Sex Boxes

"Safety for the prostitutes. At least it's a certain kind of a shelter for them. They can do their business, and I respect them. 
"They do a great job, and they have better working conditions here... They're not exposed to the bosses, to the pimps, in here."
Daniel Hartmann Zurich lawyer

 

"We built the place to be secure for the sex workers. It also had to be discreet for the sex workers and the clientele. But we thought if we build the place we can also make it look good.
"We can't solve the whole problem of exploitation and human trafficking, but at least we want to reduce the harm, especially the violence."
Michael Herzig, Zurich social welfare department

Switzerland, or at least Zurich, has found what may be for them a solution to the violence afflicting the sex trade anywhere in the world. A manner in which the municipality can control what happens in the privacy of small self-contained drive-in "sex boxes" built in a park, to restrict prostitution to certain areas of the city, minimizing their social nuisance factor in other city areas, and at the same time offering protection to vulnerable women.

These publicly funded facilities have bathrooms, lockers, cafe tables, a laundry and shower. Each box comes complete with a panic button in the event that sex workers feel threatened by a client and need to call for assistance. These are open wooden garages. The planning is that prostitutes will appear in a small circular park in a former industrial area, and there they may solicit, lawfully, and protected from harm.

The cost of building the park and its enclosures came to the equivalent of $2.7-million, an expenditure approved by voters. Its purpose was to move sex traffic from busy downtown areas and to give protection to the workers. Upkeep amounts to around $800,000 annually. There are no doors; the emergency call button is on the passenger side of the structure setting off a flashing light and loud alarm.

A nearby office building will have social workers trained to provide a measure of security on call. And the Zurich police plans to increase patrols on the perimeter. Sex workers planning to use the boxes obtain a permit amounting to a cost of $45.50 yearly, in addition to a nightly tax of $5.70 for use of the new facilities, with their assurances of comfort and security.

Voters in Zurich approved the project as a way of moving sex traffic away from a busy downtown area where it had become a public nuisance and safety concern. Photograph: Ennio Leanza/AP
 
The use of the sex boxes represents as well a way for the municipality to take the initiative on curbing trafficking by crime syndicates. In Switzerland prostitution, escorts and massage parlours represent a thriving business. Street sex workers are required to register with city and health authorities. They are also offered health checks, and must be at least 18 years of age.

Modelled after drive-in brothels used in Germany and the Netherlands, the sex boxes will be open daily from 7pm to 5am. Photograph: Arnd Wiegmann/Reuters 
 
Earnings are taxed, subject to social insurance just as with any other economic activity. The focus is also on protecting youth in recognition of and maintaining the guidelines of the Council of Europe convention on protecting children from exploitation and abuse.