In Bonn, Germany prostitution is now legal and prostitutes pay a “sex tax” to practice their “craft” and now city officials have come up with a unique way to collect those taxes, parking meters for prostitutes.
The newly installed meters in red-light districts require prostitutes in the area to pay approximately $9 per night for a permit which allows them to work the streets for 24 hours. Forget your permit and police give you a $150 fine.
According to one city official:
“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.”
Officials also note that many of their streetwalkers come from other countries and don’t necessarily have official paperwork, while the permit-dispensing parking meters allow everyone to pay for play.
The meters are definitely a strange addition to the city, but I do like how officials talk about the sex trade in their area based on what’s “fair” to everyone involved.
I just feel bad for that one American tourist who accidentally looks like a streetwalker and gets hit on after paying to park their car.
What do you think about the prostitute parking meters idea? (yes I know they are not actually parking meters).
