Psychotherapist urges penalties for sex buyers

German psychotherapist Ingeborg Kraus says prostitution leaves many women traumatised and exploited, and is calling for penalties on sex buyers. She made the comments in an interview with ORF Upper Austria’s Saturday series “Auf ein Wort”, ahead of the European Day against Human Trafficking.

Kraus sharply criticised legal prostitution in Germany and Austria, saying it had increased human trafficking and normalised the purchase of sex. She said it led men to believe they had a right to pay women for sexual services.

She supports the so-called Nordic model, introduced in Sweden, which penalises buyers but not people in prostitution. Its aim is to reduce demand. Kraus rejected the argument that a ban would necessarily drive prostitution underground, saying experience in other countries showed it did not automatically disappear from public view.

Kraus has worked with people in prostitution and those who have left it for 30 years. She said many suffer serious psychological effects and severely damaged self-esteem. She will speak about prostitution, trauma and human trafficking at an event in Linz on Sunday, organised by the initiative Aktiv gegen Menschenhandel – aktiv für Menschenwürde.