|
Legalised prostitution: a dying trade
by Margreet Strijbosch*
Radio Netherlands
31-10-2006
The Dutch prostitutes' pressure group De Rode Draad (The Red
Thread), reports that the number of brothels in the Netherlands
has decreased dramatically since they were legalised. The
organisation notes, however, that the number of saunas and
massage parlours has increased. It seems the illegal sector is
growing.
Legalising prostitution seemed like a good idea on paper. In the
year 2000, when the law banning brothels was abolished, it was
believed this would significantly improve the working conditions
of prostitutes. However, the Rode Draad was recently
commissioned by the Ministry of Social Affairs to investigate
the effects of legalising the trade. Against all expectations,
the investigators came across all manner of abuses.
Employment contracts
Officially, legal prostitutes are free to work
as self-employed business people, but in practice most work for
sex companies where the owner (usually male) calls the shots.
The Rode Draad says they have often signed crippling contracts
that require them, for example, to work 16 hour shifts, to obey
clothing requirements, never to turn down customers, et cetera.
They also discovered that the number of brothels has decreased.
The number of women working in windows in the red light
districts has nearly halved in six years time. Young customers,
in particular, are put off by the "depressing
atmosphere". The Rode Draad's spokeswoman Metje Blaak says
the brothels are facing increasing competition from other
illegal businesses in the sex industry.
"There are so many things - there's internet and lots of
disguised brothels, like partner clubs and what have you, which
also involve prostitution, although they keep that quiet. Then
there are massage parlours where men are stimulated to
ejaculation by the masseuses - all new developments - so there
is less work for real prostitutes."
Escort agencies
The investigators do not believe prostitution
has moved elsewhere. Escort agencies would be a logical choice,
for example, since you do not need a licence to open an escort
agency. The Rode Draad points out that the escort sector is not
that attractive: it is more expensive and it has a poor
reputation. The question is whether they are right, given that
their investigation was limited to legal brothels.
Sex Slavery
Even though prostitutes complain about their working conditions,
things are much worse in the illegal circuit. Amsterdam
councillor Roel van Duijn, who represents the Green Left party,
has spent several years looking at the illegal sex circuit and
the trade in women.
Although he admits figures are hard to arrive at, he estimates
there are 10,000 prostitutes in Amsterdam. Only a few thousand
work in the visible legal circuit. The illegal circuit is rife
with sex slavery, as it is mostly illegal immigrants who are
bought and sold. Roel is not only looking to end illegal
prostitution, he also wants to abolish legal prostitution too.
"There is a tendency in the Netherlands which believes that
prostitution is a normal economic activity which should be made
legal. I don't agree. In practice, prostitution has always been
an illegal area, one which often attracts women from problem
backgrounds. It is a fact too that women who have worked as
prostitutes often continue to suffer from their traumatic
experiences."
Responsibility
If you go along with Roel van Duijn's argument, the
responsibility has to shift to the prostitutes' customers. A
bill is being readied in Germany which would make it an offence
to visit a brothel where women have been forced into
prostitution. In Sweden the customers are already regarded as
the offenders. In other words, visiting prostitutes is not
regarded as a normal activity in these countries. As long as it
is still regarded as acceptable in the Netherlands, the position
of prostitutes will not improve. Neither the legal nor the
illegal prostitutes.
* Translation by RNW Internet (imm)
|
