‘Erotic prison’ mega brothel planned for Amsterdam is blasted by prostitutes

A planned mega brothel in Amsterdam has been blown up by local prostitutes and labeled an ‘erotic prison’.

The five-storey building is expected to have 100 prostitution windows, as well as entertainment and erotica areas that will provide safe working conditions for prostitutes.

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema even supported the plans and in December 2023 suggested the affluent Zuid district, an area in the south of the city, as a suitable location for the building, according to local media.

But sex workers described the planned brothel as an ‘erotic prison’ during a public discussion about the building application by the municipality of Amsterdam.

A speaker at the meeting said: ‘Sex workers have been moved from doorways to windows… and now to a segregated center, pushed to the edge of the city, out of sight, out of mind. Keep your laws off our bodies and no erotic prisons.’

A planned mega-brothel in Amsterdam has been blown up by local prostitutes and branded an ‘erotic prison’ (file image of the city’s red light district)

Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema even supported the plans and in December 2023 suggested the affluent Zuid district, an area in the south of the city, as a suitable location for the building, according to local media (file image)

More than 40 people spoke out against the proposal, with some comparing the potential mega-brothel to a 16th century ‘spinning mill’, which would label those who work there as ‘fallen women’.

Amsterdam’s red light district is located in the city center in De Wallen, but sex workers were concerned that building a new erotic center further outside the center would mean they would be more stigmatized.

“A prostitution window on the street is very different from a prostitution window in a closed erotic center,” said former sex worker Mariska Majoor in the council meeting, according to a report. Dutch news report.

‘The location is dark at night. There will be more stigma and more danger…I’m afraid people with nefarious plans will be waiting for them on the trails.”

She also raised concerns about the safety of the prostitutes who would work in the new building, saying the solution was to build “smaller” and “safer” workplaces.

Local residents in the South district fear that a mega brothel would bring more crime to the area, for example through drug dealers who are attracted to the ‘party location’.

Other speakers called the plans ‘megalomaniac’, an ‘ego trip’ and a poor use of resources to move a hundred prostitution windows from the red light district elsewhere.

Only seven people spoke in favor of the proposal, including a male sex worker named Richard Jones, who said the mega-brothel would create more work space for minority sex workers.

He said these sex workers were currently working from their own homes or visiting clients, which is a major safety risk they have to take due to a lack of safer spaces.

Another resident who spoke positively about the plans said the mega brothel would ‘refresh’ the area which is now just a tourist den.

The plans, which appeared on the Moke Architects website in December 2020, show that visitors can pass the sex workers, caterers and live shows via spiral ramps.

The city council is working on a new policy regarding prostitution after renewed noise complaints about misbehaving tourists visiting the red light district in the center of Amsterdam.

In two weeks, councilors will vote on the mega brothel plans.

The municipality of Amsterdam has been considering moving legal prostitution from the historic red light district for years and in February last year announced three possible locations for the five-storey Erotic Center.

The city plans to eventually close the century-old Red Light District, known for the neon-lit windows where sex workers stand as they try to lure customers.

Local residents have long complained about the quality of life in the area, which attracts large numbers of tourists.

Two are located near the new headquarters of the European Medicines Agency – which moved to Amsterdam in 2019 after leaving London after Brexit – close to major hotels and the city’s financial district.

The agency said in a statement last March that it was “concerned” about plans for the center, which includes about 100 “workplaces” for sex workers, as well as bars and entertainment venues.

“The change in the location of the Red Light District is prompted by concerns about nuisance, drug dealing, drunkenness and disorderly behaviour,” the EMA said in a statement.

‘Locating the Erotic Center in close proximity to the EMA building is likely to have the same negative impact on the adjacent area.’

“EMA is very concerned that this will lead to safety, security and disruption issues” for its staff and for visiting delegates, who often have to leave late in the evening, the regulator said in a statement.

“The change in the location of the red light district is prompted by concerns about public nuisance, drug dealing, drunkenness and disorderly behaviour,” the report said.

‘Locating the Erotic Center in close proximity to the EMA building is likely to have the same negative impact on the adjacent area.’

Amsterdam plans to eventually close its century-old Red Light District, the Red Light District, known for the neon-lit windows in which sex workers stand as they try to lure customers (file image)

The EMA said at the time that it would work with the European Commission in Brussels, the EU’s executive arm, to take the matter to the “highest appropriate political and diplomatic level to ensure a safe working environment.”

The watchdog added that it had only heard about the proposals through local media reports and “expected to be consulted”.

Two of the three proposed sites for the huge new brothel are close to the EMA’s high-tech headquarters in a business district on the southern edge of Amsterdam.

The once low-key agency played a key role during the coronavirus pandemic, approving vaccines as the disease swept the world and then allaying concerns about possible side effects.

“The work of the EMA is essential for the protection of public health in the EU, and this should not be compromised by the fear of staff and EU experts coming to the EMA building,” the report said.