Sex Work and the Netherlands

On the docket for today we have a lecture from Petra Timmermans, and then a walking tour including the Prostitution Information Centre, Dam Square and the Royal Palace.

The Netherlands Regulation of the Sex Industry

Petra Timmermans, coordinator of an umbrella agency to provide rights to sex works in the EU. While prostitution is decriminalized/legalized in Holland, Germany, Hungary, three states in Australia, and New Zealand, however some form regulations exist in all of these countries. In most (former)commonwealth countries (Canada, the United Kingdom), there are no laws prohibiting prostitution, there are laws against solicitation and using a space for prostitution. In the 1980s the laws changed to criminalize not only the prostitutes but also their clients. In the United States even, while prostitution is only legal in Nevada and Rhode Island, there are strip clubs and escort service centers in almost every city, which are licensed by the state. So even though prostitution is largely illegal in the U.S., it is still quasi-regulated by the state. Almost every country has at least one group advocating for the rights of sex workers, an international movement begun in the 1970s.

Why Amsterdam?
The most explicit link is probably Amsterdam's history as a port city; historically, industrial, military, and maritime areas have a higher incidence of prostitution due to opportunity. Before welfare came into existence, poor women who needed to support their families would be forced to seek work in the domestic sector, textile industry and sex work. In 1911 profiting from the earnings of prostitution (brothels) were made illegal; it is interesting to note that while brothels were criminalized, prostitution itself has never been illegal in the Netherlands. However, these laws were only enforced by police on a pick-and-choose basis; throughout the history of the sex industry, it is not uncommon for sex workers to pay the local police (and/or politicians) to prevent violence, rape or arrest. In the 1940s, there was a growing tolerance towards visibility and gender presence in public spaces. That is, women were more and more able to leave their homes unaccompanied. Feminism began to take hold, and while prostitution was common in the backroom, then the front room, behind closed curtains where they would just flip the curtain back and tap on the window as a potential client would pass by, still fully clad from head to toe - perhaps showing a little more wrist or ankle. Slowly, the curtain began to open a little more and a little more, and the clothes began to shrink until you have the present day Red Light district where you see girls in bikinis dancing in just off the street.

In the 1960s and '70s, what is now the Red Light district was an extremely poor area of town, and everyone wanted to clean up the area. Here, discussions on legal reform were initiated to provide legitimacy to sex workers and basic rights they have historically been denied. In the 1980s the sex workers movement really began to take hold, including lobbying to change laws criminalizing aspects of the sex industry. In 2000 the 1911 brothel ban was abolished in hopes of being able to better manage and regulate the exploitation of prostitutes and punishable offenses. Forced prostitution, sex/human trafficking, and the prostitution of minors all remain to be addressed.

The Rules
All sex businesses must be licensed by the local municipality (renewable every three years, non-transferrable) that means that the city has the right to say "No, we have too many businesses" or "It's too close to a school,". In fact, no where in the Netherlands has a new sex business license been issued since 2000. Sex work is still very heavily regulated; only EU citizens may legally work in the sex industry (this is true in Germany as well) largely due to EU labor laws; must be over 18 years of age.

Pimping by force, coercion or deceit, trafficking across the border, brothel owners cannot force sex workers to go with anyone or do anything they do not want to do, and employing minors are all under criminal law, and the sentences have been increased for these crimes. However, just because rights are awarded to sex workers, or any group or industry, unless the individual stands up for their own rights, it is as if they do not exist at all. Unlike the United States, clients are not de facto criminalized except in the case of paying a minor for services.

Changes Since 2000
Approximately one-third of the businesses have closed in the past eight years, including a decrease in street prostitution and there is a more open debate regarding sex work as a labour industry. Policing and control have increased, as well as taxation, and there is an absolute intolerance for non-EU migrants.

Link between sex work and fashion

Last year the city of Amsterdam purchased 55 buildings from a former prostitution baron. He walked away with €25,000,000 and the city has thus far transformed 16 of these spaces into design studios, which have been awarded to young designers - free of rent for the first year. Ironically, the neighbors are displeased with the semi-bourgeoisie newcomers and city's decision to clean up the area, because the area thrives on its sketchy reputation and conditions.