Lucy in the Window with Condoms: Sex Work in the Netherlands

Hallo again!

This week has been a whirlwind! We visited Utrecht, Zans Schaanse, the Prostitution Information Center, and the Anne Frank House, all in one week. Bouncing around Amsterdam and the adjacent areas has offered valuable insight into the culture and attitudes of the Dutch. 

The windmills at Zans Schaanse!

Sex work is legal in the Netherlands, a policy that makes the country very popular for international tourists. You can walk down the red light district at almost any time of day and see advertisements for sex shows, sex workers in windows, and desserts that resemble genitalia (which are delicious!). While the general public has an understanding of sex work, we rarely get to hear the sex workers' points of view. Often, they are only reported on in third-party news articles. At the Prostitution Information Center, my class had the opportunity to sit down with a sex worker and ask about her experiences. Brenda, as she called herself in one instance, is a "sex assistant", someone who is hired as an escort for populations that typically do not have access to sex and sex workers (i.e., those who are disabled, need extra care, etc.). Brenda was previously a nurse, so she is better equipped to handle this demographic of clients than other sex workers. She sees clients who have mental disorders, Alzheimer's, are disabled, and even one who is 93 years old! She says that sex assistants often are perceived in a more positive light than those who work in the windows. There is a noticeable hierarchy within the industry. Her job is not often in jeopardy, and tends to be seen as "noble" or more respectable than others.

A poster outside the Prostitution Information Center

Lucy, on the other hand, has a much different experience. Lucy is another persona that Brenda takes on when she works in the windows. Window work is a type of sex work in which the sex worker will stand in the window of a rented room, acting as their own personal billboard. They have clients approach them and negotiate prices at the door (Majoor, 2015). This is a far cry from Brenda's sex assistant work, as Brenda works through an agency. Lucy is an independent entrepreneur. The hierarchy of sex work is evident in the discourse surrounding the location and presentation of the red light district. 1012 was a city-wide initiative in which real estate that housed brothels and coffee shops was purchased and turned into gift shops and other tourist attractions (Nugent, 2019). This project was implemented under the guise of making the city safer, but sex workers note that the project has made their job much harder to do. While the initiative has attracted more tourists, most just want to look at the workers in the window. This means potential customers are being pushed out, replaced by tourists who are not respectful of the workers' boundaries. There seems to be an idea amongst tourists that sex workers are in the window to be seen, so they shouldn't mind pictures being taken of them. According to Lucy, this is a dangerous misconception. Many of the workers in the windows have other jobs or are in situations where it would be potentially damaging to them if someone found out they also worked as a sex worker. Regardless, taking photos of the sex workers is highly intrusive, especially if the photographer has no intention of providing business. 

Overall, these workers are often overlooked in legislation, always spoken for but never to. It is time that the government starts listening to them, as they are key players in the economy. These workers are an integral part of Amsterdam's vibrant and open community and deserve more respect than they are afforded. 

So long for now, 

Claire💌

The aforementioned genitalia dessert

n = 547

References

Majoor, M. (2015). When Sex Becomes Work (Chapter 3, pp. 20-30). Prostitution Information Center.

Nugent, C. (October 30, 2019). Amsterdam's Red Light District is in crisis. https://time.com/5712420/amsterdam-red-light-district-change/

"I have acted with honesty and integrity in producing this work and am unaware of anyone who has not."

-Claire Adams