In eight Austrian states, a text about support services for sex workers begins with registration: Where do I register, where do I get the health card, which counseling center is next to the authority office. In Vorarlberg, it begins differently. Here, the activity itself is not permitted under state law — and that changes every single question related to safety. Anyone who considers whether to call the police, whether to see a doctor, whether to speak through an intermediary, always factors in: What happens to me if I come forward?
This text is therefore not an official guide to authorities, but a map of contact points: who in Vorarlberg in 2026 is actually reachable, what these organizations are allowed to do, what they must pass on — and where responsibility ends at the state border.
Why Safety Must Be Organized Differently in Vorarlberg
The basis is the Vorarlberg Morality Police Act from 1976 (LGBl. No. 6/1976). According to its framework, engaging in and offering what the law calls commercial sexual conduct is prohibited — it would only be permitted in a brothel approved under § 5. The approval is not granted by the state, but by the municipal council.
It is precisely this structure that is at the core of the problem: since 1976, not a single Vorarlberg municipality has issued such an approval. The most well-known attempt, an establishment in the Hohenems industrial area, failed over many years. The Constitutional Court declared the law itself to be constitutional, but struck down its concrete application in the individual case; the city’s appeals commission decided again in the negative in 2014. The argumentation centered on a condition the law stipulates — an approval should come into question if it would reduce nuisances. The police saw no such nuisances in Hohenems, so there was no reason for an approval. Anyone who wants to read the details of this circular logic will find them in our analysis on why there is still no permitted workplace in the state.
What This Concretely Means for the Affected Person
Violations are prosecuted by the district authority as administrative offenses. Legal descriptions of the law mention fines up to 2,000 euros, and imprisonment of up to six weeks is also provided, and in particularly aggravating circumstances, both at the same time. Clients are not punished under the wording of this state law — it targets the provision and offering. How high a penalty is in any individual case and what is actually reported depends on the responsible district authority; the current version of the law is available in the Federal Legal Information System.
This creates an imbalance that is decisive for safety: the person who may need protection bears the administrative penalty risk. The person who commits violence or exploitation counts on exactly that.
What the Scene Looks Like as a Result
In the mid-1970s, sex work in Vorarlberg was visible: around 300 women, plus dozens of pimps, an escalating street scene with several deaths. The 1976 law was the response to that. Almost nothing is visible today — work takes place in apartments and hotels.
Police describe the milieu in the state as calm and manageable; legal enterprises like table dance clubs are regularly inspected, problems occur mainly in private accommodations. Social work contradicts this calm: it speaks of an illegal field of considerable scope. According to police, it is predominantly traveling providers from Romania and Hungary who stay for a few days to two or three weeks. Older estimates from the border region spoke of 70 to 100 apartments in the state and around 30 women from Vorarlberg who instead work in the Canton of St. Gallen — reliable current figures do not exist because there is nothing to count that is registered.
For safety, this means: there is no operator with duty of care, no panic button in the house, no colleague in the next room whom one knows. The entire protective architecture must be borne by the person themselves and by outreach social work.
The Emergency First: Numbers That Are Reachable Around the Clock
If there is acute danger, the same applies in Austria as everywhere: 133 (police), 144 (ambulance), 112 (emergency call, works even without credit and with a blocked SIM). The emergency call is particularly relevant in a border region like the Rhine Valley because it reliably works while roaming.
Besides that, there are two nationwide, free numbers that are not government agencies and do not trigger any report:
- Women’s Helpline Against Violence: 0800 222 555 — 24/7, free of charge, anonymous if desired, multilingual. The call does not appear on the phone bill. The helpline provides crisis counseling and refers further.
- Victims’ Emergency Number: 0800 112 112 — free and anonymous for victims of crimes, with legal and psychological initial consultation.
For medical questions without emergency character, there is the health number 1450.
What Triggers a Report — and What It Brings
The biggest barrier in Vorarlberg is fear of incriminating oneself by filing a report. This concern is not unfounded, but it must not be the only information an affected person has. Because at the same time, a federal legal right exists that is independent of state law: process accompaniment under § 66b StPO.
Victims of intentional violence, dangerous threats, or violations of sexual integrity have had a legal right to psychosocial and legal process accompaniment since January 1, 2006. It is always free for the victim — regardless of how the criminal proceedings turn out. The psychosocial component means accompaniment before, during, and after police and court questioning; the legal component means legal representation in court. In Vorarlberg, process accompaniment is organized, among others, by the Violence Protection Center.
In practice, this means: the sensible first call is rarely the police, but a victim protection organization that sorts the case out first and accompanies the person.
The Sex Work Counseling Center: iBUS — Responsible Also for Vorarlberg
Vorarlberg has no counseling center of its own for sex work. Responsible is iBUS – Innsbruck Counseling and Support for Sex Workers, an organization of the association AEP (Working Group for Emancipation and Partnership), which has existed since 2013 and covers both Tirol and Vorarlberg.
- Address: Schöpfstraße 19, 6020 Innsbruck
- Phone and WhatsApp: +43 660 4757 345
- Email: [email protected]
- Web: aep-ibus.at
Counseling is free, confidential, and anonymous. iBUS works according to explicitly formulated principles: acceptance of sex work, anonymity (no passing of personal data to third parties), voluntariness, and advocacy — meaning orientation toward the client’s interests, not those of an authority. Advice is given on working conditions, entry and exit, legal and social matters, taxes, and support in criminal proceedings.
Important for Vorarlberg is outreach work: social workers come to the state regularly, about monthly, on behalf of the Women’s Ministry to make contact, and also research on relevant online platforms to reach people who work in apartments. The scope of this work is manageable: the 2023 activity report lists 195 individual consultations with 94 people and 155.5 consultation hours — for two states.
The Innsbruck office is reachable by appointment (Tuesday and Thursday mornings), but is much more flexible by phone and WhatsApp. Anyone calling from Vorarlberg should say immediately how long they will be in the state — touring stays of two weeks need different planning than permanent residence.
iBUS is also part of the Alliance PRO SEX WORK, in which the self-organizations sexworker.at and Red Edition have joined together with the counseling centers maiz (Linz), PiA (Salzburg), SXA-Info (Graz), and LEFÖ (Vienna). This alliance also speaks out politically, for example with an open letter to the legal committee of the Vorarlberg state parliament.
Health Without Health Card: Sexual Health Vorarlberg
The federal regulatory regime for sex work presupposes legal practice, which does not exist in Vorarlberg — we have described in detail the dilemma that arises, where the health card is ground between two legal orders. For practice, what matters is: health prevention in Vorarlberg is decoupled from the regulatory track, and that is an advantage in this case.
Sexual Health Vorarlberg — until a few years ago AIDS Help Vorarlberg — is the central low-threshold testing facility:
- Kaspar-Hagen-Straße 5/1, 6900 Bregenz
- Phone: 05574 46526
- Email: [email protected]
Testing is offered for HIV, syphilis, chlamydia, gonorrhea, and hepatitis C. Tests can be done anonymously, without appointment and without insurance card; depending on the test, 10 to 30 euros applies, payable in cash. Testing times are Tuesday afternoons (registration on-site in good time before the end of operating hours so there is time for counseling and sample collection), counseling is also available on Thursday. Times and fees change — a quick call before traveling saves a wasted trip to Bregenz.
The facility is heavily used: in 2025, 2,294 tests were performed there, more than ever before, including 793 HIV tests, 538 for syphilis, 519 each for chlamydia and gonorrhea, and 444 for hepatitis C. Only a small portion came back positive. The fact that demand has increased significantly in recent years is also attributed to the rename — a facility that has sexual health in its name is easier to enter than one that has a disease in its name.
Violence, Stalking, and Exit: the ifs Structures
The Institute for Social Services (ifs) carries the majority of victim protection and crisis work in Vorarlberg. None of these facilities require a report as an entry requirement.
Violence Protection Center Vorarlberg
Johannitergasse 6, 6800 Feldkirch, phone +43 5 1755-535. It is a legally recognized victim protection facility and accompanies people affected by physical, psychological, or sexual violence, as well as persons who are being watched, followed, or spied on (stalking). Counseling is voluntary, free, and confidential; the center also provides psychosocial process accompaniment. Usually open Monday to Friday mornings, Monday and Thursday additionally in the afternoon.
ifs Women’s Emergency Housing
The state women’s shelter is available 24/7: phone 05 1755-577, [email protected], mailing address PO Box 61, 6850 Dornbirn. The actual address is not public for safety reasons. Women and their children who are fleeing violence are admitted — questions about occupation are not an admission requirement.
ifs Women’s Counseling Center for Sexual Violence
Also Johannitergasse 6 in Feldkirch, phone 05 1755-536. This is the right address when it comes to an assault and the decision about a report is still open.
femail Women’s Information Center
Marktgasse 6, 6800 Feldkirch, phone 05522 31002, [email protected]. femail provides counseling on income security, health, migration, and violence prevention and offers mother-tongue counseling as well as counseling with interpreters. For women new to the country whose German is not sufficient for a government meeting, this is often the most practical first door.
Exploitation and Human Trafficking: LEFÖ-IBFIf third parties withhold earnings, retain documents, couple accommodation and work, or construct debts, this is no longer a matter of state law but involves federal criminal offenses. LEFÖ-IBF, the intervention center for victims of human trafficking, is responsible throughout Austria, commissioned by the Interior and Women’s Ministries:
- Lederergasse 35/12–15, 1080 Vienna
- Phone: 01 796 92 98 (phone counseling Mon, Tue, and Fri mornings, Thu afternoons and evenings; 24-hour availability for affected persons beyond these times)
- Email: [email protected]
LEFÖ-IBF offers accommodation in safe houses, psychosocial and psychological counseling, health care, court accompaniment, and advice on residence and labor law.
Regarding residence law, two points that many don’t know: For victims of human trafficking or cross-border prostitution trafficking from third countries, § 57 of the Asylum Act 2005 provides for special protection residence authorization; it must be granted for at least six months, and the authority must decide within six weeks. Additionally, there is a 30-day recovery and reflection period during which measures to end residence should be suspended. However, this period is not anchored in the law but regulated by an Interior Ministry decree – specialist organizations have criticized it as too short for years. Anyone wishing to rely on this should not do so alone but should do so through LEFÖ-IBF or the violence protection center.
For EU citizens from Romania or Hungary: freedom of movement remains in effect, regardless of the fact that the activity is not permitted under Vorarlberg state law. An administrative fine under the morals police law does not constitute deportation.
Authorities: who is responsible for what
- State Police Directorate Vorarlberg, Bahnhofstraße 45, 6900 Bregenz, phone +43 59133 80-0. Public security police and criminal service; the state criminal office conducts investigations into pimping, exploitation, and human trafficking.
- District Offices (Bregenz, Dornbirn, Feldkirch, Bludenz): administrative penalty proceedings under the morals police law, district medical officer.
- Municipal council: the only body that could grant a brothel permit under § 5.
- Tax office and SVS: completely unaffected. Tax and contribution obligations are tied to actual income, not to state law authorization – we have separately addressed the situation arising from this, because it is prohibited yet subject to taxation.
What you can secure yourself
Where no licensed business exists, routine replaces infrastructure. These points cost nothing and are independent of any authority:
- Check-in routine with a trusted person. A fixed person who knows where you are, with agreed-upon times and a clear safety word for emergencies. Location sharing on your phone permanently activated.
- Keep your documents with you. Passport or ID held in someone else’s custody is not a procedural error but one of the clearest warning signs of exploitation.
- No coupled debts. If travel, accommodation, and mediation come from the same person and are charged as an advance, this creates dependency – even without threats.
- Accommodation in your own name. Whoever is not the contract partner has no right of residence and can be put out on the street at any time.
- Store numbers offline. 133, 112, 0800 222 555, 0800 112 112, and the iBUS number also on paper – phones are lost, broken, or taken away.
- Plan health appointments into your schedule. If you’re only in the country for two weeks anyway, you should factor in the Tuesday appointment in Bregenz from the start.
What is moving politically – and what is not
Advice centers have been calling for a reform of the morals police law for years, aimed at creating legal and thus controllable working conditions – as a minimal option, they point to eastern Austria, where at least house and hotel visits are permitted. There is currently no political will to do so: Security State Councilor Daniel Allgäuer (FPÖ) recently saw no need for change. He laid down his position at the end of July 8, 2026; he was succeeded by former FPÖ parliamentary group leader Markus Klien, with unchanged portfolio allocation (essentially security, integration, and energy).
The only noteworthy change in recent years did not directly concern sex work: at the end of 2023, the state parliament passed an amendment allowing sexual assistance or sexual accompaniment – subject to conditions such as the customer’s care needs and the provider’s training. The Alliance PRO SEX WORK criticized this very construction in its open letter to the legal committee: it implicitly divided sex work into a morally acceptable and a reprehensible part, rather than creating protection for all.
The overview in one paragraph
If you work in Vorarlberg, you have no legal venue, but you do have points of contact. iBUS (+43 660 4757 345) is the specialist service for sex work for Tyrol and Vorarlberg, anonymous and partisan. Sexual Health Vorarlberg in Bregenz offers anonymous testing without e-card or advance booking. The Vorarlberg Violence Protection Center in Feldkirch and the around-the-clock staffed ifs Women’s Emergency Shelter cover violence and flight, femail provides multilingual initial counseling, LEFÖ-IBF handles exploitation and human trafficking. Throughout Austria: 0800 222 555 and 0800 112 112, in emergencies 133 or 112. None of these services are obligated to pressure you to file a report – and none of them first ask whether your work would be permitted under state law.
This post reflects the state of publicly available information in September 2026 and does not replace legal or health advice. Opening hours, fees, and responsibilities change; for binding information, contact the organizations mentioned or the relevant district office.