Prostitution in Austria
[1] Over the Middle Ages there existed an uneasy association between those selling sex (usually women) on the one side, and church and state on the other.
[2] The first recorded mention of the existence of brothels (Freudenhäusern) in Vienna can be found in a charter of Duke Albrecht III (1365–1379).
[10] Sexueller Missbrauch von Jugendlichen (Sexual abuse of juveniles) allows for prosecution of clients of workers younger than 18.
[23] In 2003, the oldest prostitute was a 71-year-old Austrian woman, who offered her service in the second district of Vienna, the so-called Leopoldstadt.
Additionally organized crime groups from southern and eastern Europe entered the prostitution scene in Austria.
The Austrian Federal Ministry of the Interior considers illegal prostitution as a problem because it comes along with crimes like human trafficking, pimping and rape.
[20] In early 2007 this topic was also discovered by politics and it was discussed to end the unconscionable state of prostitution and to find a legal regulation similar to the German law.
The exit was initiated by Joana Adesuwa Reiterer, a Nigerian actress and writer based in Vienna who, after escaping a marriage with a pimp, started her research on human trafficking from Africa to Austria for sexual exploitation.
[40] The COVID-19 pandemic has hugely impacted the Austrian and Vienna prostitution scene and establishments had to be closed until further notice.
The federal government has restricted most outdoor activities and banned non-essential businesses from being operational in order to slow down the infection rate in Austria.
[41] All sex clubs and bars, Saunaclubs, studios, escort agencies and other types of adult establishments have ceased doing business until they are allowed to be open.
Most of the biggest establishments have notified their customers about their businesses being closed either through their website, via newsletters or other online information sharing portals.
[41] Prostitution in Vienna experienced a surge in illegally working women after the reopening of adult establishments on 1 July.
With over 3,000 applicants and only around 60 tests per day, some women need to wait up to a few months before they can acquire their legal documents and start working again.
As of 2024, approximately 2,000-3,000 sex workers are working illegally, offering their services in private apartments and hotel rooms.
[50] The Young Socialists (Sozialistische Jugend Österreich)[51] have a policy on prostitution, in their women's platform (Frauenpolitik).
While considering prostitution a social evil that should be eradicated, at the same time states that so long as it exists the party advocates solidarity with sex workers, their protection and opposes criminalisation as a step that merely drives the trade underground.
Traffickers subject a growing number of female victims from Nigeria and China to sexual exploitation in massage parlours and brothels.
The Federal Crime Office implemented programs with China and Nigeria to combat cross-border trafficking and improve and expand joint investigations.
In 2018, the government subsidised an NGO brochure, in 14 languages, for distribution mainly to persons working in prostitution, to increase awareness of trafficking occurring within the commercial sex industry.
[53] According to police, there also were some women who knowingly entered the country to work as prostitutes but were forced into dependency akin to slavery.
