Broadcast in English Broadcast Archive. By day, Wenceslas Square is a fairly normal Prague thoroughfare. Tourists take photos of the statues and architecture, and shoppers nip in and out of the department stores.
But Wenceslas Square at night has an altogether seedier feel to it. Prostitutes and pimps are clearly visible at the corner of every street, particularly near the top of the square. This is what Prague City Hall would like to put a stop to with its new decree. Under the new regulations, prostitutes offering their services in public places could face a fine of up to 30, CZK 1, USD.
Police will also have the right to ban sex workers from the area, on the grounds that prostitution is a disturbance of the peace. Petra Burcikova is the head of La Strada, an organization which fights against people trafficking.
I asked her whether she thought this new decree would prove effective:. It is important to keep in mind that this increases the danger and threat to the sex workers themselves.
Prostitution is illegal in the Czech Republic. But Prague has still come to be known abroad as a destination for sex tourism. For this reason, Mrs. Burcikova thinks that the new decree falls short:. This is clearly only an issue of cleaning the streets, because some people might be complaining about this.
