Topic: Prostitution. Two empty so-called "sex boxes" are seen at the opening day of Switzerland's new sex drive-in. Switzerland hopes its new "sex drive-in" will create a safer space for sex workers and take prostitution off the streets of Zurich.
The drive-in, located in a former industrial zone in the west of the city, has a lane where the sex workers can show off their assets and negotiate a price. There are also nine so-called "sex boxes", where sex workers and their clients can park and conclude the transaction. As a result of the drive-in opening, the central Zurich area of Sihlquai - where barely dressed street walkers have long plied their trade, openly and sometimes aggressively, to the dismay of residents and businesses - will become off-limits to prostitution.
The drive-in is purported to be safer for sex workers, with security guards on hand to ensure that only one man at a time enters each car, alarm buttons in each "sex box", and on-site doctors and social workers. However, some prostitutes have voiced concern that the strictly controlled environment of the drive-in would scare off their customers, and Zurich police said it remained unclear whether they and their clients would agree to the move.
We have no idea how many women will show up," police spokesman Mario Cortesi said. The new sex drive-in was approved by In Sihlquai early Friday evening, women were standing on street corners in little more than their underwear, and sometimes even less. One woman wiggled her naked behind at passing cars as a mother cycled past with her young child and a bag of groceries. Michael Herzig, director of social services for sex workers in the city, insisted that since the city could not ban prostitution altogether, "we want to control it in favour of the sex workers and the population".
Mr Cortesi said around women had recently been working Sihlquai, adding that if the prostitutes do not want to go to the new drive-in, there are two other sites in Zurich where they can legally work. He said about 1, women - mainly from Eastern Europe - registered as sex workers last year in Switzerland's biggest city. However, since only newcomers to the trade are listed and many likely work illegally, the true number of prostitutes in the city remains unclear.
