The World Briefly

April 13, 2023

N.I.M.B.Y.

Netherlands

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Residents and sex workers in Amsterdam are protesting a plan by the city government to relocate the renowned Red Light District in an attempt to tone down the Dutch capital’s “sin city” image, Euronews reported.

Instead, Amsterdam officials want to create a 100-room “erotic center” in the city’s suburbs, a move that would relocate hundreds of sex businesses and their workers from the capital’s center.

Supporters and municipal officials said the relocation would relieve some of the congestion and disorderly behavior in Amsterdam’s center, according to the New York Post.

But the plan has faced intense scrutiny from both suburban residents and sex workers, with both complaining that it will impact their livelihoods. Residents fear that the erotic center will attract seedy or obnoxious crowds to their districts and promote organized crime.

Sex workers, meanwhile, said they were being scapegoated for complaints about crime, drunkenness and drug abuse in the area. They added that the plan will harm their livelihoods and expose them to unsafe situations.

Last month, dozens of sex workers held demonstrations against the proposed relocation and other regulations implemented by Amsterdam’s municipality in recent weeks.

The city’s government has imposed a curfew that will force sex work businesses to close their doors at 3 a.m. rather than 6 a.m. – a move the workers say drastically affects their earnings and puts them in danger on their way home.

It is now proposing bills to restrict alcohol sales and vacation rentals, all part of a branding campaign to curb rowdy behavior and deter party-loving tourists – particularly the British.

Critics, meanwhile, have accused officials, including Mayor Femke Halsema, of harming the Netherlands by driving away business.

This story originally appeared in the April 13, 2023 newsletter, Allies, Enemies and Other Horrors.