A plea for the recognition of sex work

Alice Frohnert worked as a prostitute in Germany, Switzerland and Luxembourg for almost 16 years. Born in Poland, she is no longer active in the sex trade, but her commitment to sex workers continues. In talk shows, media reports and her book Prostitution and Society, Frohnert talks about human instincts, legal models that (don't) work and her time as a provider of a service that many purchase but few accept.

Lëtzebuerger Journal: Alice Frohnert, you now work as a journalist and actually studied communication. How did you end up working as a prostitute?

Alice Frohnert: I studied communication sciences at the Free University of Berlin and received support from the state in the form of BAföG (Federal Training Assistance Act, editor's note), next to that I worked in cleaning and as a waitress, but that wasn't enough. I lived in a shared flat and wanted to earn some money because my parents had bought a house and were heavily in debt as a result. Sexuality has always been a topic in my life, I just liked men. A lot of things were different in the 80s and 90s, I hitchhiked to Paris back then to go to the Moulin Rouge, which was fantastic. I was also fascinated by films like Belle de Jour or Children of Olympus, so I looked for adverts in the Bild newspaper and came across the bar Les Chambres on Savignyplatz, which was looking for young women.

What did your day-to-day work look like from then on?

You worked at night and were guaranteed the equivalent of 40 euros by the bar, for which you had to be there between 9 pm and 6 am. The hourly rate was the equivalent of around 50 euros, of course the prices are higher today, but back then you always got half of that. We were encouraged by the bar to drink slightly better champagne like Veuve Cliquot, and in between we were given water so that we didn't get too drunk. I liked the whole thing, but I neglected university a bit because of the alcohol, so I started renting day flats and working in Germany, Luxembourg and Switzerland.