Thursday, 25 July 2013 - 08:31
Prostitution Boats Utrecht Close
Prostitution boats at the Utrecht Zandpad have to close on Thirsday. Window Operator Wegra had asked the court in Utrecht to come back on the decision of the municipality to close the boats. However, the administrative judge rejected that request.
The boats have to be closed on Thursday morning at 9:00am because Wegra would be involved in human trafficking. For the same reason Utrecht closed previously boats of two other operators.
The closure of the boats puts 200 women out of a job. At Wegra about 28 jobs are at risk.
The municipality indicated that a former manager of Wegra is a suspect in a human trafficking case. The judge decided that the work of the manager, fell under the responsibility of Wegra. "The municipality has been able to substantiate that there is sufficient evidence of trafficking," said a statement from the court.
Emotional
The women feel very bad, "says lawyer Will Post, which represents the interests of the prostitutes. "The emotions are running high. Where should they go?" According to Post, they lost their confidence in politicians.
Post expects that Thursday morning the emotions will run high when the prostitutes have to gather their things from the boats. Several prostitutes have announced that they will demonstrate on Thursday afternoon at the Utrecht city hall.
Cees Jobben of Wegra is also disappointed. "The judge has chosen the route of the mayor. We expected that the court would also take into account the 230 which are now out of work.