Zurich to open drive-in sex boxes
The Swiss city of Zurich is to open drive-in sex boxes in an attempt to rid the town of street prostitution.
The Swiss city of Zurich is to open drive-in sex boxes in an attempt to rid the town of street prostitution. Photo: ALAMY
By Matthew Day
2:47PM GMT 28 Nov 2012
Zurich council has approved a plan to build the boxes, which will, it hopes, provide a discreet location for prostitutes and their clients to conduct business when they open in August next year.
Located in an industrial area of the city, the row of garage-like boxes will have roofs and walls for privacy, and easy access for cars. The council estimates that around 30 prostitutes will meet clients at the site of the boxes, and use the drive-in slots on a first-come-first-served basis.
"The big difference is that until now prostitution has been in the public space," Michael Herzig, from Zurich's social welfare department, told Swiss Radio. "Now we are going to change this, move it from the street to a private space in an old industrial area, which belongs to the city. This gives us the possibility to define the rules of prostitution in this area."
The opening of the sex boxes will coincide with a major reform of prostitution laws in the Swiss city. Prostitution will be outlawed in certain areas of Zurich where it has taken grip, and led to local complaints about women being harassed on the streets and the activities of pimps.
The prostitutes who use the sex boxes will also have to take out medical insurance and buy a £26 licence in order to ply their trade. On top of that they will also have to feed five Swiss francs, about £3.30, into a roadside ticket machine each night when they clock on.
Mr Herzig said the attractions of the sex boxes for prostitutes will outweigh their rather dour industrial location, which lies just a stone's throw from a major rail depot.
"The women will be better protected from attack, and it will also mean better business for them," he explained. "With the women right by the sex boxes there is no 'travel time' so they can deal with more customers. It's a better business model than standing on the street." The council also believes that the privacy afforded by both the boxes and their location should appeal to clients eager to preserved their anonymity.
But one problem standing in the way of the sex boxes is telling the prostitutes about them and their advantages. Many of the women working the streets of Zurich are foreigners who speak only a little German, and may be unaware of the approaching changes to their working lives.
