From Monday to Friday, important businessmen and prominent politicians will meet at the World Economic Forum (WEF) in Davos, Switzerland to discuss the world's most pressing issues. However, it is not just world leaders who attend. An investigation by The Times revealed that at least 100 prostitutes traveled to the Swiss city during the conference.
One of the sex workers who was in Davos during the WEF for several years is Salomé Balthus. Through her Twitter account, Balthus, who is of German origin, described her experience at the forum:
Going on a date in Switzerland during the WEF means first looking down the barrels of the security guards' guns in the hotel hallway at 2 a.m. and then sharing the restaurant's gift chocolates and gossiping about rich people with the guards...
Date in der Schweiz während des #WWF bedeutet, nachts um 2 auf dem Hotelflur erst Pistolenmündungen von Sicherheitsleuten zu schauen - und dann mit ihnen die Giveaway-Pralinen aus dem Restaurant zu teilen und über Reiche zu lästern… #Davos #WEF
— Salomé Balthus (@Salome_herself) January 16, 2023
Customers are not politicians
After posting about what these meet-ups in Davos are like, Balthus went into further detail. Of course, she did not specify who the clients are, saying, "You don't want to get into litigation with them." She did, however, clarify that it is not the politicians who solicit the services of sex workers:
They have neither the time nor the desire, they lack reflection on body awareness. They have to choose between sex or political power. The latter is stronger, leaves no room for other interests and devours people completely.
Balthus did infer about the lucrative nature of the appointments, though she did not provide exact figures.
Sex work is legal in Switzerland
In Davos, as in the rest of the country, prostitution has been legalized and regulated since 1940. However, each of them must have medical insurance, and their work can only be performed in places authorized as brothels. In addition, there are certain areas in the cities called "Strassenstriche" (red-light districts) where sex workers can be picked up by clients at fixed times.
In the country's main cities, such as Zurich, Bern and Geneva, " sex boxes," which are booths where prostitutes wait, have been set up to protect the workers. As is the case in Amsterdam, Netherlands, these cities also have red-light districts where they are able to solicit customers.
Prostitutes are fiscally regulated and pay their taxes. Above all, each must declare that they are voluntarily engaged in their trade and are not being trafficked. With these regulations, the Swiss government maintains meticulous control over prostitution.
