make a conscious decision to earn a living from it. Currently, there are about 8,000 registered sex workers in Austria.

In order to prevent exploitation in prostitution - including human trafficking into prostitution - a variety of measures are needed. Foreign examples also show that demand cannot be effectively suppressed by a ban. On the contrary, a ban pushes sex service providers into illegality, where they are exposed to an even greater risk of exploitation.

Some parties are calling for a general "ban on the purchase of sexual services". However, experts in Austria largely agree that it is better to make a clear distinction between voluntary prostitution and forced prostitution and to take appropriate measures in each case.

This is because foreign examples show that demand cannot be effectively suppressed by a ban. On the contrary, a ban pushes sex service providers into illegality, where they are exposed to an even greater risk of exploitation.

Origin of prostitutes

The majority of prostitutes in Austria are migrant women from Eastern Europe. Among them are also many day commuters from Slovakia. Only about 5% of prostitutes are Austrian.

As sex work is one of the few activities that asylum seekers are legally allowed to pursue, there are about 1-2% asylum seekers among the registered prostitutes.

Sex workers were particularly hard hit by the Corona crisis financially and were entitled to benefits from the hardship fund as self-employed persons.

The following current hygiene and protection recommendations were drawn up by the Ministry of Health together with representatives of self-organisations and counselling centres.

Prostitutes and clients must wear a protective mask

"A disposable or fabric mouth and nose mask (washable at 60°) should be worn by both the sex worker and the client and changed by the sex worker after each session with a client" according to the recommendations for the sex industry of the Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection.

It is still unclear whether street prostitution is also permitted again. It is to be expected that outdoor activities will also be permitted again, as the risk of infection is lower there than indoors.

The street prostitution was previously concentrated in the Gürtel area as well as the Stuwerviertel and the nearby Prater in Vienna's 2nd district.However, the Vienna Prostitution Act 2011 banned street prostitution in residential areas and since then it has moved to the outskirts of the city where it is only allowed in two streets, Einzingergasse in Floridsdorf (1210) and Brünner Straße in Liesing (1120).

Following the recommendations for the sex industry in detail

Information and communication

• Operators and owners of brothel businesses (e.g. clubs, studios, walk-in brothels etc.) where the services are provided must implement a Covid-19 prevention policy in the public areas of the business. They must also support compliance with the recommendations.
• (Multilingual) information for sex workers and clients must be clearly displayed in locations where sex work is taking place and must also be available as handouts.
• A way in which clients can provide contact details (e.g. an email address or telephone number) confidentially should be provided and clients told about it.
• Operators of websites promoting sexual services and/or carrying advertisements for sexual services should put a banner on the website providing information for sex workers and clients.
• If a sex worker falls ill or is suspected of being ill and is subsequently quarantined by the authorities, they are entitled to claim compensation for lost earnings under the Epidemics Act.

Hygiene

• Existing professional hygiene standards and safer sex practices must continue to be maintained.
• The locations where the sex work is taking place must be provided with freely available hand sanitiser. Special attention should be paid to regular cleaning and/or disinfecting of door handles and handrails, and other surfaces that are frequently touched, using disposable cloths.
• It is recommended that the places where contact between the sex worker and their client takes place are frequently ventilated.
• Clients and sex workers should shower before and after each session. Alternatively, the hands and face should be washed using liquid soap.
• Towels used by clients and sex workers should be replaced after each contact (and washed at 60°) and must not be shared.

Materials used

• A disposable or fabric mouth and nose mask (washable at 60°) should be worn by both the sex worker and the client and changed by the sex worker after each session with a client.
• Gloves may be used, but the main method of hand hygiene is to wash and/or disinfect the hands.
• Mattress covers should be changed after each session with a client and washed at 60°. The only exception to this is polyurethane sheets which must be cleaned with disinfectant after each use.
• Sex toys should not be used by the sex worker and the client together and should be cleaned and disinfected after use as usual.

Body contact

• Body contact should be reduced to a minimum.
• Because the virus is transmitted through droplets of saliva, it is recommended that all activities where saliva is exchanged, kissing, oral sex and face-to-face sex positions should be avoided. If oral sex does take place, a condom or dental dam should beused and the face and all parts of the body that came into contact should be washed afterwards.
• Sexual contact should only be between two people, with group sex being inadvisable.

Observing clients' and sex workers' state of health and testing

• A Covid-19 test can only identify a possible infection at the time of testing. Negative results can give a false sense of security and should not result in the recommended measures being ignored. An approach whereby the risks are reduced and people are kept informed and made more aware is therefore preferable to the regular testing of asymptomatic sex workers.
• Sex workers are encouraged to check their client's state of health before starting to provide sexual services (absence of Covid-19 symptoms such as cough, high temperature, shortness of breath) and, if such symptoms are observed, always to refrain from providing sexual services to that client and to keep their distance.
• If Covid-19-specific symptoms are present or suspected, under no circumstances should any kind of sexual service be provided (including sexual massages). The person concerned should go to a test centre or call 1450.
• It is strongly recommended that the contact details of all possible contacts are retained in case an infection occurs, to enable the authorities to carry out their investigations faster. This will make an important contribution to reducing the risk of spreading the disease.

The regulation of sexual services in Austria can therefore be described as complex and inhomogeneous.

Link to the legal regulations.