
Drive-in 'sex boxes' for prostitution are a wild success in Switzerland - gscott
https://www.yahoo.com/lifestyle/drive-sex-boxes-prostitution-built-taxpayers-wild-success-switzerland-182306115.html
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kjeetgill
> 52 percent of Zurich citizens voted in favor of the government setting aside
> $2 million to build drive-in structures, which are referred to as “sex
> boxes,” in a discreet area.

Interesting. Knowing nothing about Switzerland, I'm curious why some private
business didn't jump in and do it themselves.

~~~
jsiepkes
> To operate the facilities each year, $800,000 is set aside for security and
> on-site social services.

I don't think you can trust a private company whose main goal is to make a
profit to make social services and minimising negative effects for the area a
priority.

~~~
Brian_K_White
Indeed. A private company can make money from negative effects equally as well
as positive. They prove it by doing so all the time, everywhere, since
forever.

And whatever effort private companies DO put into inhibiting negative effects,
some part of that is only due to the competition from the public option which
has no other incentive at all.

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modells
Just a note to Americans: prostitution is generally legal in Europe.
Switzerland has a very high cost of living comparable to NYC or SF, but it has
a male:female sex ratio similar to that of San Jose. Other places in Europe
have relatively low costs of living like out of Prague, where prostitutes
average 70€/hr. I would imagine prostitution in Zurich would be expected to
average 250€/hr.

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gammateam
those look ridiculously low budget

prices in switzerland are much higher than the german neighbors for pretty
much everything, including sex work, so for a city like Zurich which isn't
super close to the border I can see how this is an alternative for many

given the elaborate themed sex work concepts available in those countries, I'm
still surprised there is an appeal for this

any one know where they are in Zurich?

~~~
gh0zt
The offical Zurich city website explains the concept (in german -
[https://www.stadt-zuerich.ch/strichplatz](https://www.stadt-
zuerich.ch/strichplatz))

Depotweg 8048 Zürich
[https://goo.gl/maps/3v3BbAkEBb62](https://goo.gl/maps/3v3BbAkEBb62)

~~~
gammateam
Hm thats quite a ways out for a pedestrian, and is more so for commuters.

Also unlike the other concepts, there is no Google Maps entry and no reviews,
know any forum where people talk about this?

Like for the workers I wonder what personalities it is better for than the
brothels or sauna clubs. Maybe they get to keep the whole commission? Or maybe
they aren't good enough for the brothels or don't want to work a full shift?

What do you think?

~~~
candiodari
Certainly looks like it's mostly FAR out of the way of where anyone would
live. It's between the railway and the highway, between an insurer's head
office and a factory, in between an area with some company depots.

They're trying to make the area south of the station a very expensive area,
which is where the prostitution appears to be now (and hence the rents are
"cheap" there).

So yes, I would say this is probably an attempt to move this activity out of
where it is now, into an area where it definitely can't survive. I don't know,
but I can't see this actually working. Why would these people move ? They sure
as hell can't look for customers around that area.

