Czechs look to legalise prostitution

The Czech government plans to legalise prostitution as part of an ongoing struggle against organised crime, an official revealed today.

“There were similar efforts to do this in the past, but the plan is back on the table,” government spokeswoman Lucie Orgonikova said.

The plan aims to register prostitutes, enforce health control and taxation. Those who refuse to register will be prosecuted and face fines.

“We will probably never eliminate prostitution from the streets, but the point is to regulate it because it is often linked to organised crime,” Interior Minister Frantisek Bublan said.

Soliciting sex would be banned near schools, playgrounds, churches and cemeteries, the paper said.

Illegal prostitution is rampant in the Czech Republic, especially in Prague, the capital, as well as in regions bordering with Germany.

The number of prostitutes in the Czech Republic is estimated at 25,000, the paper said.