“Red Light District Amsterdam” recognised as one of the major destinations for tourists because of its exceptional laws of freedom under “gedoogbeleid”— the policy of tolerance. Two-third of the world population might have a dream of visiting this marvellous city to experience a different cultural era which offers what is restricted by other parts of the world.
Recently, the Netherlands is planning to form its laws against tourists while claiming restrictions on purchasing cannabis and forbidding group tours in Red Light District Amsterdam due to over-tourism. There were a higher number of nuisance activities have been reported as assaults to the sex workers, previously. The city mayor and other government officials are disappointed and decided to act with new propositions to protect the rights of its sex workers and local inhabitants.
The first female mayor of Amsterdam, Femke Halsema proposed four options to overhaul city standards as in,
- Closing the curtains on the windows, so, the sex workers do not expose to the street.
- Fewer window-style rooms.
- Move brothels to new locations elsewhere in Amsterdam.
- Create a sex worker “hotel.”
The above propositions are to aim at protecting sex workers from degrading conditions, tackle crime, and reduce the harm of tourism in De Wallen Red Light District Amsterdam. However, she has also proposed a new plan to prevent its tourist’s access to the city’s famous hash coffee shops; supposedly, it might reduce the tourist’s demand of the city.
According to Mayor Helsema’s statement,
She wanted to commission “a study this year to reduce the attraction of cannabis to tourists and the (local) regulation of the back door. A clear separation of markets between hard drugs and soft drugs has great urgency because of the hardening of the trade-in hard drugs,”
Besides, she said,
“There is nothing wrong with sex-workers with the way they do their work if we have prostitution in our city, and we do have prostitution. I want the women and men who do the work, be proud of what they are doing and be respected for who they are.”
In a separate announcement on Thursday, she wrote,
“Amsterdam city hall said a ban on group tours of the Red Light District Amsterdam would come into effect on April 1. Tours in other parts of the city that contain sex workers’ windows will also be banned. Guided tours anywhere else in the centre will require a permit.”
Furthermore, the council voted to limit the size of tours to 15 people and ban them from stopping in busy places.
Deputy mayor Victor Everhardt said,
“It is disrespectful to treat sex workers as a tourist attraction.”
The council also announced the Red Light District Amsterdam tour guides found to be breaking the rules by disclosing their trained license. However, there will be a “warning period” of six weeks starting from the beginning of April 2020.
After the warning period,
- First Violation – €190 fine with an immediate disband of the tour.
- Third Violation – Temporarily withdraw of the permit.
- Fourth Violation – Permanent Ban.
According to the UK Foreign and Commonwealth Office (FCO), more than two million trouble-free visits have been estimated from British citizens to the Netherlands every year, and half of them are visiting the Red Light District Amsterdam.
Share
