The project "European Network for Prostitution, Health and Information (ENPHI)" was in-tended to establish, utilize and further develop a Europe-wide network of governmental (GOs) and non-governmental (NGOs) organizations focusing on health and social issues. In this way, the areas in need of improvement in Frankfurt am Main, i.e. addressing target groups, providing information, offering advice and introducing people to the services of the existing help systems, were to be expanded. In concrete terms, the employees participating in the project should be confronted with the special features of other cultures and achieve an improved understanding of cultural con-texts. The intercultural and social-communicative competence of the employees should be promoted. In addition, country-specific professional competencies should be acquired with regard to: • the legal and social framework conditions of marginalized groups in other European countries and the associated rights and obligations at home and abroad • Social and health care systems, access to health care and treatment options both in the country of origin and in the destination country.
Social and health policies at the local, state, federal and European levels may be similar or different. This results in specific social and health care systems, different and sometimes, contradictory, civil rights and obligations, and different resources and gaps in social and medical care structures. In Frankfurt am Main, the public health service is represented by the public health depart-ment, which is part of the municipal administration and, in addition to its diverse legal re-sponsibilities, provides subsidiary and socially compensatory counseling and assistance ser-vices for population groups for whom access to standard health care is either nonexistent or more difficult. Outpatient medical humanitarian consultations for adults and children as well as gynecological consultations and socio-legal and medical consultations are targeted at this group. Work demands and challenges in the above-mentioned areas are increasing. Due to the great heterogeneity of the highly mobile target group, the staff is confronted with multi-faceted concerns and is professionally challenged. Inter-European cooperation is urgently needed.