Astonishment at the belt

Next red light frenzy: dolls as prostitutes

Many people in Graz couldn't believe their eyes on Easter Monday: several scantily clad mannequins were standing on the sidewalk.(Bild: Christian Jauschowetz)

A nightclub operator in Graz is once again causing a stir: After looking for "girl testers" last year using posters, among other things, there are now several mannequins in prostitute outfits outside the restaurant on the Gürtel. The manager explains what this campaign is all about.

Many people in Graz couldn't believe their eyes on Easter Monday. There were rows and rows of scantily clad ladies on the Schönaugürtel. However, they were not flesh and blood, but mannequins in more or less seductive lingerie, apparently looking for customers. "We chose April 1st to once again draw attention to an urgent issue," explains nightclub manager Rene Wollinger.

Campaign against illegal housing prostitution
Last year, the club had already made headlines by putting up posters looking for girl testers. "With the current campaign, we want to draw attention to illegal residential prostitution in our city," says Wollinger. In his view, this is currently on the rise again. "We are not only concerned with fighting crime, but also with the considerable economic losses that reputable businesses like our own suffer as a result."

"Police need more powers"
Austria is considered a pioneer when it comes to regulation and order in the prostitution industry. "In order to maintain this status, however, it is essential that the police in Graz are given more powers so that they can take effective action against such offenses." To this end, Wollinger is also calling for stricter penalties for violations in the case of residential prostitution.

However, the police are not currently seeing a drastic increase in this area. "Of course, there are always isolated cases, but it's not a general problem. It was certainly different during the coronavirus pandemic," explains Markus Lamb, spokesperson for the regional police directorate.