On prostitution in Amsterdam in general

After having talked to the Ghanese girl (a prostitute in the Red Light District), we wanted to check her story by talking to some “reliable source”. Maybe it was our prejudice against prostitution that was so strong that even though our girl gave no signs of being a liar, we felt we had to get her story confimed. Is it really true that most of the girls work there without having someone pushing them into it? Or is that just something they tell us and themselves in order to make their lives more bearable?

The sex industry is probably one of the businesses with most prejudice connected to it, and the woman at the Prostitution Information Center (PIC) was quick to inform me that most of them are based on myths. Of course there exist women who are being exploited, but the big majority of the sex-workers work there out of own (free) will, and aren’t forced to do so by anyone.

The renting of the windows works more or less like a mall, she tells me. There are about 60 different landowners renting out windows in Amsterdam, providing the sex workers a place from which they can sell their services. But quite as a mall it doesn’t seem. The women pay up front per shift, each shift lasting 8-12 hours. Depending on the location of the window, the time of day, and day of week, the prices vary from 50 to 135 euros per shift. A normal start out price for a 20 min session is 50 euros. As in everything else, there are good days and bad days, sometimes you barely make the rent, sometimes you go home with your pocket full of 50-euro bills.

For the time being the market isn’t too good and there are plenty of empty windows. This might be the reason why some owners now start to ask for a week’s payment in advance- in order to secure their own income. Of course, this for the women is not such a good idea- if they fall sick one day, they loose the money. It’s less risky for the prostitutes to pay per day, of course, which also allows them a bit more freedom of movement. But it also means that in the beginning you must be prepared to move around a bit, taking one shift here and one shift there. When you’ve established a good relationship with the owner, and they know that you show up when you’ve said you will, chances are you’ll get a more permanent spot.

The window-owners, or the bosses as the woman at the PIC somethimes called them, are licenced by the government. They are obliged to provide a security service for the women working there. Every window is equipped with an alarm-button in case the prostitute should be in any kind of emergency. Even though customers very seldom get violent, there might be some minor quarrels, or there might of course occur some kind of health emergency. The bosses have people on their staff that come to help in these occations, only seldomly the police is called.

The bosses also often have offices where the prostitutes can by safe sex supplies. Everyone is responsible for his or her own health, so there are no compulsory check-ups for the girls. Hopefully both workers and customers are being responsible, but as with everything else, money makes a difference for some. Some customers are willing to offer double payment to put their own and the prostitute’s health at risk, and a strained economy sometimes make the women accept such an offer. The authorities are trying to provide information and help, and there are free clinics available. There also exist special teams that go around to clubs and brothels, to make it easier for the women to have their health checked.

The nationalities represented in the Red Light District varies a lot with the political and economical situation in the world. At least on the worker side. You have to be an EU citizen to work there legally, so most of the women are from European countries, or they have traveled through Europe in order to get a European passport. Since the Eastern European countries joined the EU, there’s been a boom in prostitues from these countries. Changes in the economic situation in different countries manifest themselves in changes in the number of workers from each country.

When it comes to the customers, it’s seems to be a bit more stable. The clients are mainly toursist and men in Amsterdam on business, and there seems to be an overwhelming majority of British men. Most Dutch customers go to one of the many other Red Light Districts in Holland or Amsterdam, avoiding the largest one. If you do see a Dutch man in “our” Red Light District, chances are that he’s there for one special woman only.

Check out website: www.pic-amsterdam.com