The Failure and Proposed Revision of Legalized Prostitution in the Netherlands
By Mason Van Gorp
Sex work is a legal profession in the Netherlands and has been since 2000.[1] Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal and regulated, as is operating a brothel.[2] De Wallen, the largest and best-known red-light district in Amsterdam, is a destination for international sex tourism.[3] In 1997, the total number of prostitutes in the Netherlands was about 30,000.[4] Over the last two decades, there has been a clear intersection of legalized prostitution and human trafficking. Now, with a recent change in Dutch legislation, it may prove prudent to recount the failures of legalizing prostitution in the Netherlands and predict if the new legislation will rectify them.
BACKGROUND:
When the Dutch government legalized prostitution in 2000, it was purportedly to protect sex workers by giving them work permits.[5] However, authorities now fear that this business is out of control: “We’ve realized this is no longer about small-scale entrepreneurs, but those big crime organizations are involved here in trafficking women, drugs, killings, and other criminal activities,” said Job Cohen, the former mayor of Amsterdam.[6] Over the years, officials have noticed an increase in violence centered on this irregular industry, and have blamed this increase on the illegal immigration of individuals into Amsterdam to participate in the sex industry.[7]
ISSUE PRESENTATION:
The prevalence of human trafficking in the Netherlands has been recognized both domestically and internationally. The U.S. State Department’s Office to Monitor and Combat Trafficking in Persons designated the Netherlands as a “Tier 1” country in 2020.[8] In 2017, it was estimated by the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings and Sexual Violence against Children that more than 6,000 people in the Netherlands fall victim to human trafficking each year.[9] Two thirds of the people trafficked, about 4,000 people per year, fall victim to sexual slavery and abuse.[10] In 2016, the mayor of Amsterdam admitted, for the first time, that the Dutch experiment to curb abuse by legalizing prostitution had failed miserably.[11] Policeman in Amsterdam’s infamous red-light district were quoted by Dutch media as saying “We are in the midst of modern slavery.”[12]
Non-governmental organizations (NGOs) and police estimate that the number of women and girls trafficked for the purpose of sexual exploitation ranged from 1,000 to 3,6000 in 2006.[13] In 2018, the most recent year official data was available, the national victim registration center and assistance coordinator registered 668 possible trafficking victims, making the Netherlands the top country of victim origin.[14] According to the EU, only 36 percent of human trafficking victims in the Netherlands are Dutch citizens.[15]
In light of the staggering numbers, the Dutch government has pursued legislative change. Now, from January 1, 2022, a customer will be punished under the law if they purchase a sexual service from a sex worker whom they know or have serious reason to suspect that there is coercion, exploitation, or human trafficking.[16] Additionally, the Dutch government is eyeing new laws to regulate prostitution including banning sex workers aged under 21 and handing out permits.[17] The question remains: will these potential changes “regulate [the industry] and combat human trafficking” as effectively as the government hopes?
ANALYSIS:
Failures under the Old System
When prostitution was legalized in 2000, the basic tenet of the legislation was the distinction between voluntary and forced prostitution.[18] Its aims were to control and regulate prostitution, to protect minors from sexual abuse, and protect the position of prostitutes. It also aimed at cleaning up the sex business and ridding it of criminal elements by introducing licenses of sex clubs and brothels.[19]
The act delegated the implementation to the municipalities, so that they could tailor it to local circumstances.[20] At this time, local authorities had the responsibility to see to the licensing of sex businesses, but often left the inspection of underage prostitution and documents of migrant sex workers to the police.[21] Many municipalities tried to retain control by zoning, using environmental planning to prevent sex businesses certain parts of town, and limiting the number of licenses to those sex businesses already existing before 2000.[22]
However, when trafficking arrived on the political agenda, the subsequent parliamentary debates on trafficking portrayed foreign women as victims of unscrupulous traffickers tricked into prostitution.[23] The result was a divide between the rich and poor countries, and resulted in the insidious construction of no less than four categories of prostitutes: (1) ethnically undefined Duch sex workers (2) prostitutes from other EU countries (3) prostitutes who could only work if they were independent sex workers following the EU’s accession of the Baltic States, Poland, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia in 2004, and (4) non-EU workers in the sex industry, working illegally.[24] The workers in the fourth category had no rights or protection, and, because of their undocumented status, they are open to blackmail by employers and pimps.[25]
The Proposed New System
Conversely, the proposed changes to legislation aim to regulate prostitution in order to fight human trafficking, crime and abuse in the sex industry.[26] To achieve this, a licensing regime of all forms of prostitution with uniform regulation across all communities has been proposed. Licensing is also to apply to escort services.[27] It has also been proposed to raise the age for sex work to 21 years.[28] A more liberal regime to allow non-EU residents to work in the sex industry was opposed on the familiar grounds that it would make for more trafficking.[29]
The major bone of contention has been the registration of the sex workers which aimed at preventing forced prostitution by establishing a contact between local authority and sex workers to check whether they are doing the work of their free will.[30] Virtually all workers have objected to registration on the grounds of the right to privacy.[31] Raising the age of consent for sex work to 21 was less controversial.[32] This proposed bill has received a number of readings, but whether the bill will actually achieve its aims and if the proposed registration does not contravene the workers’ right to privacy is yet to be determined.
The New System: Combatting Trafficking by Sacrificing Workers’ Rights
The proposed legal changes substantially damage the workers’ rights, particularly their right to privacy. Because the proposed changes do little to remedy particular sex workers’ lack of social rights, and the stigma of the sex work remains intact, many sex workers prefer to remain anonymous.[33] The proposed registration of prostitutes and intricate system of licensing and registration create barriers to work, which are infringements on sex workers’ civic and social rights.[34]
Undocumented workers still remain open to blackmail because of their illegal status. The proposed changes will make it harder for them to find work, as the client will run a risk of being prosecuted for using their services.[35] The aforementioned categories of sex workers will likely remain intact. Indeed, it seems that the proposed changes do not make up for the Dutch government’s slack implementation of legalized prostitution, nor its lack of attention to social rights. Ultimately, the Dutch government is responsible for creating the bad working conditions, intimidation, and blackmail that has led to its human trafficking epidemic.
Protecting the Rights of non-EU Sex Workers Will More Effectively Curb Human Trafficking
Many conservative Dutch citizens would just rather outlaw sex work altogether, believing that human trafficking will persist and that no amount of legislative change will provide a remedy.[36] Ironically, Dutch have blamed this increase on the illegal immigration of individuals into Amsterdam to participate in the sex industry. However, in order to address the high level of human trafficking associated with legalized prostitution, the Dutch government must empower prostitutes from non-EU countries, undocumented workers specifically. As aforementioned, this category of worker faces a higher risk of becoming a victim of human trafficking due to their lack of rights and the potential for blackmail and abuse.
Such changes might include extending humanitarian asylum status to trafficked women and undocumented workers alike. Similarly, the Dutch government should consider granting work permits to non-EU prostitutes. These courses of action secure more rights for immigrant workers, and increased efforts to investigate, prosecute, convict, and sentence traffickers may follow. With the changes, the Dutch government can increase outreach to these potential victims in labor sectors in an effort to better identify forced labor, and provide them with care services regardless of their ability to cooperate with an investigation.
CONCLUSION
Dutch sex workers should not have to sacrifice their individual rights to avoid being trafficked. Extending humanitarian asylum status to undocumented workers and granting work permits to non-EU prostitutes is a large step, but the potential domino effect that follows will help curb the staggering human trafficking statistics.
[1] Am I punishable as a client of a sex worker who is forced to work?, Rijksoverheid, https://www.rijksoverheid.nl/onderwerpen/prostitutie/vraag-en-antwoord/strafbaar-bij-afspreken-met-gedwongen-sekswerker.
[2] Id.
[3] De Wallen (The Red Light District), Holland-Explorer, https://holland-explorer.com/red-light-district-amsterdam/.
[4] Netherlands-Coalition Against Trafficking of Women, CATW, https://web.archive.org/web/20120426194140/http://www.catwinternational.org/factbook/Netherlands.php.
[5] Marlise Simons, Amsterdam Tries Upscale Fix for Red-Light District Crime, The New York Times, https://www.nytimes.com/2008/02/24/world/europe/24amsterdam.html?_r=1&pagewanted=all.
[6] Id.
[7] Id.
[8] 2020 Trafficking in Persons Report: Netherlands, U.S. Department of State, https://www.state.gov/reports/2020-trafficking-in-persons-report/netherlands/.
[9] Corinne Dettmeyer, Thousands of girls victims of human trafficking in the Netherlands, Blikopnieuws, https://www.blikopnieuws.nl/nieuws/257745/duizenden-meisjes-slachtoffers-mensenhandel-in-nederland.html.
[10] Id.
[11] Canada Considers Further Legalizing Prostitution While Amsterdam Mayor Admits Legalization’s Failure, LifeSite, https://www.lifesitenews.com/news/canada-considers-further-legalizing-prostitution-while-amsterdam-mayor-admi/.
[12] Id.
[13] Together Against Trafficking in Human Beings-Netherlands, European Commission, https://ec.europa.eu/anti-trafficking/eu-countries/netherlands_en.
[14] Supra note 8.
[15] Supra note 13.
[16] Supra note 1.
[17] Marianne Chagnon, Prostitution in the Netherlands, DutchReview, https://dutchreview.com/featured/prostitution-in-the-netherlands-what-is-really-happening-here/.
[18] Joyce Outshoorn, Policy Change in Prostitution in the Netherlands: from Legalization to Strict Control, Sex Res Soc Policy, http://old.nswp.org/sites/nswp.org/files/fulltext1%20(2).pdf.
[19] Id.
[20] Id.
[21] Id.
[22] Id.
[23] Id.
[24] Id.
[25] Supra note 17.
[26] Id.
[27] Supra note 11.
[28] Supra note 17.
[29] Supra note 18.
[30] Id.
[31] Supra note 4.
[32] Supra note 18.
[33] Id.
[34] Id.
[35] Supra note 1.
[36] Supra note 18.