Evaluation of the Implementation Law for the Prostitutes Security Law (Ausführungsgesetz zum Prostituiertenschutzgesetz, AGProstSchG) in 2018–2022

Project description

The Prostitutes Security Law (Prostituiertenschutzgesetz, ProstSchG) became effective as of 1 July 2017. It constitutes the first comprehensive regulatory framework for prostitution in Germany. The Implementation Law for the Prostitutes Security Law (Ausführungsgesetz zum Prostituiertenschutzgesetz) attempts to implement this legal framework on the level of the federal state of Baden-Württemberg. This includes registration of prostitutes at the relevant administrative public institutions as well as health consultation which is offered by the local public health departments (Gesundheitsämter). The research team at the Max Weber Institute of Sociology has taken up the task to evaluate the implementation of the regulation with a particular focus on the financial and factual reporting by local public authorities to the Ministry in 2018–2022, with the aim to identify any shortcomings of the law and its implementation. Additionally, the project will analyze the interrelationship of formal and informal rules and its effect on the implementation of regulation by local authorities. Qualitative and quantitative surveys targeting representatives of relevant public agencies will be conducted and analysed in order to prepare a basis for a fact-based evaluation for the pending update of the law, and to help understand the causal network of formal rules and informal norms that are at play in this institutional setting.