The Frau almost made
the international news on Monday night when an editor at The Wall Street
Journal contacted her to discuss Zurich’s latest development in
prostitution: the sex boxes in Zurich Alstetten. These opened for the first
time on Monday night, giving prostitutes a legal place to do their business. If
you haven’t seen photos of them, imagine a bunch of Swiss bus stops made out of
wood and put in a line back to back. Or see a photo and read more about them here.
Anyway, why The Frau
of all people was contacted to talk about prostitution in Zurich is yet to be determined,
but in any case, she missed her chance since it was her “big mom night out” and
she was swimming at Zurich’s Hallenbad.
But it got her
thinking about Zurich’s new sex boxes and stark difference in the way the Swiss
have reacted to them in comparison with the rest of the world.
On Monday, the topic of
Swiss sex boxes was featured in about every paper around the world—with the exception
many Swiss ones. Even Blick am Abend, the local Swiss tabloid that loves sex
like no other newspaper, had no mention of the sex boxes in its Monday evening edition.
Instead, Lady Gaga graced the cover.
The NZZ, the Zurich
equivalent of The Wall Street Journal, had an article about the sex boxes—but
it was regarding the rest of the world’s fascination with them.
Here’s the thing, Rest
Of The World: For the Swiss, sex boxes aren’t a new discussion. They are a practical
solution to an old problem. While the
rest of the world is making jokes or pushing taboo problems further under the
rug, the Swiss are making both their own neighborhoods and the world’s oldest
profession safer.
The Swiss are
matter-a-fact and realistic. They engineer everything—even prostitution. While
the rest of the world is tittering over this so-called “taboo topic” like
teenagers, the Swiss have moved on to conquering the next one through
referendums.
To the Swiss way of
thinking—people will do “taboo” things no matter what. Better to legalize them
and make them safe then pretend they don’t exist or spend millions putting
people in prison for them. There's a reason there isn't much crime in Switzerland. It's because the Swiss give people safe places to do so-called illicit things. As a foreigner in Switzerland, The Frau can’t vote.
But if she could, it would give a big “yes” to most of these progressive ideas. Yes- Give the
prostitutes beds with policemen and social workers nearby. Yes- Give the druggies clean needs. And yes- Give the people who want
to die access to the drugs to be able to do so.
