German politicians are currently piloting legislation through the Bundestag aimed at stamping out child prostitution. The intent here is, of course, perfectly commendable but the proposed laws are so badly drafted that they have attracted a storm of protest (via) from legal experts, liberal politicians and even sex therapists. The law was due to be introduced last week but the Government withdrew it at the last minute because of the scale of the opposition.

The new law reduces the minimum age at which sexual offenders can be prosecuted from 18 to 14, and raises the maximum age at which a victim is entitled to legal protection from 16 to 18. The idea is to stop the recruitment of minors as prostitutes by other minors — pimps in big cities are often 17 or younger — but the initiative is a legal minefield.

According to Jerzy Montag, a Green MP who is trying to rally opposition in parliament: “If a 15-year-old says to a 17-year-old, ‘I’ll invite you to the cinema providing we have a bit of heavy petting afterwards’, then that will now be a criminal offence. Even if the 17-year-old says no, it will still be illegal. The mere attempt to secure sexual favours in return for payment in kind is against the new law.”

Magazines, such as Bravo, which are aimed at teenage girls will have to think again before publishing photo-stories of scantily clad young couples in passionate embrace, or risk landing their editors in jail for ten years. And writers and painters will have to be careful when depicting under-age subjects in sexual situations. They too could be sent to prison.

Andreas Hill, a sexual researcher in Hamburg is one of several experts calling on the Government to drop the bills. “This is going to lead to a wave of pointless investigations and court cases,” he said. “They will burden the already overloaded police to such an extent that the really relevant cases slip out of view.”

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