It is that time of the year when the demand for the world’s oldest profession sees a spike in the Swiss Alpine town of Davos.
The gathering of world elites in the ski resort town for the annual World Economic Forum (WEF) has triggered a rise in prostitution there, as per reports.
Let’s take a look at how the demand for sex workers has increased during the WEF annual meeting.
Sex work gets a boost
Like every year, sex workers head to Davos during the five-day WEF annual meeting.
The annual conference attracts business tycoons, government heads and leaders from civil society to address myriad issues such as climate change, the cost of living crisis, and food insecurity, among others.
Swiss news outlet 20 Minuten reported citing a manager of a sex worker agency in Aargau, located 100 miles (161 km approximately) away from the summit, that they received “11 reservations and 25 inquires” last week.
She revealed that they are requested for a wide range of services — from escorting people to dinner to sexual services, reported Indy100.
“Some also book escorts for themselves and their employees to party in the hotel suite,” the manager told the outlet, as per Daily Mail.
To book one of the sex workers for four hours, her escort company charges around $1,630 USD, while one night can cost up to $2770 USD, Indy100 report said.
Salom? Balthus, a sex worker from Germany, who is staying at a hotel near Davos, took to Twitter to share her experience of working during the World Economic Forum conference.
“Date in Switzerland during [World Economic Forum] means looking at the gun muzzles of security guards in the hotel corridor at 2 am – and then sharing the giveaway chocolates from the restaurant with them and gossip about the rich,” she said, as per Indy100.
Balthus told 20 Minuten that the request for service was large, however, they are not coming from politicians.
“They have neither the time nor the desire,” she claimed.
“You have to choose between a ‘drug’: sex or political power. The latter is stronger, it doesn’t leave room for other interests and eats up people completely.” Indy100 quoted Balthus as saying.
Another sex worker told the German tabloid newspaper Bild that her client is an American who is among the 2,700 delegates attending the meeting.
Liana, who charges around $760 for an hour and $2,500 for the whole night, said she wears business attire in order to blend in with the conference attendees, Daily Mail reported.
While it is unclear how many sex workers have reached Davos this year, an investigation by the UK newspaper The Times in 2020 found that at least 100 prostitutes travel to Davos at this time.
“Sex workers ply their trade in delegates’ hotels and in bars along the town’s promenade while sexism and sexual harassment are rife,” The Times claimed in its 2020 report.
The investigation had also cited examples of harassment by senior male businessmen. “WEF is the worst because they’re among their privileged friends. Actually it’s safer here for them to be inappropriate than anywhere else in the world. That’s the reality,” a woman had said, according to inews.co.uk.
Sex work in Switzerland
Sex work has been legal in Switzerland since the 1940s.
The European nation regulates prostitution to prevent exploitation and other problems that arise in countries where the profession is banned, noted USA Today.
In Switzerland, there are specific areas called “Strassenstriche” (red-light districts) where sex workers can be picked up by clients at fixed times, as per Voz Media report.
Sex workers have to register with public health authorities and get tested regularly. They also have to pay taxes and contribute to their Social Security funds, USA Today reported.
ALSO READ: What is the World Economic Forum meet at Davos and why is it important?
Who is attending WEF 2023?
Over 2,700 leaders from 130 countries are slated to participate in the five-day-long annual conference.
As many as 600 CEOs and more than 50 heads of state or government are expected to mark their presence.
The WEF summit in Davos will end on 20 January. AP
The attendees include European Union Commission president Ursula von der Leyen, Chinese vice premier Liu He, US climate envoy John Kerry, the new presidents of South Korea (Yoon Suk Yeol), Colombia (Gustavo Petro) and the Philippines (Ferdinand “Bongbong” Marcos Jr) and Ukrainian first lady Olena Zelenska.
The prominent names missing from this year’s gathering are US president Joe Biden, India’s prime minister Narendra Modi, Chinese president Xi Jinping, UK prime minister Rishi Sunak, French president Emmanuel Macron, Russian president Vladimir Putin and South African president Cyril Ramaphosa.
This year, the theme of the summit is “Cooperation in a Fragmented World”.
While climate and economy will be among the main topics during the talkfest, critics argue that the attendees are “too out-of-touch or profit- or power-minded to address the needs of common people and the planet”, according to the Associated Press (AP) report.
Activists and critics will be lining outside the Davos conference center throughout the week to hold decision-makers and business leaders accountable, the report added.
With inputs from agencies
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