Amsterdam residents to demonstrate against proposed erotic center in Noord

A demonstration is scheduled for Monday evening in Amsterdam-Noord at the site proposed for a new erotic center. The gathering at the NDSM-werf will bring together residents of Amsterdam-Noord, as well as stakeholders from the Amsterdam Red Light District and residents of Amsterdam-Zuid.

The municipality also has two potential locations in mind for the erotic center in Amsterdam-Zuid. Amsterdam Mayor Femke Halsema is expected to announce this week whether and where the erotic center, with space for a hundred sex workers, will be established.

"We remain opposed to a large-scale mega-brothel wherever it may be located and want the plan to be redrawn. We seek a solution that is supported by the residents, sex workers, and business owners of the Red Light District," said the protest organizers. "To proceed with the plan is an insult to the residents, district councilors, district committees, sex workers, and other stakeholders who have sufficiently argued why the erotic center is a bad idea." The demonstration is set to start at 8:00 p.m.

The proposed erotic center is intended to replace some of the windows in the Red Light District. According to the mayor and the coalition of aldermen, this will improve the position of sex workers, reduce congestion and nuisance in the Red Light District, and combat crime.

The announcement of the erotic center has led to protests over the past few months. In October, hundreds of local residents, business owners, and sex workers from the Amsterdam Red Light District demonstrated against relocating the window brothels.

A broad alliance of forty businesses, educational and cultural institutions, residents' associations, and interest groups has also been formed. In September, they submitted a petition against the erotic center to the mayor, which has been signed thousands of times.