Prostitution in Switzerland

Many workers operate using newspaper advertisements, mobile phones and secondary rented apartments, some accept credit cards.

[3] The Agreement on the Free Movement of Persons between Switzerland and the EU of 21 June 1999, which was extended to Romania and Bulgaria in 2009, resulted in an increase in the number of prostitutes in the country.

[5] In the same year, street prostitutes in Zurich had to buy nightly permits from a vending machine installed in the area at a cost of 5 francs.

[3] Foreigners sex worker from the European Union can obtain permission to work for 90 days as a prostitute[3] if they present themselves to the city authorities, undergo a police interview, and provide proof of a health insurance plan.

[12] On 24 March a Thai woman was arrested in Rheineck for not closing her establishment and was subsequently fined 1,500 Swiss francs.

[13] The local authorities in Zurich installed carport-like constructions called Verrichtungsboxen or 'sex boxes' to protect street based sex workers.

[22] Switzerland is primarily a destination and, to a lesser extent, a transit country for women, children, and transgender people subjected to sex trafficking.

Foreign trafficking victims originate primarily from Central and Eastern Europe—particularly Romania, Hungary, and Bulgaria, with increasing numbers from Nigeria and Thailand.