The German sex industry is already gearing up for a busy World Cup next summer. So too are groups concerned with human trafficking and forced prostitution. A sex free-for-all, say many, could hurt the country?s image.

Munich was always a bit behind the times. But when the Olympics arrived in 1972, the city finally joined the world?s erotic elite, albeit against its own will.

By the early 70s, newspaper advertisements for prostitutes in cities like Rome or Paris were the norm. Not, though, in the provincial Bavarian capital. Indeed, with the sports world coming to visit, the city decided to ban sex workers from city streets and force them to ply their trade in the outskirts. Its reputation, after all, was at stake. The result was quickly to be found in the tabloids: "photo models" and "hostesses" filled the classifieds with mini announcements informing the visiting hordes where to find the "real Olympic flame."

This time around, the debate over what to do about the sex trade promises to be no less intense. Six months before the June 9 start of the World Cup soccer championship, anti-sex industry activists are getting ready to do battle. Prostitution profiteers -- their eyes firmly focused on the some 3 million visitors expected to converge on the 12 German cities hosting matches -- are likewise preparing to defend their territory. Even the government is gearing up.

Raising awareness of forced prostitution

Former minister for family affairs Renate Schmidt -- who left office last week with the swearing in of the new government under Chancellor Angela Merkel -- got the ball rolling by making the interior ministry and the federal office of criminal investigation responsible for preventing an influx of illegal prostitutes from abroad. Schmidt is convinced that the world will be watching and that the credibility of Germany?s fight against human trafficking is at stake. The former minister even sent a stern letter to the German Soccer Federation demanding that the group live up to its "responsibility to society" by supporting measures to control forced prostitution and human trafficking.

And it?s not just politicians who are afraid of the World Cup celebration turning into a gigantic orgy. The German women?s group Deutscher Frauenrat as well as Germany?s Catholic and Protestant churches are all concerned about the some 40,000 hookers from Eastern Europe expected to make their way to Germany for the tournament. Together, they have started a number of campaigns and appeals to draw attention to forced prostitution and the Deutscher Frauenrat has even written letters to such iconic German national-team players as Oliver Kahn and Michael Ballack.

At the same time, though, sex professionals are busy preparing for the expected influx of customers. New mega-brothels, more streets with prostitutes and first-class service are planned to help strip football fans of their money while at the same time maintaining an unmatched degree of sanitation.

The result is not just a clash between money and morals. Two world views are colliding with one another. On the one hand are those for whom soccer, sex and beer are all part of the World Cup package. If one needs to celebrate a victory -- or requires consolation after a loss -- call girls should be there to help out.

On the other hand are those who see the sex trade as one infested with criminality and immorality. They want to use the World Cup as an opportunity to, as the Deutscher Frauenrat puts it, "sensitize johns" and to "show the red card" to all forms of sexual exploitation.

------Credit goes to Andreas Ulrich and Udo Ludwig
Originally from Spiegel Online
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