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Outdoor sex fine lower for jobless 'unfair'

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Outdoor sex fine lower for jobless 'unfair'
Photo: DPA

An odd rule giving Germans on social welfare support caught having disruptive sex outdoors a lower fine than those with jobs is dividing society and needs to change, says the federal employment office (BA).

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Sex in parks, beaches or forests is technically legal in Germany, as long as it doesn't offend or disturb people nearby.

If a person on Harz IV unemployment benefits is caught offending people with their outdoor sex antics – something not uncommon the country's parks in summer – they face a fine of just €34. Yet they have a job, this rockets to €150.

“This sets the wrong incentive and divides society,” a spokeswoman from the BA told Bild daily newspaper on Thursday.

“Everyone is responsible for their own actions and should face the consequences. Right or wrong behaviour cannot be classified alongside whether they are or are not a Harz IV recipient,” she added.

According to statistics from Berlin tabloid the BZ, 234 people were caught and fined in Berlin alone last year - a figure which has doubled in the last three years and includes only couples engaged in adult outdoor fun.

The Local/jcw

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