Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
For example, few on either side of the Atlantic would argue that pros-
titution is a good thing. But in most of Europe, where many people rec-
ognize that you can't just wish it away with laws, prostitution is generally
legal and regulated.
Of course, each country has its own laws...and quirks. German sex workers
rent rooms in multi-story “Eros Towers.” If a Greek prostitute gets married,
she must give up her license to sell sex. Portuguese call girls can lose custody
of their children. Dutch hookers have a union. In Iceland and Switzerland,
while prostitution is legal, it is illegal for a third party to proi t from the sale of
sex. In general, the hope is that when a prostitute needs help and pushes her
emergency button, a policeman rather than a pimp comes to her rescue.
While that's the ideal, it's not foolproof. h ere is still sex trai cking and
abuse of women in the sex trade. But Europeans i gure with their more pro-
gressive, creative, and pragmatic approach to what they consider a “victimless
crime,” they are minimizing violence, reducing the spread of AIDS and other
diseases, and allowing sex workers a better life...all while generating some
additional tax revenue.
In another example of European pragmatism, Europe's drinking age is
typically lower than the US's. While no country in the world has a higher
drinking age than America's, most European countries allow 16- or 18-year-
olds to consume alcohol. European parents recognize that—no matter how
i ercely they moralize against alcohol—their teens will drink. (Europeans
puzzle over why 18-year-old Americans can marry, buy a gun, go to war, and
vote...but not buy a can of beer.)
Around the
world, when kids
graduate from high
school, they party,
get drunk, and some
die on the roads.
When traveling
through Scandina-
via in May and June,
you'll see a creative
solution to this prob-
lem: truckloads of
drunk high-school
To celebrate their graduation, Scandinavian students drink
while their parents do the driving.
