Bordello opens doors to female clientele

Calvin believes business will be good Keystone

Switzerland's first bordello for women has opened in canton Aargau, with a team of male prostitutes ready to fulfil all their customers' desires.

“Angels”, set up near Leibstadt, is Europe’s first legal brothel for female clients according to the project’s promoter. “We offer a friendly atmosphere and good-looking men,” said Calvin, who refused to give his full name.

“Angels” offers a full range of services, from a simple massage for SFr40 ($25) to much more if the customer asks for it – for up to SFr600. “We try to respond to all our clients’ desires,” said Calvin.

“Discrete” countryside

The bordello’s countryside location near the German border also has a few advantages. “It’s discrete, and German women already have some experience of this kind of service,” Calvin told swissinfo.

Male prostitution has been legal since 1992 in Switzerland, and 1,500 to 2,000 men are thought to sell their bodies for the right price. The vast majority of them work for a male clientele though, according to social workers.

“Women customers constitute a very marginal group in the world of prostitution,” said Mireille Rodeville, coordinator for Aspasie, a Geneva organisation helping sex workers.

Rodeville has some doubts that the new brothel will be successful. “Men and women have a very different take on sexuality. Women want something more subtle.”

Calvin is convinced there is a need for his services, though. “Women are more emancipated and there is a demand for this kind of place.”

swissinfo