The cabinet has endorsed a proposal by parliament to raise the legal age of prostitution from 16 to 18.
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The motion urges the government to sign the Council of Europe accord to protect children under 18 from sexual exploitation and abuse.
The motion was filed by a representative of the Christian Democratic Party. It argues that allowing prostitution at 16 can result in young women – immigrants in particular – being taken unfair advantage of.
Prostitution is legal in Switzerland but prostitutes have to register with city and health authorities as well as get regular health checks.
On May 1 a new prostitution law, with an article banning prostitutes under 18, came into effect in Geneva; St Gallen’s cantonal parliament passed a similar vote last April.
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Call for action over teenage prostitution
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Christian Democrat Luc Barthassat has lodged a parliamentary initiative calling for the age of consent among prostitutes to be raised from 16 to 18, in line with Europe. In neighbouring Germany, Italy and France the legal age for prostitution is 18. The issue recently hit the French headlines after three national team players — Franck…
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The Swiss Child Protection Association has called for the age of consent in Switzerland to be raised from 16 to 18 in the case of prostitutes. It warned that because the legal age for prostitution in neighbouring Germany was 21 and in France and Italy 18, Switzerland risked becoming a “paradise for tourists seeking teenage…
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Corinna Milborn and Mary Kreutzer say that with only a month to go until Euro 2008 kicks off in Basel, the prostitution industry is getting into gear. “We can already see how things are ‘warming up’ and how more and more women are being brought to the venues,” Milborn told swissinfo. But women’s organisations in…
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If you want to start a conversation about a topic raised in this article or want to report factual errors, email us at english@swissinfo.ch.