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

Due to the Covid crisis, which has been going on for more than 1.5 years now, and the fourth lockdown in Austria, there has been a lot of back and forth regarding the rules for access to prostitution establishments (prostitution bars, brothels and running houses).

As already known from previous such phases, trade, gastronomy and also prostitution businesses have to remain closed up to and including December 12.

Thus, due to the fourth lockdown in effect since November 22, all prostitution establishments are expected to remain closed until December 12, 2021, inclusive.

Hopefully, the situation will ease and the fourth lockdown will end on December 13, 2021.

After that, prostitution services are to reopen for the vaccinated and recovered, but the lockdown for the unvaccinated will continue. From February 2022, there should be mandatory vaccination.

In succession, the general regulation for time after the lockdown.

Prostitution in Austria is basically legal and regulated by law.

Prostitution is of course also practised during the Corona crisis, but on a much smaller scale and illegally.

The majority of women is leaving or left for their respective countries before the border barriers were put up, and a few prostitutes stayed in Austria.

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 for the sex industry were drawn up by the Ministry of Health together with representatives of self-organisations and counselling centres.

Recommendations for people working in the sex industry and their clients

Information and communication

• If you have any questions regarding the coronavirus, the AGES Hotline can be contacted 24 hours a day on 0800 555 621.
• If a person is suspected of being ill (e.g. high temperature, coughing, shortness of breath, breathing difficulties), they should stay at home and dial the healthcare number 1450 for advice on what to do next (diagnostic questioning). The healthcare number can be called 24 hours a day.
• The operator or owner of the brothel establishment (e.g. club, studio, brothel, etc.), in which the services are provided, must draw up and implement a COVID-19 prevention concept for the various areas of the establishment. In addition to this, a COVID-19 representative must be appointed.
• The operator must ensure that clients only enter the establishment between 5:00 a.m. and 10:00 p.m.
• If food and drinks are served within the brothel, the rules for gastronomy apply.
• In places where sex work is performed, it is recommended that information leaflets for sex workers and clients translated into many languages are visibly displayed and made available for distribution.
• 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.
• Towels used by clients and sex workers should be replaced after each contact (and washed at 60°) and must not be shared.

Materials used

• An FFP2 mask, or a mask of an equivalent standard, should be worn by both the sex worker and the client and changed by the sex worker before contact is made with a new 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°. An exception are polyurethane sheets, which should be cleaned with a 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

• It is generally permissible to keep a distance of less than the required two metres, provided that it is typical for the service concerned.
• 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 be used and the face and all parts of the body that came into contact should be washed afterwards.
• Sexual services should only take place between two people.

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

• Clients are only to be admitted if they show proof of a low epidemiological risk (negative test result, proof of vaccination or recovery). The clients must have this proof ready to show for the duration of their stay.
• Sex workers must present a negative antigen or PCR test every seven days unless they have other proof of a low epidemiological risk (proof of vaccination or recovery).
• A COVID-19 test can only detect a possible infection at the time of testing. Even if the test result is negative, the recommended measures must still be adhered to.
• 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.
• In the event of COVID-19-specific symptoms or suspicion thereof among sex workers, no type of sexual service (including sexual massages) may be performed. In this case, the person concerned should dial 1450.
• An option for clients to voluntarily provide confidential contact details (e.g. email address, telephone number) should be available on site and communicated to clients in the event of a COVID-19 infection.

Background

Prostitution represents a particularly precarious field of work that is at risk of exploitation. Nevertheless, many women make a conscious decision to earn their living in this way.

A variety of measures are needed to prevent exploitation in prostitution - including human trafficking into prostitution.

Foreign examples also show that demand cannot be effectively stopped 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.

If there is a legal market, on the other hand, it is possible to influence working conditions, carry out controls more easily and better identify and support potential victims of sexual violence and coercion.

Nevertheless, regulating a legal market is a major challenge. On the one hand, it is necessary to preserve the sexual integrity of those working there, a tightrope walk since the activity consists of sexual acts. On the other hand, it is still a working environment characterized by pimping and exploitation, a fact that must be taken into account in all regulations.

Prostitution, the offering of sexual services by adults, is basically legal in Austria and in its 9 federal states, i.e. Vienna, Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg.

Some central aspects fall under the regulatory competence of the federal government, others under the regulatory competence of the federal states.

At the federal level, 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, most notably the requirement for 6-week examinations.

On the other hand, "who", "when" and "where" sexual services may actually be offered is regulated at the state law level. For example, regulations on age limits, permissible places of work and requirements for establishments vary from province to province.

In summary, the regulation of sexual services in Austria (Vienna, Burgenland, Carinthia, Lower Austria, Upper Austria, Salzburg, Styria, Tyrol and Vorarlberg) can therefore be described as complex and inhomogeneous.

Sozialministerium