The Red Light District of Amsterdam today has 249 windows from which sex workers are shown.
It is one of the busiest in the Dutch capital, and also one of the districts that worries the City Council the most, due to tourist crowds and drug and alcohol use.
To lighten the area, Femke Halsema, the mayor, plans to create a large erotic center away from the center with space for 100 sex workers "without distinctions of gender and orientation", and areas dedicated to restaurants, art and culture.
Two of the three possible locations are next to the city's trade fair and congress (RAI, in its Dutch acronym).
There is also the European Medicines Agency (EMA), which has shown its concern on Tuesday.
The EMA is a body that evaluates applications for authorization and marketing of medicines in the European Union, and has asserted its position.
In a statement that reflects the tension of the moment, he points out that "we are working closely with the European Commission, which we will keep informed about this matter."
Next, he regrets having found out "from the press about the plans for the erotic center, when the process was already in the phase of public consultations, and without having received a direct message from the Amsterdam City Council."
The agency's management is concerned about the safety and security of its more than 900 employees, and that of the international delegates who come and go from its facilities, sometimes late at night, and stay at nearby hotels.
“The City Council wants to lighten up the Red Light District because it is concerned about noise, drug trafficking, drunkenness and disorder.
That same negative effect can be generated by installing the erotic center in an area adjacent to us, ”says the note.
As a reinforcement of his words, the agreement to settle in the Netherlands is invoked "where the host State is obliged to guarantee the security and tranquility of the facilities, avoiding disturbances in their vicinity".
Given the sensitivity of the situation, Mayor Halsema's response came the same Tuesday afternoon.
“They are not going to be neighbors.
On the project map it can be seen that there is half a kilometer away between the European agency and the erotic center ”, her spokespersons have stressed.
They have added that "the sex workers will operate inside the property, and of course we will talk to the EMA."
The declarations can be interpreted as an exercise of containment of damages, after the effort carried out by the Dutch Government to attract this international organization.
He was headquartered in London and moved to the Netherlands in 2019 due to Brexit.
Two years earlier, the city of Amsterdam was chosen by the European Council from a list of 19 that included other candidates such as Barcelona, Copenhagen, Milan and Vienna.
Guido Rasi, its director until 2020, then stated that the chosen city should be safe and attractive, and 65% of the staff agreed to move to the Dutch capital.
In 2018, the US-based magazine Pharmaceutical Engineering calculated: “The windfall from the arrival of the EMA could be worth a billion dollars for Amsterdam.”
It is not just about the estimated 36,000 annual expert visits, with the consequent boost for hotels and restaurants.
It is also the support for projects and research groups, which stimulate the sector in the Dutch academic world.
based in the United States, calculated the following: “The windfall with the arrival of the EMA could mean a billion dollars for Amsterdam”.
It is not just about the estimated 36,000 annual expert visits, with the consequent boost for hotels and restaurants.
It is also the support for projects and research groups, which stimulate the sector in the Dutch academic world.
based in the United States, calculated the following: “The windfall with the arrival of the EMA could mean a billion dollars for Amsterdam”.
It is not just about the estimated 36,000 annual expert visits, with the consequent boost for hotels and restaurants.
It is also the support for projects and research groups, which stimulate the sector in the Dutch academic world.
Legal prostitution, but not on the street
Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000, but not on the streets, and the problems of the Red Light District are recurring.
Located in the old town, the windows that attract tourists date back to the beginning of the 20th century, and have been increasing since 1960. Since 2020, guided tours for tourists have been prohibited, as well as the consumption of alcohol in the open air.
However, the enclave is still under pressure due to the flow of onlookers, which makes life difficult for the residents, some 4,500 of them, according to municipal statistics.
At dawn, the shouts and chants, the throwing of objects and the consumption of drugs are repeated, according to the tracking carried out by scouts from the Consistory itself.
Mayor Halsema has recognized that "sex is part of Amsterdam and will not disappear, but the situation in the Red Light District is unsustainable."
With the erotic center he hopes to achieve "a space that has a certain class and distinction, where criminals do not fit, and with a program on eroticism and sexuality, with seminars and workshops on health and social inclusion."
Built and managed by outside companies, the Consistory plans to cede the land.
This Tuesday, a meeting of residents of the neighborhood where the RAI facilities are located, made their opinion clear.
They said this: “Let's call a spade a spade: this is a mega brothel, and it's not going to be in a neighborhood full of schools.
Frightening.
The mayoress calls us 'those who don't want things in their vicinity.'
Well, we don't want it here, but we don't want it near other citizens either.
with seminars and workshops on health and social inclusion”.
Built and managed by outside companies, the Consistory plans to cede the land.
This Tuesday, a meeting of residents of the neighborhood where the RAI facilities are located, made their opinion clear.
They said this: “Let's call a spade a spade: this is a mega brothel, and it's not going to be in a neighborhood full of schools.
Frightening.
The mayoress calls us 'those who don't want things in their vicinity.'
Well, we don't want it here, but we don't want it near other citizens either.
with seminars and workshops on health and social inclusion”.
Built and managed by outside companies, the Consistory plans to cede the land.
This Tuesday, a meeting of residents of the neighborhood where the RAI facilities are located, made their opinion clear.
They said this: “Let's call a spade a spade: this is a mega brothel, and it's not going to be in a neighborhood full of schools.
Frightening.
The mayoress calls us 'those who don't want things in their vicinity.'
Well, we don't want it here, but we don't want it near other citizens either.
It's a mega brothel, and it's not going to be in a neighborhood full of schools.
Frightening.
The mayoress calls us 'those who don't want things in their vicinity.'
Well, we don't want it here, but we don't want it near other citizens either.
It's a mega brothel, and it's not going to be in a neighborhood full of schools.
Frightening.
The mayoress calls us 'those who don't want things in their vicinity.'
Well, we don't want it here, but we don't want it near other citizens either.
Red Light United, the union that brings together sex workers from the Red Light District, indicates that "only 7% of those affected see a future in municipal plans: no neighborhood expects them to install an erotic center on their streets, and it is logical that there are protests ”, they point out in a statement posted on their website.
The collective does not want more windows to be closed in the neighborhood and does not feel heard by the mayoress, in the opinion of its president, Felicia Anna.
“They only call us so that we put a cross in the corresponding box, so they can say that they have consulted us;
Nothing is further from reality.
As long as it rises at the expense of the windows of the Red Light District, we will continue to oppose it, ”she writes on the web.
The other possible place indicated in the municipal plans is called NSDM,
and is located on the former land of the shipbuilding company of the same acronym.
It is an old pier north of the city that has been urbanized, and now has art galleries, restaurants and a museum, STRAAT, dedicated to graffiti, among others.
There is no response, for now, from his neighbors.
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