Cis women walked the streets north of the railway bridge, trans women to the south. Not these days. “I feel depressed,” says Isabelle. “It’s our job, you know?” Colleagues describe overbearing police, price-gouging hotels and clients seeking outrageous “corona-discounts”.
Few industries have been as pummelled by covid-19 as sex work, which in Germany is legal and regulated. Like many workplaces, brothels had to close in March. Yet although massage parlours and nail salons have reopened, prostitutes have been left in limbo. Some, such as Undine de Rivière in Hamburg, are innovating with hands-off services like fetish videos or erotic-hypnosis recordings.