Zurich offers drive-in for johns to hire prostitutes
Print Edition
The Swiss city of Zurich yesterday unveiled a sex drive-in which local authorities say will enable them to keep closer tabs on prostitution, a year after voters backed the plan.
Due to be opened officially in a ceremony on August 26, the nine so-called “sex boxes” are in a former industrial zone in the west of the metropolis, Zurich city hall said in a statement.
The site will be open daily from 7pm to 5am, and only to drivers, who must be alone in their vehicle if they want to pass the gate.
Echoing a fast-food drive-in, they will have to follow a marked route along which up to 40 prostitutes will be stationed. Once they have negotiated a rate, they will drive to one of the nine car-wash style boxes to have sex.
The boxes will be equipped with alarms, allowing the prostitutes to make rapid contact with police if they are in danger.
With more than 1.8 million people, the Zurich conurbation makes up almost a quarter of Switzerland’s population, and the city itself has long been home to a red-light district.
But with residents fed up of prostitutes and clients plying the streets, notably along the riverside Sihlquai, the authorities decided to try to shift the sex trade from the city center.
In addition, officials have said they want to ensure the safety of prostitutes, stem trafficking by crime networks and reduce the underground sex trade.
The sex-box plan was approved by Zurich’s voters in March 2012.
Work on the new site cost 2.1 million Swiss francs (US$2.2 million), below the voter-approved budget, while running costs are expected to be around 700,000 Swiss francs a year.
Zurich has spared no effort to encourage the prostitutes and their clients to leave the city center and use the new site.
Prostitution is legal in Switzerland.
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