Squatters against the Amsterdam Erotic Center plans: "We will sabotage every step"

Squatters have spent several days in former prostitution rooms during a protest action to draw attention to the relocation of sex workers in the Red Light District in Amsterdam. The reason for the action is the construction of a planned erotic center in the south of Amsterdam, which would displace the sex workers. The protest action is held in solidarity with the sex workers, according to the initiators.

On Thursday, January 19, the action started in the Red Light District. There, the activists occupied the former prostitution premises. They criticize the gentrification of the controversial district, which goes hand in hand with the construction of the erotic center, which is supported by Mayor Femke Halsema. Several groups, especially sex workers, have been criticizing the actions of the Amsterdam city council for some time.

If we let the mayor have his way, the Red Light District will soon look just like the Nine Streets: a clean shopping center for people with money," says the squatter. "We do not accept that, and that is why we will sabotage every step taken towards the erotic center," one of the squatters told local broadcast AT5.

The rooms of the building where sex workers practiced a while ago have been empty for two years. The squat aims to transform the empty building into a meeting place for sex workers, AT5 reports.

It is not yet clear whether the action will be successful. However, the squatters have not yet been evicted as they have not yet been caught. That usually requires a report from the owner, and that report is then reviewed by the prosecutor's office, according to the local broadcaster.