Europe | Social distancing and prostitution

Germany helps sex workers idled by covid-19

But they are still much worse off than before the pandemic

Jun 4th 2020|BERLIN

THE EVENING sun is beating down on a small crowd gathered in Schöneberg, a district of Berlin, to mark the 45th International Whores’ Day. But Isabelle, a Macedonian transgender prostitute, is gloomy. “I remember how it was before,” she says. Cis women walked the streets north of the railway bridge, trans women to the south. Not these days. “I feel depressed,” says Isabelle. “It’s our job, you know?” Colleagues describe overbearing police, price-gouging hotels and clients seeking outrageous “corona-discounts”.

This article appeared in the Europe section of the print edition under the headline “Social distancing and sex work”