Regulation of Sex Work in Netherlands

Abstract

In the UK media, the Netherlands is often described as sexually liberal because of the seeming availability and visibility of commercial sex and pornographic materials. But Kilvington et al (2001) argue that the majority of the population remain strongly censorious, and the moral attitude of the Dutch towards prostitution is not so different from that of other European countries. Hekma (2000) and Oosterhuis (1998) likewise argue that to work in prostitution is to face stigmatization, condemnation or pity from the Dutch public. However, the pragmatism characteristic of Dutch social policy has meant that the sex industry has been long regarded (like other undesirable social phenomena) as an activity whose impacts on society as a whole might best dealt with through pragmatic tolerance (van Doorninck et al., 1998). As such, while brothels were technically illegal in Dutch cities between 1911 and 2000, they only attracted the attention of the public prosecutor where obvious nuisance or exploitation has occurred. In the case of street prostitution, soliciting and purchasing sex has also been tolerated when it occurs in the designated and managed tippelzones that exist in major Dutch cities. This does not imply that the Dutch government has turned a ‘blind eye’ to sex work, or adopted a laissez faire attitude; rather it has identified prostitution as requiring particular attention because of the risks of exploitation and coercion which adhere to commercial sex, as well as the potential nuisances that might be caused to local communities by sex work.