Europe - a place for social experimentation, or actual results?
But that's not very alluring, is it?
And I wonder how alluring are the drive-in "sex boxes" situated in "a custom-built compound on an industrial site in the Zurich suburbs"?
Well apparently, officials are trying to make them so:
"There are trees, coloured lights, and benches to sit on, all designed to
create an atmosphere which Michael Herzig of the Zurich social services
says should not be too 'sad'."
But this is for the prostitutes more than the Johns, with a strong emphasis on safety:
"On the driver's side, the boxes are very narrow, making it difficult for
him to get out of the car. On the passenger side, there is plenty of
space, an alarm button and an emergency exit."
You see, prostitution is legal over there, but as you can imagine that does not always mean safe. The full story, with a couple of photos, is here on the BBC website.
I always wonder whether this sort of thing will encourage more prostitution or whether it'll keep it as is, and cut down on abuse. Not being a social scientist I don't have access to anything but guesswork, which you also have access to.
One thing occurred to me though, after thinking about it for a while: trying things like this is surely better than pretending there's no problem, sticking our collective heads in the sand. I hope the BBC does a follow-up story in a few months, maybe a year, to see how it's going.
Final note: apparently this was run by the people of Zurich, who liked the idea enough to stump up $2.7 million for the 'tute zone.
