(CNN) — Walking tours of the Red Light District in Amsterdam are set to cease come January 1, 2020. According to the translated official statement from the Dutch government, "Tours along the prostitution windows cause a lot of bustle in the Red Light District and are not respectful towards sex workers." The Dutch government wants to stop the tours as they believe the area is suffering from overtourism and that walking tours of the neighborhood exploit the lingerie-clad sex workers in neon-lit windows as tourist attractions. The Prostitution Information Center (PIC) is an organization that gives community-led walking tours of the Red Light District. Pixaby The PIC is a small sex worker-led nonprofit community space centrally located in the Red Light District. Founded in 1994 by Mariska Majoor, a former sex worker, the organization's mission is to inform the public about the realities of the industry and the concerns of its workers. When asked about the name of the … [Read more...] about Walking tours in Amsterdam’s Red Light District in jeopardy
Legal prostitution in amsterdam
Good riddance to Amsterdam’s disgraceful red-light district tours
Julie Bindel 22 March 2019 6:04 PM 22 March 2019 6:04 PM Share Twitter Facebook LinkedIn Email Whatsapp The city of Amsterdam is to finally ban guided tours around its most notorious window brothel area, the sex tourist trap known as De Wallen. Since Holland legalised its already burgeoning sex trade back in the year 2000, it has become apparent that if you display women in windows, wearing nothing but a bikini and a fake smile, and market them like pieces of meat, that is how they will be treated by those that flock into the area to have a laugh at the human zoo. I have been in and out of Amsterdam on dozens of occasions reporting on its absolutely abhorrent prostitution market. Walking around De Wallen, at whatever time of the day or night, I always bump into a tour group being told how ‘brilliantly’ legalisation works for the women and the rest of Dutch society. They are spoon-fed such a sanitised version of what really goes on in those … [Read more...] about Good riddance to Amsterdam’s disgraceful red-light district tours
Amsterdam Bans Red-Light District Tours Amid Prostitutes’ Complaints
Amsterdam is to ban guided tours to the famous red-light district, where sex workers run their businesses, starting 1 January. The measure is expected to help preserve the old city centre from crowds of tourists flooding its streets. It is intended to put an end to behaviour of tourists that is "not respectful" towards prostitutes. Both paid and free tours will be forbidden. However, not only visiting the red-light district will be limited, as the city council is also reducing the maximum number of people allowed in organised groups in other districts of the city centre from 20 to 15. The authorities will order all guides to obtain a council permit and follow strict rules of behaviour. The newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reports that bar crawls and red-light district tours have overflowed the area with more than 1,000 tour groups heading to the central square. READ MORE: His … [Read more...] about Amsterdam Bans Red-Light District Tours Amid Prostitutes’ Complaints
Amsterdam Mayor Says How Tourists Treat Prostitutes Is ‘Humiliating’
Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema, appointed in July 2018, has told the city outlet Het Parool that the city’s tradition of open prostitution needs legal changes and voiced her intention to address the problems with a package of reforms, drawn up no later than summer 2019. According to her, this city tradition has been “increasingly linked to the humiliation of women by large groups of tourists”. The official criticised the situation whereby prostitutes had been turned into a stop for guided tours in Amsterdam with onlookers swarming the red light district, which she defined as “humiliating” and “unacceptable”. While the unlicensed prostitution that goes hand in hand with human trafficking remains a problem, it is believed that the safety and working conditions of prostitutes in the red light district have been worsened because … [Read more...] about Amsterdam Mayor Says How Tourists Treat Prostitutes Is ‘Humiliating’
Amsterdam’s mayor: ‘prostitutes should not be a tourist attraction’
Mayor Femke Halsema. Photo: Gemeente Amsterdam Amsterdam’s mayor Femke Halsema has called for changes to the city’s red light district, arguing that turning prostitution into a tourist attraction is ‘humiliating’ and ‘unacceptable’. The mayor, who took office last June, told Het Parool she wanted to consider all options for reforming the area, including the status quo, but gave a clear signal that the current situation was untenable. ‘The circumstances in which women have to do their work have worsened. So I can understand why a lot of Amsterdammers think: this is not the way we want prostitution to be or how it was supposed to be,’ she said. There has been growing concern that the number of tourists flocking to the red light district has made it more difficult for prostitutes to work in the area and compromised their safety. Unlicensed prostitution remains a problem in the city and has been linked to human trafficking. Halsema said … [Read more...] about Amsterdam’s mayor: ‘prostitutes should not be a tourist attraction’