Inside controversial drive-thru 'sex boxes' where horny punters can park and legally romp with prostitutes for £98
STANDING in minus 4 degrees, wearing only a skirt and short jacket, a prostitute advertised for the trade huddled under a bus stop-style shelter.
Around the corner, a girl dressed in tight black wet-look leggings gets out of her car and waves to a John smiling as she walks through the snow to his vehicle.
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Those looking for a quick dip can ride, bike and skateboard around a track, ogling the girls on offer before choosing one to take to a “sex box' with neon lights where they pay for a quickie.
The going rate is £98 for full sex, £40 for “hand assistance” and more obscure services cost extra.
The area is covered in graffiti and has low lighting, which makes it feel seedy, but these girls work legally in one special area made by the Zurich government that has safety and sexual health services on site.
But many women in the profession do not want to work under supervision.
One person, who did not want to be named, said: “You don't make as much money there, and there are fewer Johns passing through. It's not worth the time and effort.”
Working girls leave their bags in the bus shelters, which offer protection from the wind on only two sides.
On the cold January night The Sun visited, it did little to keep out the freezing snow.
Girls resorted to blankets and hot drinks in an attempt to stay warm. Others chose to get into the cars and get out when they saw another vehicle coming towards them.
It was easy to tell if a girl had been singled out, not only from the car in the drive-thru slot, but her bag would be left at the shelter.
The sex boxes were developed as part of a plan to get prostitution out of rural areas.
In 2012, Zurich residents voted to build the site, which cost £2.2 million to build and now costs the city £628,394.80 a year to run and maintain.
Flora Dora, the council-funded organization that runs the site, has been around since the 1990s and originally worked with heroin addicts plaguing the city.
Spokeswoman Nadeen Schuster said: “Until ten years ago, street prostitution took place mainly on Sihlquai – with untenable conditions for the neighborhood and the sex workers.
The city then opened the Strichplatz (street prostitution center) with the so-called sex boxes.
“For the sex workers, working on the street was dangerous and there were many incidents of violence.
“Since the opening of the street prostitution center in August 2013, there have been no incidents of serious violence against sex workers.
She added: “The safe, stable environment of Strichplatz protects sex workers from being targeted by pimps and can provide information about possible victims of human trafficking to the city police's specialized human trafficking team.”
It was hoped that the Strichplatz would keep the whores safe and limit the trade.
About ten girls work in the open-air facility every evening, and they are usually European Union residents, meaning they can work in Zurich for up to 90 days a year.
When The Sun visited in January, Johns braved a snowstorm and minus 4 degree temperatures to visit their chosen girl.
But every time we drove around, we only saw one stall occupied.
For safety reasons, only one person is allowed in a car, so that the women who work there are not endangered.
It is believed that 350,000 Swiss men between the ages of 20 and 65 use the services of sex workers at least once a year.
Despite authorities calling it a success, it has failed to curb the growing illegal prostitution of violent traffickers.
Less than a mile away from the government-funded sex boxes, neon lights show off girls in the old town's brothels – where punters can get back 150 Swiss francs (£138) in 30 minutes.
These window girls are legal, but the street girls, a kilometer in the opposite direction, are not.
Many are brought in against their will to work as prostitutes, selling sex for as little as 50 Swiss francs (£45).
Flora Dora, who looks after the sex boxes and the girls who work there, also has a team that trains here in an effort to combat the human trafficking that takes place there.
Nadeen said: “Preventive measures and crisis interventions are key.
“Flora Dora offers targeted support in legal, social and medical areas and for professional reorientation and is committed to improving the living and working conditions of people who work in the sex industry.
“As part of a large network, Flora Dora works closely with other organizations and medical and legal authorities and offers mediation and support.”
But other organizations in the city believe the city government isn't going far enough, and neither is the federal government.
Until 2013, teenagers as young as 16 could work in prostitution, like Monica who was trafficked for this type of work. Now, if you pay for sex with a 16 or 17 year old, those found guilty are sentenced to three years in prison.
Olivia Frei, from the Women's Center in Zurich, which wants the country to adopt the Scandinavian model of criminalizing sex buyers, said: “We know that some girls who work in legal institutions are brought in by pimps and are effectively trafficked.
“Many of them initially claim that they started this kind of work of their own free will, but later realize that they were tricked into it by the man they love. This is known as the loverboy method. It is a very common way in which women are transferred.
“We would like to see Switzerland move towards the Scandinavian model, where sex buyers are criminalized, and not the women who sell it. But it is still far away.
“The changes in Germany are helping us to change attitudes, but only 11 of the almost 300 votes in the national assembly were in favor the last time it was discussed.
“We are at the beginning of the conversation about this change.”
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