Amsterdam Starts City Brothel
Posted on: September 1, 2015
A buyer has been found for Amsterdam’s City Brothel
A real estate buyer has been found by the City of Amsterdam for the so called City brothel: 5 buildings with a total of 19 windows in the Red Light District. Here, so the plan reads, Sexarbeiterinnen would be able to work as entrepreneurs in their own businesses/brothels. “The buyer is a party of impeccable reputation” says Amsterdam’s Mayor Van Der Laan. Still, as yet there are not enough hookers to take on the challenge.
A local television station in Amsterdam – AT5 – had an interview with the Mayor of Amsterdam, but Van der Laan did not reveal the name of the buyer. He said: “It is a social institution of high integrity and has a big wallet.” Until the sale is finalized definitively, Van Der Laan doesn’t want to say anything more specific about who is buying the City Brothel. In early 2015 it became clear that the City had begun looking into methods for how to begin its own brothel in order to fight abuse in the sex workers industry.
The idea of a City Brothel in Amsterdam
“The idea is to have hookers begin their own company in their own premises thus preventing a lot of the bad working conditions and trafficking. Now, they are often dangling on the rope of people who exploit them” says the Mayor. “Both the City and the Council are in favor of beginning experiments in this field”.
One of the conditions is HVO-Querido helping the prostitutes in setting up their business and finding a ‘clean’ owner of the premises is another one.
Not enough interested prostitutes as of yet
That party will lease windows to the workers, enabling them to perform their activities there. “Some prostitutes are very enthusiastic about this new approach, but have never done anything close to being independent entrepreneur” says Van der Laan. Therefore the project’s kick off date will probably be January 1, 2016. Until then a lot of construction work will be required in the accommodation, so that the disabled can also be welcomed as clients.
“As soon as the City Brothel is a reality, the city will at arm’s length excercise supervision on the whole experiment”, Van Der Laan emphasizes.
Officially the city has no stake in the brothel.
