A prostitute in a Berlin brothel. Part of Berlin's red-light scene is going green. One bordello has begun offering discounts to customers who pedal bicycles to the door.
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Part of Berlin's red-light scene is going green. One bordello, hoping to stave off falling demand in the economic crisis, has begun offering discounts to customers who pedal bicycles to the door. "It's very difficult to find parking around here, and this option is better for our environment," said Thomas Goetz, who owns the brothel Maison d'Envie, or House of Desire. Local residents in Prenzlauer Berg — a part of former East Berlin now home to scores of trendy boutiques, restaurants and clubs — had staunchly supported the Green party in recent elections and have welcomed the bordello's offer to emphasize the environment. The bordellos in the capital of Germany, where prostitution is legal, have seen business suffer with the global financial crisis. Patrons have become more frugal, and there are fewer potential customers coming to the city for business trips and conferences. But Maison d'Envie has seen its business begin to return since it began offering the euro5 ($7.50) discount in July, Goetz said. To qualify, customers must show the receptionist either a bicycle padlock key or proof they used public transit to get to the neighborhood. That knocks the price for 45 minutes in a room, for example, to euro65 from euro70. Those who arrive on foot, however, are out of luck. "We haven't found a way for people to prove they have walked here," Goetz explained. Other brothels have tried different incentives to cope with the economic downturn. One Berlin bordello offered a flat-rate for an unlimited time before officials' concerns over prostitutes' rights and cleanliness in the club forced them to rescind the offer. The 450,000 prostitutes working in Germany, some 10,000 of whom are in Berlin, have the same legal rights and social benefits as people in other professions. 點(diǎn)擊查看更多雙語(yǔ)新聞
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德國(guó)的部分“紅燈區(qū)”正在“變綠”。有一家妓院開(kāi)始向騎車(chē)前來(lái)的顧客提供打折優(yōu)惠,以期避免因經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)而引發(fā)生意蕭條。 這家妓院名為“欲望之屋”,老板托馬斯?戈茨說(shuō):“這附近很難找到停車(chē)位,而且騎車(chē)也更加環(huán)保。” 普倫茨勞貝格當(dāng)?shù)鼐用裨谧罱牡聡?guó)大選中力挺綠黨(譯者注:以保護(hù)人類(lèi)生存環(huán)境為宗旨的政黨),他們對(duì)妓院的此項(xiàng)環(huán)保之舉表示歡迎。普倫茨勞貝格區(qū)曾是東柏林的一部分,如今是眾多流行服飾店、餐館和俱樂(lè)部的聚集地。 德國(guó)首都柏林的妓院受到全球金融危機(jī)的影響,顧客們變得更加節(jié)約,來(lái)該市進(jìn)行商務(wù)旅行和參加會(huì)議的潛在顧客也隨之減少。在德國(guó),性服務(wù)業(yè)是合法行業(yè)。 戈茨稱,自7月份推出5歐元(約合7.5美元)折扣的促銷(xiāo)活動(dòng)以來(lái),“欲望之屋”的生意開(kāi)始恢復(fù)。 若要獲得優(yōu)惠,顧客需向接待人員出示自行車(chē)鑰匙或乘坐公共交通工具前往此區(qū)的票據(jù)憑證。推出這項(xiàng)優(yōu)惠活動(dòng)后,之前45分鐘70歐元的服務(wù)降到了65歐元。 但那些步行而來(lái)的顧客就沒(méi)這么幸運(yùn)了。 戈茨解釋說(shuō):“我們還沒(méi)找到能證明顧客步行來(lái)到這里的辦法?!?/font> 其它妓院也采取了各種優(yōu)惠手段應(yīng)對(duì)經(jīng)濟(jì)危機(jī)。此前柏林一家妓院推出了一項(xiàng)不限時(shí)享受性服務(wù)的促銷(xiāo)活動(dòng),但之后由于政府擔(dān)心妓女的權(quán)益和健康受損,該活動(dòng)被叫停。 德國(guó)共有45萬(wàn)名性從業(yè)者,其中約一萬(wàn)名在柏林從事服務(wù)。這些性從業(yè)者與其它行業(yè)的人享有同等的法定權(quán)利和社會(huì)福利。 相關(guān)閱讀 德國(guó)性行業(yè)“降價(jià)促銷(xiāo)”應(yīng)對(duì)危機(jī) (英語(yǔ)點(diǎn)津Julie 姍姍編輯) |
Vocabulary: red-light scene:紅燈區(qū) bordello:A house of prostitution(妓院) stave off:to prevent in time; forestall(避開(kāi),延遲) boutique:a small shop or a small specialty department within a larger store, esp. one that sells fashionable clothes and accessories or a special selection of other merchandise(專(zhuān)賣(mài)流行衣服的小商店) padlock:掛鎖 out of luck: unlucky; unfortunate(運(yùn)氣不好) flat-rate:統(tǒng)一費(fèi)用 rescind:to officially state that a law, contract, decision, etc. is no longer valid (廢除;取消) |