Amsterdam Sex Workers Oppose "Mega Brothel" Proposal

Amrsterdam's red light district, De Wallen, in the central part of the city, is legendary. Tourists and sex hobbyists all over the world visit. And local residents and officials in Amsterdam are looking to make changes, amid complaints from those who say that the large crowds the district attracts have decreased quality of life and created more crime, including drug dealing, drunkenness and disorderly conduct. The Amsterdam City Council has considered relocating legal prostitution away from its historic red light district for years. Last year, the council proposed three possible locations for a five-story Erotic Centre. The center features 100 prostitution windows and rooms, and areas for entertainment and erotica, including two bars and a strip club, which is supposed to provide safe working conditions for sex workers. Even Amsterdam's mayor, Femke Halsema, supported the plans and suggested the affluent Zuid district, an area in the south of the city, as a location in December 2023, according to local media. 

But Amsterdam sex workers are not convinced. They have described the planned center as an "erotic prison," during a public comment meeting on the planning application. One speaker at the meeting said, "Sex workers have moved from doorways to windows … and now into a segregated centre pushed to the edge of town, out of sight, out of mind. Keep your laws off our bodies and no erotic prisons." Some 40 people spoke out against the proposal. Sex workers complained that building a new erotic center on the edge the city would mean more stigmatism. "A prostitution window on the street is very different from one in a closed erotic centre" former sex worker Mariska Majoor said in the meeting, according to reports. "The location is dark at night. There will be more stigma and more danger … I'm worried they will be waited for on the paths by people with nefarious plans." Residents of the Zuid district also expressed their concern over the increased crime simply relocating to their district, along with the mega brothel. While 8 people spoke in favor of the proposal, that was not the general sentiment.

The city council will vote on the mega brothel plan in two weeks.