German Greens float sex prescriptions for disabled Published duration 8 January 2017

image copyright AFP image caption Brothels advertise openly in Germany, where prostitution is legal

A spokeswoman for the Green Party in Germany has said disabled and seriously ill people should be able to claim back public money if they pay for sex.

They would have to prove a medical need and show that they could not pay to visit sex workers otherwise.

Elisabeth Scharfenberg, an MP, told the Welt am Sonntag newspaper that she "could imagine" local authorities paying for "sexual assistance".

Prostitution has been legal in Germany since 2002.

The newspaper wrote (in German) that increasing numbers of sex workers offered services in care homes. A sexual adviser for nursing homes told the paper that prostitutes were a "blessing" for some patients.

In the Netherlands it is already possible to claim the cost of sexual services as a medical expense.

The Green Party, a bigger political player in Germany than in other countries, won a place in the state coalition government in Baden-Wuerttemberg in 2011.

Its share of the federal vote fell to about 8% in the last election.