20 June 2019
After our trip to P&G 292 in order to learn about healthcare options available to sex workers, we spent some time at the Prostitution Information Center (PIC) in the infamous Red Light District. There, we spoke with a current sex worker, Karen, who left her career as a nurse to become a sex worker for the physically and mentally disabled. Hearing this woman’s perspective on sex work, prostitution, the tour ban in the Red Light District, and many other topics was fascinating. Too often, we as a society make opinions about and decisions on behalf of members of our community without actually speaking with them. This issue is one with which the sex workers of Amsterdam are well acquainted.
Very recently, the Amsterdam City Council has placed a ban on tours in the Red Light District. For now, this ban is only effective after 7 pm, but will go into full effect in January 2020. Throughout our stay in Amsterdam, we heard varying opinions on this ban. Some think it’s silly at that the tours are a highlight of Amsterdam’s tourism. Some think the tours increase bad behavior in the area, cause overcrowding, and don’t actually support the women in the windows. Amsterdam citizens are pretty split on the matter. But what about the women working in the Red Light District? No one asked them when making the decision to ban the tours, and many of them are angry. Tours bring in customers, and without tour guides, who will monitor the behavior of the tourists? Who will stop them from gawking and taking pictures? It is an incredibly complicated situation with a lot of views and perspectives, but it is disheartening to hear that the opinions of the women most effected by the ban weren’t considered in the decision making process.
After speaking with Karen about the work that the PIC does to help sex workers unionize and to support the community, she gave us a tour of the district. She made sure to tell us not to take pictures or videos. She made sure that the group was facing away from the windows whenever we stopped to talk. She taught us the etiquette of how to behave in a respectful way.
Whether or not you approve of sex work as a profession or you support or oppose the tour ban, I hope that this will help you remember that when making decisions, it is crucial that you consider the effects those decisions will have on the people you’re making them for.
- Lily Katz
Public Health Abroad! 