Sharp increase in illegal sex work in the Netherlands

Illegal sex work is increasing massively in the Netherlands as more and more sex workers offer their services in homes, hotels, and massage parlors, AD reports. Authorities are concerned about exploitation.

According to the Scientific Research and Documentation Center (WODC), some 27,000 unique sex work advertisements were posted online in 2021. Only “a very small proportion” showed indications that the sex workers involved had a permit to offer the services. No older figures are available. However, the number of licensed sex businesses decreased by almost half between 2000 and 2014, indicating a shift, according to the newspaper.

The shift makes supervision and enforcement incredibly challenging, if not impossible. Sex workers offer services on many different platforms, and there are many duplicate advertisements, making it nearly impossible to keep track of exactly how many sex workers are working without a permit. And that increases the risk of exploitation, according to the National Rapporteur on Human Trafficking.

The municipality of The Hauge has seen enormous growth in the unlicensed sex industry in the city for a few years now, especially since the pandemic, when sex work was severely restricted to prevent the coronavirus spreading.

The Hague has plans to phase out window brothels in the city. However, several local politicians are worried that this will only create more illegal sex work. “Because more and more safe workplaces are disappearing, sex workers are forced to work in the unlicensed sector,” Kim Vrolijk of the local party Haagse Stadspartij told the newspaper.

Vrolijk herself works as a sex worker. “And the chance is minimal that sex workers will stop working when the windows are closed. That means there is mainly a shift taking place. And this also means that sex workers disappear from the picture of aid and interest groups. There is more insecurity: licensed places have good access to emergency services in case of any problems.”