Abstract
In 2002, Germany legalised prostitution through the enactment of the Prostitution Act, thereby following one of the most liberal regulationist approaches to date. The following year, New Zealand enacted the Prostitution Reform Act 2003, which has become an often-referenced example of decriminalisation. Despite both jurisdictions following a regulationist approach, New Zealand‘s model has attracted much positive international attention, whereas the German approach is used as an example of the shortcomings within regulationism. Drawing on the findings of the governmental evaluations of both New Zealand‘s and Germany‘s prostitution legislation, this article argues that the significant differences between the New Zealand and German models of regulating prostitution are not to be found within the legislation, but rather in the evaluation thereof. This finding calls into question the evidence presented within the evaluation of approaches to prostitution, and suggests that there may be other societal factors which decide how the success of legislation is determined. In Germany, the evaluation of the 2002 Prostitution Act (Prostitutionsgesetz) resulted in a move towards stricter regulation of prostitution. This article examines the changes to the law that will enter into force in July 2017, which are aimed at ensuring that the rights of sex workers in Germany will not just be protected in theory, but also in practice