The German state of Thuringia now has more registered sex workers than last year, new government numbers show. But there are still fewer than before the coronavirus pandemic hit.
At the end of 2023, officials counted 242 registered sex workers in Thuringia. That’s 73 more people than in 2022. But back in 2019, before COVID, there were 384 registered workers. Sex work includes people who work at brothels, escorts, and actors in adult movies.
Where the Workers Come From
The numbers show that many sex workers come from other countries. Of those registered, 54 were from Romania, 40 from Hungary, and 37 from Bulgaria. Most workers were between 21 and 45 years old.
Most registrations happened in two places: Gotha district (31 percent) and the city of Erfurt (27 percent).
How COVID Changed Things
The pandemic hurt the sex work industry in Thuringia and nearby countries like Austria. Studies show that about one-third of legal sex businesses and registered workers vanished during COVID.
When brothels had to close, more people started working illegally from apartments. In Vienna, Austria, police found only 40 cases of apartment prostitution in 2019. By 2021, that number jumped to 867 cases. Even after COVID rules ended, hundreds of cases still happen each year.
Austria saw similar drops: from about 8,000 registered sex workers before the pandemic to around 5,000 in 2023.
Why Legal Registration Helps
As we already wrote many times, unregulated sex work is dangerous. When workers aren’t registered, they don’t get health checkups, licenses, or protection from authorities. This puts them at risk and in the meantime, these women can spread sexually transmitted diseases without any control.
Legal clubs and brothels in Austria usually have managers, security guards, and alarm systems to keep workers and customers safe.
These elements are usually enough to deter shady clients, and these brothels’ improved security is one of the most important reasons why they always have enough girl applications for work.
In recent years, more and more people in Europe have been calling for a Swedish-style ban on buying sex. This approach, known as the Nordic Model, makes it illegal to buy sex but not to sell it. The goal is to punish the buyers while offering support to sex workers. But how has this experiment worked out in Sweden after 25 years?
How Sweden tracks down clients
Mathias Lööw, a police officer in Helsingborg, works on all kinds of serious crimes, like organized crime and drug trafficking. He also works on catching people who buy sex.
Lööw and his team track online ads, watch apartments where sex is being sold, and even pose as buyers to catch people in the act.
He says, that people buy sex all the time, adding that the busiest times are during lunch breaks and after work.
The people getting caught aren’t dangerous criminals. Instead, they’re often regular people—fathers, retirees, or students. For many of them, getting caught is very embarrassing.
Most sex workers in Sweden come from poor backgrounds in Eastern Europe, South America, or Africa. Simon Häggström, another police officer, says that these women usually aren’t in control of their lives, and most of them are often victims of human trafficking.
Unlike countries where prostitution is legal, Sweden has no brothels or visible street prostitution. Since the Nordic Model started, there hasn’t been a single murder of a sex worker in Sweden.
However, some Swedish men now travel to countries like Germany or Thailand, where buying sex is legal.
This raises the question of whether the problem is simply being moved elsewhere rather than solved.
After hours of watching and waiting, the police often face setbacks—sometimes they don’t make a single arrest. When they do catch a client, the person may deny buying sex, but they still have to come in for questioning. Inside the apartments, the police often see grim conditions—small rooms with just a bed and a couple of chairs. In one case, a client paid 130 euros to a 50-year-old Swedish woman who said she was doing it because of financial problems after her divorce.
Is the Nordic Model Working?
Critics say that the Nordic Model has many downsides for sex workers, clients, and society. For sex workers, the model pushes their work into hiding, making it more dangerous. They face a higher risk of violence, exploitation, and mental health issues.
A study by the London School of Economics says that while the model was meant to protect sex workers, it often leaves them with fewer options and makes their lives more difficult. Without being able to seek help openly, they often end up in dangerous situations.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects also argues that the Nordic Model adds to the stigma and marginalization of sex workers.
By making their clients criminals, sex workers lose stable incomes and can’t access support systems, which leads to a lot of stress and anxiety.
In countries like Austria, where sex work is legal, sex workers have more stability and safety, but in Sweden, they face more uncertainty and danger.
Read the reasons why this model is bad for the women:
For clients, the Nordic Model makes consensual activities into crimes. Many clients aren’t bad people—they are often looking for companionship or intimacy that they can’t find elsewhere. Criminalizing buying sex creates a culture of fear, which means clients are too scared to ask for help for sexual health issues or report violence. This drives the entire industry underground, where nobody is protected.
On a larger scale, the Nordic Model has caused some unintended problems. Banning legal sexual services hasn’t stopped people from wanting them. Instead, it has created a black market where criminals can take advantage of both sex workers and clients. These criminal networks become stronger as they fill the gap left by legal sex work. The extra work needed by the police to track down illegal sex workers and their clients also takes away time and resources from more serious crimes. Closing down legal brothels and sex clubs has led to job losses and less tax revenue, which puts more pressure on public resources.
Read the most important reasons why this model bad for the clients:
There is also evidence that the Nordic Model might lead to more sexual violence. Sweden, where the model started, has some of the highest rates of reported sexual violence in Europe.
Some people think that when there are no legal ways for people to pay for sex, it leads to frustration, which can turn into aggression.
Sweden’s high rate of reported rapes has raised concerns about whether criminalizing sex work might actually be making things worse.
While the Nordic Model aims to reduce exploitation and help sex workers, critics argue that it often has the opposite effect.
It pushes the sex trade underground, leaves sex workers more vulnerable, and makes exploitation and violence more likely.
For countries like Germany that are thinking about adopting the Nordic Model, these problems should serve as a reminder that even well-meaning policies can have harmful, unintended consequences.
We also have an article which shows the reasons, why this model is bad for the whole society. Click on the button below to read it:
The Austrian and Viennese sex market is highly versatile, where we can find high-class sex clubs at the top and small and weak studios on the opposite end. There are also many sex workers who offer AO sex.
The best girls in the city never offer this, but there are many who do. In this article, you can read about the 5 most common reasons why sex workers provide sex without a condom. Additionally, we mention those sex studios that are well-known in the scene for providing this service.
Overview:
The 5 most common reasons why sex workers provide sex without a condom
The 5 most common reasons why sex workers provide sex without a condom
1. AO sex is forced by pimps
In the cheapest brothels of Vienna, you can often find sex workers who are supervised by pimps. The scenario is always the same: poor girls are lured with the promise of legal work or a better life in Eastern European countries, and then they are transferred to Austria.
After they arrive in the city, it turns out that the pimp is not friendly anymore, and the girls must work in shady and cheap sex studios. The owners of the studios are friends of the pimp, or at least they are friendly with them, so they continuously provide the studios with new girls. In such cases, the sex workers do what the pimps say, and one of the most important services in cheap studios is sex without a condom.
2. The high demand requires girls who offer sex without protection
Vienna is notorious for having sex studios where AO sex is available, so among the local punters, there are many guests from other places who are looking for this service. Additionally, there are many tourists traveling through Europe who are looking for AO sex in brothels. Thanks to the punter forums on the internet, they soon end up in a studio in Vienna, where their special needs are served.
Because there is a high demand for it, most of the sex workers can’t say no when it comes to providing this for clients.
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3. Sex workers must provide AO sex because other prostitutes also do this
This reason is somehow connected to the high demand but shows another aspect of the question. Because of the high demand, there are many sex workers in studios where AO sex is available. If a new girl joins the place, she literally does not have another chance but to also do the same; otherwise, the client will choose another woman.
Unfortunately, the cycle can’t be broken easily, as long as there are enough sex workers who provide unprotected sex, new girls will be pushed to do the same. And if they get on the train and provide it, there will never be a lack of them for future clients.
4. Less attractive and older women are forced to offer it
Obviously, there are other women working in the sex industry besides top models. The women in this scene are mostly everyday women, where you can find pretty ones and less attractive ones as well. We must acknowledge that girls with pretty faces or perfect bodies can be hired more easily in top-notch brothels. However, it is a big misconception that only the nicest ladies can have a good job in this industry; the best sex workers have to employ a lot of skills to be successful in the long run.
But it also happens often that less attractive women end up in shady studios, where they have to follow the other girls and provide AO services as well. Similarly, when a sex worker gets older, she has fewer possibilities in the sex industry because many customers are seeking young women. It is very important for sex workers to save money and make plans for their private life after their sex work. If they don’t take care of this, they can end up as AO sex workers in cheap studios.
5. Sex studios are in terrible areas where walk-in traffic is seeking AO sex
We should not underestimate the effect of the location; shady and poor studios are often located in the worst places of the city.
Their name, studio, also comes from the fact that many times they are former commercial places that went broke and were re-opened as cheap brothels.
The walk-in traffic in these geographical areas is very specific, and the guests are looking for special services. They are often not just looking for short, 15-minute, or 30-minute sessions, but AO sex as well. The ladies who work in such brothels do not have too many possibilities other than serving these needs.
Sex studios which offer AO sex
If we look at the current sex scene of Vienna, we can find a lot of sex studios that are infamous for hosting sex workers who provide sex without protection. It is not crazy to think that most of these ladies are forced to do this; however, in rare cases, very beautiful ladies also offer this service absolutely intentionally.
Here you can find a list of AO sex studios, one shadier than the other. The list is incomplete because there are more and more of them, and new places are opened continuously, most of them owned by Hungarian owners:
Romanian AO sex studios:
Studio Roxana
Studio Relaxe
Studio La Chica
Studio Mayergasse
Studio MGR + Felberstraße
Studio Amore Lounge
Bulgarian AO sex studios:
Studio Salzachstraße
Hungarian AO sex studios:
Studio Herbststraße
Studio Bäuerlegasse
Studio Safari in Obermüllnergasse
Studio Czerningasse
Studios Ignazgasse
Studios Nordwestbahnstraße
Studios AM TABOR
Conclusion
The very versatile sex scene in Vienna is home to many weak sex studios, which are known for providing AO sex. Among the list of them, we also covered the 5 most common cases why women work in such places:
The sex without protection is forced by a pimp.
There is a high demand for this service.
Sex workers must offer AO sex because other prostitutes also offer it.
Less attractive and older women often do not have another chance.
Sex studios are in bad neighborhoods where clients are seeking AO sex.
Here, at Sex Vienna, we strictly do not recommend our readers and other punters in Vienna to participate in AO sex with a sex worker. It is also prohibited in the best brothels in the city, to keep their girls and customers safe. Read our article where we listed the best places where AO sex is prohibited:
A proposal that only has disadvantages for the girls
The Nordic model, also known as the Swedish model, criminalizes the purchase of sex while decriminalizing the selling of sex. This approach is intended to target demand, with the goal of reducing human trafficking and exploitation.
However, the model has faced significant criticism, particularly from sex workers and advocates who argue that it creates more problems than it solves. Here are the top 10 reasons why the Nordic model is bad for sex workers:
Criminalizing the purchase of sex does not eliminate the sex industry; it simply drives it underground. When sex work operates in the shadows, sex workers are more vulnerable to abuse, violence, and exploitation.
They cannot turn to law enforcement for help without fear of implicating their clients, which leaves them without help in dangerous situations. The lack of legal protection and oversight is one of the biggest problems of the Nordic model.
A research by the London School of Economics highlights the disconnect between the ideological intentions of the Nordic model and its practical impacts on sex workers.
It emphasizes that while the model aims to protect sex workers by criminalizing clients, it often leaves them more vulnerable to violence, exploitation, and precarious living conditions. You can reach the research here.
The Global Network of Sex Work Projects also provides critical insights into the challenges posed by the Nordic model, especially regarding health, safety, and access to services. The organization argues that the model does not effectively address the needs of sex workers and instead perpetuates stigma and marginalization. You can read the insight here.
2. Sex workers value legal income stability
In countries where sex work is legal and regulated, many sex workers appreciate the stability and security of a legitimate income. This is especially true in Austria. The legal frameworks allow them to work openly, access health services, and enjoy the same protections as workers in other industries.
By criminalizing their clients, the Nordic model undermines this stability, pushing sex workers into dangerous situations where they may be unable to secure consistent, safe employment. However, the nightlife scene nowadays has become more dangerous than one or two decades before; high-class sex clubs in Austria remain safe working places with good income.
Sex Work in Vienna has an article about earning possibilities of sex workers in the city, click on the button to read it:
3. Illegal human trafficking will continue regardless
The Nordic model assumes that by reducing demand for paid sex, human trafficking will also decline. However, illegal human trafficking is driven by complex global factors and will not simply disappear because of demand reduction strategies.
Traffickers are continuously finding new ways to exploit vulnerable individuals, often shifting to more hidden or professional methods that are harder to detect and prevent.
Without addressing the root causes of trafficking, such as poverty, lack of education, and economic instability, the problem will persist.
The problem of illegal human trafficking is serious, as we reported such cases here, here, here and here. Such illegal activities won’t be solved just by making the purchasing of sexual services illegal.
4. Nordic countries have high rates of sexual violence
One troubling consequence of the Nordic model is its potential link to high rates of sexual violence. In Nordic countries, men may become more frustrated and aggressive when they cannot legally access sex services. This can lead to an increase in sexual violence and harassment.
For example, Sweden, a pioneer of the Nordic model, has some of the highest reported rates of rape in Europe. GreenNet reports that Sweden has the highest incidence of reported rapes in Europe, coupled with one of the lowest conviction rates. Data Pandas also indicates that Sweden’s reported rape rate stands at 63.54 per 100,000 people. To put this in context, this is the 5th worst rate in the world; only Botswana (92.93), Lesotho (82.68), South Africa (72.10), and Bermuda (67.29) have worse numbers. As a comparison, Austria’s reported rape rate stands at 10.42 per 100,000 people.
5. Stigmatization and social exclusion
The Nordic model perpetuates the stigma against sex workers by showing them as victims and their clients as criminals. This wrong perspective ignores the autonomy of many sex workers who choose this profession.
The stigma can lead to social exclusion, discrimination, and isolation, making it harder for sex workers to access social services, housing, and alternative employment opportunities.
The worst aspect here is that the model is said to help sex workers, while in reality, it creates big obstacles in their private lives after finishing this profession.
Criminalizing the purchase of sex deters clients from seeking out regulated, safe environments. This pushes sex work into riskier, unregulated spaces where health and safety standards are not enforced.
Sex workers in these environments have less access to health services, such as regular STD testing. Additionally, the fear of legal actions can prevent sex workers from seeking medical help when needed.
Currently, Austria and especially Vienna have a very good legal environment for sex workers. They should have legal permits from the police to work as sex workers and should visit doctors regularly for health checks. Meanwhile, providing sexual services from apartments is strictly illegal.
Read our detailed article about the legal background of paid sex industry in Vienna and Austria here:
Under the Nordic model, sex workers fear reporting serious crimes such as assault, robbery, or other types of violence to the police because doing so could expose their clients to legal actions. This makes it more difficult to address serious crimes within the sex work community.
When sex workers cannot rely on the police for protection, they are left vulnerable to exploitation and violence. Also, they have less protection against pimps, who could easily take advantage and rule the currently regulated and safe market.
8. Economic inequality and exploitation
The criminalization of clients can increase economic inequality and exploitation within the sex industry. Sex workers who lose their stable income due to the decline in clients may be forced into more desperate circumstances, accepting lower pay and worse conditions.
This practically means working in shady brothels, providing sexual services without protection, or spending less on hygiene and safety. As a tragic attack on sex workers a few months ago showed, girls can be in huge danger in poor and shady places, which do not have security guards, surveillance cameras, and in-room alarm systems to protect their workers.
9. Threat to other countries’ progressive legal reforms
Countries with more progressive prostitution laws, such as Austria, have shown that it is possible to create a legal framework that protects sex workers’ rights and improves their working conditions.
The Austrian Prostitution Law, for instance, is evolving and improving, providing a model for other countries to follow. Adopting the Nordic model would halt this progress and move backwards, undermining efforts to create a safe and regulated environment for sex workers.
10. Negative impact on mental health and well-being
One significant but often overlooked consequence of the Nordic model is its very bad effect on the mental health and well-being of sex workers. The constant fear of police raids, client arrests, and societal stigma creates an environment of chronic stress and anxiety for the illegally working women. This environment can lead to serious mental health issues such as depression, post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), and other anxiety disorders.
Currently, legal sex workers don’t have such problems, as the best high-class sex clubs are often looking for new talents, while good and hard-working girls can build up their loyal regulars base and earn very good money.
Conclusion
The Nordic model fails to address the complex realities of sex work. By criminalizing clients and driving the industry underground, it increases the risks and vulnerabilities faced by sex workers. Furthermore, it ignores the autonomy of the ladies who just want to earn money for their everyday life, in a legal environment, in the safest brothels in the city.
We are continuously reporting about the news of the Vienna night scene, including new girls, places, gossip, warnings, and other important updates. In this article, you can find the list of the best brothels in Vienna, based on our knowledge and experience in this field.
Maxim Wien is one of the most well-known brothels in the city, with a history spanning a few decades in the industry. Its predecessor was launched in 1985 and re-opened in the current location in 2004.
Maxim Wien is a so-called all-in-one sex club, offering striptease on small stages, rooms with selected girls, or escort services. Located in the absolute city center, one of the best and safest districts of Vienna, it has two parts: a community area downstairs with a resident DJ and small stages with a pole, where guests can order champagne and spirits at the bar and relax on couches with the girls, and an upstairs area with rooms.
Maxim Wien invests significantly in modernization and continuous development. By 2024, it had renovated all of its rooms, and a new room will open this year. The entrance has just received a facelift, including a big outdoor info screen.
The brothel usually has more than 20 girls, mostly from Eastern and Central European countries, but there are Austrian sex workers as well. Most can be booked for hotel escort, and the place can be reserved for bachelor, birthday, and divorce parties.
Maxim Wien is very active on social media, with accounts on Facebook, Twitter, Instagram, and YouTube, as well as a regular newsletter.
The Vienna branch of the Goldentime chain is also a well-known brothel in the city, especially for tourists. The sauna club schema is a magnet for them, as this brothel type is unknown in most parts of the world.
The business schema at Goldentime is different from classic sex clubs, as both guests and sex workers must pay an entry fee. The weakness of this scheme is that it heavily relies on girls’ entry fees, who often pay this fee most days of the month, while regular guests visit the sauna club less frequently. In the past, we reported many cases from Goldentime about girls’ upsells, who take advantage of their key role in the business model and ask higher prices or overbill clients whenever they see a chance. Tourists, in particular, are at risk as they are unfamiliar with the prices in the Viennese sex scene.
Guests receive a towel and bathrobe upon entering the brothel and can use the cold buffet and spa facilities. The girls walk up and down in bikinis or half-naked, and customers have to negotiate their prices with the girls exclusively, as the management of the sauna club has nothing to do with the girls’ services or prices.
Food and some drinks are included in the entry fee
Cons:
Expensive, 150 EUR entry fee
The first hour of sex costs 600 EUR
A lot of whales who can make the best girls busy for longer periods of time
The Vienna location of the Babylon chain is located in Palais Coburg and is also one of the best brothels in the city. However, the prices are much higher than in the previous brothels on this list, including a 150 EUR entry fee and 600 EUR for the first hour of sex.
Because of the higher prices, you can often find whales in this brothel, making it more difficult to get the girls’ attention, as most are interested in the whales.
As we reported, the owner of Palais Coburg wants to integrate the brothel’s space into the luxury hotel, so the future of the brothel is currently unclear. The value of the hotel without a brothel would increase drastically, so in the long run, we expect that Babylon Vienna will need to find a new place.
The place was closed for half a year by the police and the brothel is still struggling with the girls’ quality
This brothel has two locations, one in Vienna and one in Graz. In Vienna, you can enjoy a real peepshow, where you can watch the girls on the stage from your own cabin for 1.5 EUR per minute.
If you want to have sex with the girl, you can go to a room with her. This brothel has always been a tech-savvy place with interesting technical solutions, and overall, it is also a good place for sex.
Residenz Brunn
Address: Anton Bruckner-Gasse 13, 2345 Brunn am Gebirge
Informative website with girls’ availability and prices of the services
Cons:
Smaller line-up of girls
The girls might upsell the clients
Less attractive interior
This brothel chain also has two locations, one in Vienna and one a little bit outside of the capital town, in Brunn am Gebirge. The brothel in Brunn is the 5th on our list, as it also has a nice interior with 7 rooms and a very good line-up for sex.
According to the Vienna public prosecutor, the group targeted older, single men through online dating and escort sites. They used fake names like “Romana,” “Miranda,” and “Julianna,” and the women met the clients their homes. They drugged the men using knockout drops, making them unconscious.
The women put the drugs in the victims’ drinks. The men passed out and stayed unconscious for up to two days because of the strong drugs. During this time, the suspects stole cash and valuable items. In three cases, they took entire safes, as well as brand-name clothing and a porcelain doll. The 53-year-old man waited outside to pick up the women and the stolen goods. They caused over €73,000 in damages across Austria.
Punters should be careful with online dating sites and catalogs, as illegal prostitutes and criminals often target their victims in such places. Read our articles by clicking on the button below:
Besides their criminal activities, the defendants also had complicated personal relationships. The 53-year-old man, from Hungary, had been in a relationship with the 28-year-old woman since 2018. Four years later, he started a relationship with the 43-year-old co-defendant and moved to Linz with her. He then reconnected with the younger woman, leading to a brief period where all three were in a relationship together.
The court hearing for the robbery charges is on May 22 at the Vienna Regional Court. The defendants are not expected to appear united, as the 43-year-old has testified against her co-accused, and the younger woman is pregnant with the 53-year-old man’s child while in pre-trial detention.
Read our previous news as well
Maxim Wien has launched a new website. The site features updated design elements, including a dark blue, white, and pink color scheme, a new logo, and improved functionality. The homepage includes a slider with images of new girls, recent blog posts, and contact information with a Google Maps route planner. The site is optimized for both desktop and mobile use, ensuring a smooth user experience with fast loading times and detailed profiles for each girl. Read our review here: Maxim Wien has a brand-new website
The Vienna court is considering sending Ebudallah A., accused of killing three sex workers, to a mental health facility instead of prison. The attack, which involved 96 knife stabs, occurred in February at an Asian sex studio. The suspect, believing he was on a divine mission, confessed to the killings. His lawyer argues for treatment over imprisonment, citing his severe mental condition: The court may send the suspect, who killed three sex workers, to a mental health facility
The Babylon brand is facing changes at its two main locations. Freyenthurn Castle in Klagenfurt, where Babylon Klagenfurt operates, is being sold and may become a health resort, leaving the future of the brothel uncertain. In Vienna, rumors suggest the owner of Palais Coburg, where Babylon Vienna is located, wants to repurpose the space for the luxury hotel, potentially displacing the brothel. No definitive plans have been confirmed for either location: What’s going on with the Babylon brand?
What differentiates high-class ladies from regular sex workers
Working in the sex industry requires a lot of skills, especially if we are talking about the best erotic nightclubs in Vienna. The girls in such places are flexible, speak multiple languages, and provide high-class services.
But what are those traits that differentiate these ladies from girls who work in low-quality brothels? In this article, you can read the most important 5 of them:
Contrary to common misconceptions, the sex industry does not offer easy money. Long-term success in this profession requires dedication, resilience, and a strong work ethic. Providing high-class sex is not just a task, it means having huge experience crafted with care and professionalism.
The success of a sex worker’s career depends on her ability to maintain high standards in every aspect of her work, from personal grooming to handling the clients’ needs on the fly.
A lot of newbie sex workers spend their hard-earned money quickly, which can easily lead to a decrease in service level and engagement in work. If a girl has money in her hand, it is much easier to go to a party than have another crowded work night in the brothel.
In the end, the girl can easily find herself without a job and money because high-class brothels need only reputable sex workers who can be a stable base of the business.
Only the best girls with the highest work ethic can be successful in the sex scene in the long run.
We wrote an article to sex workers about the most common mistakes that 99% of the new sex workers make:
Working in a high-class nightclub involves much more than the physical act of sex. It requires keen intelligence and a broad skill set. The ability to engage clients in meaningful conversation, understand their desires and boundaries, and negotiate terms confidently are critical. Moreover, intelligence in this context also means being informed about personal safety, legal matters, and sexual health, ensuring that interactions remain safe and consensual.
A lot of high-class sex clubs in Vienna also offer exclusive escort services, where the ladies are booked for hours or even for a longer period of time. On such occasions, an escort girl can be a beautiful and smart companion at a party, a business event, or other important events.
It is without a doubt that only the smartest and most intelligent girls can handle such situations, where the ladies should have knowledge of the actual happenings of the world and Austria as well. An unintelligent companion would ruin the client’s plans and this way, would hurt the reputation of the high-class business. You can be sure that the best sex clubs and escort agencies do everything to hire only the most intelligent ladies for this kind of job.
3. Continuous skill improvement
The most successful sex workers are those who view their profession as a craft. This involves continuous learning and improvement of various skills, including communication, seduction techniques, and even aspects of psychology and human behavior. Staying updated with trends in the industry and adapting one’s services to meet evolving client expectations is crucial.
In the sex industry, there are many skills that must be learned with hard work, including professional striptease or dance on the stage, where the ladies must pique the guests’ interest and perform a sexy, interesting, and charming performance.
On the other side, the girls should also learn what is the most profitable behavior and customer management in the industry, continuously testing new ideas and making fast decisions on the fly.
4. Flexibility
The ability to adapt to a range of situations and client needs is crucial in the nightlife industry. VIP nightclubs host a diverse clientele, ranging from local punters to international businessmen and tourists.
Sex workers must navigate this complex social terrain with confidence, tailoring their interactions to each client’s unique preferences and situations. This flexibility can mean the difference between a one-time transaction and a loyal, returning client.
And if a sex worker already has regulars, it is another art to keep them for the long run as well. In the sex industry, guests are often looking for new talents, so if someone sticks to a lady for a longer period of time, there must be solid reasons behind it.
5. Escort etiquette
Many clients seek more than just sexual services; they look for companionship and someone who can grace their presence at public events or private engagements.
As we already wrote, an escort lady is intelligent and flexible, but there are also aspects of the work that should be kept in mind.
Obviously, none of the clients want to show their surroundings that they have just hired a prostitute. Even if a prostitute is a high-class girl with amazing skills. For this, the selected lady must know how to behave naturally, without extinguishing the flame of sexuality.
A VIP escort lady must also know how to negotiate the provided services and prices, discuss the details with the client, and be paid in the most uncommon situations as well.
But mastering these skills means another good point from the client, leading to building up a professional sex worker career, having returning wealthy clients and spreading the reliability and quality of the lady on the related online forums.
Sex Work Vienna has an article, where you can read about the 5 most important skills that a high-class escort lady must have. Click on the button to read it:
As you might understand by now, having a successful career in the night industry in Vienna, being one of the high-class sex workers in the top brothels in the city, and building up a local base of regulars, does not need luck. It needs a lot of work for a long time, dedication to the clients, and providing the best services possible.
In this article we wrote about these traits:
Sex workers should maintain a high work ethic
They should be intelligent
They should continuously improve their skills
Flexibility is key
They should know the escort etiquette
Sex workers are often associated with false clichés, and this is no different for those ladies who work in the best brothels in Vienna. We wrote about the 5 most common clichés; click on the button to continue reading about them:
In the past years, we mentioned Booksusi a lot, as it was a place where punters were able to use an AO filter for filtering sex workers. This put pressure on the girls to provide it even if they were not comfortable with it, to avoid being filtered out. After showing that such a filter option is now prohibited by law, the site is still one of the most well-known places where you can encounter illegally and potentially health book-lacking prostitutes.
We have received a report from a local punter who tried three independent sex workers from Booksusi but was dissatisfied with the results. After reading his words, you will understand why. Here are the reviews of the sex workers:
Adelina is from Romania and usually works in Graz but occasionally tries her luck in Vienna. She offers her services in an IBIS Budget hotel. She is a nice person and looks even better in real life than in the images. She provides various services, including sex without a condom. However, engaging in AO sex is her choice, which brings me to the negatives.
She is working illegally in an IBIS hotel in the 2nd district. She could choose to work in any club or studio, as these places are currently hiring. However, it seems she prefers to continue working in a hotel. This should raise red flags for various reasons:
The fact that she works from a hotel room raises questions about whether she has a health book or not.
The hygiene situation is highly questionable, as it is with various AO girls, and as punters, we face this problem every day.
Sex Work Vienna has an article which explains what AO sex is and why it is bad for sex workers. Click on the button to read it:
She is a nice and open-minded person but seems kind of lost in my opinion. It is hard to determine if her images are real, but they hide her body, which is, sorry to say, not sexy. In fact, the pictures are misleading and do not reflect Giulia’s actual appearance.
Another problem is that she talks too much. At the moment, I don’t see why people would book her for a second time.
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Alice works in Schwedenplatz, in the center of Vienna, which is an ideal location. She offers her services in an illegal one-room apartment with a good view of the Danube canal.
While she could work in a sex club or a studio, since we never heard of her working anywhere officially and she always advertises her services from an apartment, it is not unrealistic that she is without a health book.
She offers everything without a condom, including anal. I strongly believe that hygiene comes into play. As quickly as she undresses her panties and stands naked in front of you, she puts the panties back on without taking a shower. She might take a shower after you leave, but who knows…
We’ve written a lot of articles on this site about escort agencies in Vienna. We’ve also reviewed the best places and compiled top lists. If you are looking for reliable and the best places in the city, don’t miss our article:
There was recently an interview with an ex-prostitute and activist Huschke Mau, in which she talks about the effects of the prostitution scene on her and women in general. According to her, women who work in this line of work are dehumanized and are used like objects.
She even wrote a book about everything that she experienced in the time she was working as a prostitute. For more details and other stories, keep reading now!
About the author
The author of the book “Dehumanized” Huschke Mau entered the prostitution scene when she was 17 years old. Her stepfather was an abusive man and regularly abused Mau and her mother, so she ran away from home and had to work in the prostitution scene for money. She worked in the prostitution business for 10 years before managing to get out.
Currently, she is an activist against prostitution and she’s trying to help women who cannot escape this field of work. In her book, she shares her own experiences, talks about how women get into the prostitution scene, as well as how difficult it is to get out.
Prostitutes are no longer perceived as human beings
In the interview, Huschke Mau stated that women who work in the prostitution business are no longer perceived as human beings by their suitors. She said that men who visit prostitutes choose women based on their bodies, like choosing from a menu. They rent the women’s bodies for a time and pay them to be exactly what they want them to be. This means that the women lose their personalities and can no longer be themselves.
Additionally, she added that she had many customers who were respected members of society, some even feminists. However, once they entered a brothel or visited a working girl they changed their behavior immediately. She also said that these men cannot be identified as being customers on first glance; they speak, dress and behave like everyone else.
Most women prostitutes do not enjoy selling their bodies
The author of the book stated that she believes that most prostitutes do not enjoy the job. According to her, the act of selling sexual services is catered towards the clients most of the time. The clients know exactly what they want and the women need to turn into a different person in order to make the clients happy.
This is especially troublesome when the woman has to do something for the client that she doesn’t necessarily enjoy, but rather does it for the money; or worse, if she’s forced to do so
Could the Nordic prostitution model be the solution?
According to Huschke Mau, implementing the Nordic prostitution model could solve some problems that prostitutes are facing right now. By making the act of buying sex illegal, prostitutes could easily call the police when needed, without having to fear the authorities. In this case, the clients would be charged for buying the service rather than the women for offering it.
Additionally, the clients would probably be less aggressive as a result as well, since they would know that they are doing something against the law.
For more details about this, be sure to click the link above to get redirected to the Sex Club Wien website now!
Many prostitutes enjoy their job
Not all prostitutes are forced into working in this line of work. Unfortunately, there are women who are forced into selling their bodies for someone else’s gains, which is a terrible thing that should be stopped.
These women need immediately help to escape their situation and get all the aid they require. Having the option to quit is immensely important and prostitution should be a choice and not a necessity or mandatory.
However, there are a large number of women who look at prostitution as just a job. They get paid for the services that they’re offering. There are good days and bad days, but in the end they continue working because for them it’s better than having a so-called “nine-to-five” job. Women who work in respected and professional brothels or agencies earn a lot more than they would in a regular job. Additionally, they have the chance of meeting all types of men, which is yet another plus for many.
Additional news you might be interested in
In the next section you can read about a couple of other news pieces you might be interested in. These entries have been posted on our own blog or one of our partner sites. Make sure to click on the links you’ll find below in case you want to read the full length articles in their entirety!
Six years in the red-light district
In this post you can read about a similar situation to the one you’ve just read. In this one, Sandra Novak was forced into the prostitution scene at the age of 16 by a loverboy. She shares her experience in the six years that she had to spend in the prostitution scene.
Man rents his apartment – Subtenant opens a brothel
The man rented the apartment out to a foreign woman on short notice because of an upcoming holiday trip. Little did he know that his apartment would soon be used for illegal sex trade by the tenant. According to sources, there were used condoms, tissues and lube everywhere in the apartment. For more details about this, click on the link!
Sex Vienna Forum
There’s more to read about the prostitution scene over on the SV Forum! In the forum you can read about other peoples’ opinions, experiences and conversations.
If you’d like you can immediately join completely for free! Check out the SV Forum and join the community now.
According to a recent news article published by Der Standard, financial security is often just a distant dream for many sex workers who had no other choice but to work illegally during lockdowns. Since the work conditions are not under control, prostitution often becomes precarious, to say the least.
Debates are going on and on about making sex work legal again since the Covid pandemic became prevalent all around the World. One lockdown came after the other as the situation gradually improved, yet prostitution remains strongly regulated because of the body-to-body nature of the services.
Brothels have closed their doors and there was no more intimacy allowed in the form of paid sex. This was a hard pill to swallow for the currently 1,100 registered prostitutes in Vienna. Only 2 percent of them are Austrians, while the rest of them are foreigners mainly from Romania.
As a legal job, prostitution falls into the self-employed category. They need to pay a flat tax through their brothel without even having a tax number. As a result, they cannot prove their own income and are not entitled to financial support.
The Swedish Model of Prostitution
The aforementioned issue is one of the reasons why many critical voices speak up with the goal to stop prostitution in Austria. But what would happen to those, now legal sex workers who would be affected by such decision?
Actually, the initiative that aims to ban sex works answers yes to this question. According to them, prostitution is linked with severe emotional and physical violence more often than not. The Feminist Discourse Association and Solwodi, a religious aid organization both stand behind this initiative.
If their idea would be put in practice, it would mean that everyone who wants to buy sex would make themselves liable to prosecution. In that case, sex workers would not be held liable at all. Sweden is a great example for this. Since 1999, their way of controlling sex work is to punishing customers who pay for it.
Since then, Iceland and Norway took the same approach. It recently became prevalent in Europe as well with France pursuing the same strategy since 2016. It is now widely called as the Nordic Model and it sheds a light on why making sex work illegal is not the best approach.
According to Wolfgang Langer from the Department for Prostitution Matters of the Vienna State Police, a ban only results in sex workers starting to work illegally, which is why it is better to just control it. It is exactly why there are currently a lot of prostitutes working in illegal apartments.
Illegal Prostitutes Take Away Clients from Brothels
It is completely off the scope of the government and prostitutes working illegally are not safe at all. There is a lot more pressure on them and violence is not uncommon either. Currently, there are countless sex workers available online who work illegally.
They upload their photos with their phone number while keeping their address hidden. The police also uses those websites and platforms for their investigations.
According to Diana, a transsexual woman who comes from Columbia, these sex workers are taking away the customers of legal brothels. She currently leads a sex bar in the second district. Working in a bar like hers is much safer than working illegally.
There are security cameras and the ladies are only able to work with a green card, which proves their successful health check. Legal sex workers need to go through a health check every six weeks at the Vienna Center for Sexual Health.
For Diana, a sex work ban would be a disaster, as it is her full-time job. She pays taxes for it and being able to work legally is what will pave the way for her toward pension. Christine Nagl from the Pia counseling center for sex workers in Salzburg also spoke up on the situation.
Although proponents argue that no women would voluntarily become prostitutes, Christine is strongly against the prostitution ban. She says that there is no way to judge other people’s voluntariness, which is true. From a social counselor’s standpoint, a prostitution ban would be a violation of human rights.
“It is only part of their sexual identity if they want to live and work as prostitutes” Says Nagl.
All We Need is Criminal Code
According to Christian Knappik from Sexwork.at, there are constraints that should remain undisputed when it comes to prostitution. This is based on a penal code, whereas indirectly sanctioning sex workers is not the right approach in his opinion.
He also says that it is immature to assume that sex workers don’t work voluntarily and that the opinion that prostitution should be banned is often racist. After all, most sex workers are immigrants and the assumption that all of them are externally forced into sex work is wrong.
The current political standpoint is that Austria is not going to ban people from buying sex. According to the Federal Chancellery, there should be enough legal work opportunities which also need to be regulated. This was said in 2018, as they realized that sex work simply can’t be avoided.
The demand is high and the prostitution scene needs proper job descriptions. Shiva Prugger, a dominatrix working in a studion in Ottakring also spoke up on the matter. She wanted to make sex workers heard and started a sex work association.
Shiva Prugger’s main goal is to de-stigmatize the profession. It became obvious to her that politicians do their best to avoid using the word “sex work”, as if they would dirty themselves with it.
The Vienna Mayor Does Not Care about Sex Workers
During a press conference, Mayor Michael Ludwig was asked whether brothels would open on May 19th. His answer was that he is not knowledgeable in that area. Prugger says that there are around 300 approved brothels in Vienna.
The fact that the mayor simply does not want to think about that many jobs is pretty astonishing. What Ludwig’s reaction says is that politicians are not concerned about the situation at all. Prugger wants prostitutes not only to become more visible to the government but also to have a say in drafting prostitution laws.
Knappik from Sexwork.at hopes that laws regarding sex work will be revised, as social workers and street workers have a lot in common legally. He also says that the fact that prostitution has its own legislation is what basically stigmatizes it.
Maybe it would have been better to abolish prostitution laws entirely. Police registration also stigmatizes prostitutes in his opinion, as they have to deal with far-reaching consequences when they decide to change careers. This is also why many sex workers avoid registering themselves to the police and start working illegally instead.
Sex work should be something you can write in your résumé without being stigmatized. That is when we would be able to say that sex work is a real profession – according to Nagl.
As most of you probably already know, sex work is legalized in Austria, but there are many laws that need to be followed, and these laws differ depending on which federal state we are talking about. In this article, we will be looking at some of these laws and what women need to do to work legally as sex workers. If you’re interested, be sure to continue reading this post till the end!
Sex work is legal, but regulated
In Austria, adult women are allowed to work as sex workers, but they are required to follow a set of rules and laws. For example, the women who wish to work as prostitutes need to undergo health and STD checks on a regular basis. All women are required to be checked by doctors if they wish to work legally in any type of brothel in Austria. Additionally, the women who work as sex workers need to be registered and they need to pay health insurance and taxes according to how much they make.
However, there are additional laws that need to be followed, but these laws differ depending on the state that the women are working in. For example, Vorarlberg has the strictest prostitution laws in the country and women are only allowed to work in legally operated brothels. However, at the time of writing this post, there are currently no brothels in the state where the women could legally work.
Sex workers need to follow the regulations carefully
Different states have different laws about prostitution. For example, escort services are allowed in Vienna, with hardly any specific rules. However, in Burgenland and Lower Austria escorts can only visit customers if there are no children living in the apartment or house. Upper Austria and Styria also has similar rules with only allowing escorts to visit clients in case there are no minors present. Additionally, some states do not allow escort work and the women can only work in brothels.
Women who wish to start working in this field are required to carefully see what, where and when they are allowed to do if they do not want to get into trouble with the local authorities. Since each of the federal states have different laws and regulations, this can also hugely impact where the women pursue this career.
Prostitution and human trafficking isn’t the same
Unfortunately there are still many cases of human trafficking today, but there are also many women who choose to pursue this career out of their own will. Prostitution can be very lucrative for the women and they can make a lot of money depending on where and how they work. Additionally, sex workers who work legally are usually protected by the authorities and their employers, such as brothel owners. This makes their field of work safer to some extent. Unfortunately there are still many sex workers who try to work from illegal apartments, especially now with the current Coronavirus laws in place.
Some people think that a ban on prostitution altogether could help reduce human trafficking, but it would actually have the opposite effect. Making prostitution illegal would mean taking away the support the women currently get, as well as the protection. This would make the job of human traffickers much easier and they could exploit more women without the authorities knowing about it. Having a regulated system makes it easier to identify victims of trafficking and help them.
Summary
As you can see, although prostitution is generally allowed in Austria, the laws and regulations differ depending on the federal state that we are talking about. Women who wish to start working in this field of work have to pay close attention to what they are allowed to do and what is prohibited in that particular state.
However, even with the many regulations, legal prostitution is still a very lucrative job that many women pursue out of their own free will. On the other hand, there are also many women who are forced into prostitution without their consent. Because of this, new laws and regulations are constantly being introduced in order to make the whole system safer and overall better for the ladies.
For more interesting and educational articles, take a look at any of the following related posts from the Sex in Vienna blog!
As most of you are well aware by now, the COVID-19 situation has halted all types of prostitution in the city of Vienna. Currently, all brothels and similar establishments are closed and nobody is able to do business of this sort. However, we have received news today that sex workers who wish to work in Vienna can start taking the mandatory health checks from 20th May 2020, which are necessary for legal work in the city. Continue the post to find out more!
Sex workers can acquire their legal health papers
All ladies who wish to work in Vienna legally need to be checked by a doctor for STDs on a regular basis. This was also halted by the Vienna Corona virus; however, the Viennese Medical Department has confirmed that ladies can start taking their health tests from 20th May 2020.
The sex workers who wish to be tested are required to make an appointment beforehand and they are not allowed to simply walk in unannounced. Additionally, the women who take the test will receive their stamp of approval only on July 1st, which is the alleged date when all brothels and other similar establishments in Vienna will be allowed to open their businesses again.
Current state of the prostitution scene in Vienna
This news also shows that the ladies who have been working since the virus’ outbreak, up until July 1st do not have their health books; meaning that they haven’t been tested for sexually transmitted diseases. What this means is that all girls who have worked during the lockdown have been doing so illegally, without health checks. This is why we are not recommending seeking out prostitution services in Vienna until ladies are allowed to start working legally again.
Currently, although all types of prostitution is halted, including home escort visits, hotel escorts still seem to be more or less allowed.
Conclusion
Although the Corona virus situation is not resolved yet, this seems like a great first step in the right direction. This news also indicates that brothels will in fact be allowed to open starting from July 1st.
Unfortunately, we are unable to say if this will all go down as planned, but we will make sure to keep our readers up-to-date on any news related to the Vienna sex scene. Until then, go ahead and check out the SV forum where you can find additional information about the Corona virus situation in Vienna, as well as other conversations regarding anything related to the sex scene in the city!
