Perceptions About Pimps in an Upscale Mega Brothel in Germany

This paper examines how different actors in an upscale brothel in Germany experience and describe pimps and the influence they have in the brothel and in their lives. Over the last years, scholars, activists, and lawmakers working on prostitution have looked critically to Germany—which legalized prostitution in 2002—and to what extent this improved the working conditions and lives of sex workers there. The brothel under study is one of the many new upscale sauna clubs that have sprung up all over Germany. In contrast to the club’s claims as a model for legal prostitution, sex workers, clients, and even a substantial number of employees often talked about the sex workers who were working for pimps, about pimps’ mingling among customers, about their attempts to recruit new girls as well as their surveillance and the stress that caused. Even though this study relies on statements about pimps, the preponderance of this subject and prostitution insiders’ pervasive concern with them suggest that they play a significant role even in legal and upscale prostitution.