A'dam scraps early closing time for sex workers in new setback for anti-nuisance policy

Amsterdam has decided to scrap the earlier closing times for sex workers in the Red Light District. From this weekend, they can work until 6:00 a.m. again. Last year, the city imposed a 3:00 a.m. closing time on sex workers in an attempt to reduce crowds and nuisance in the area, but it did not have the desired effect. It is yet another setback for Amsterdam’s policy to reduce tourism and crowds in the city center.

At the end of December, Mayor Femke Halsema informed the city council that the earlier closing times had more negative effects on sex workers than it had a positive impact on crowds in the Red Light District. Sex workers suffered a “significant loss” loss of income, a study of the measure showed. It also entailed safety risks - sex workers were often the only ones left in the Red Light District when closing and going home at 3:00 a.m., making them vulnerable to attack. The city council, therfore, asked the mayor to reverse the measure as soon as possible, Parool reports.

The city also imposed earlier closing times on catering establishments in the Red Light District. Since April 1 last year, they have to close at 2:00 a.m. on weekends instead of 4:00 a.m. The research showed that catering entrepreneurs adhere to the rules but also experience a loss of income. Despite this, their earlier closing times will not be reversed. The study showed that these earlier closing times significantly reduced crowds in the Red Light District - by 12 percent between midnight and 2:00 a.m., by 30 percent between 2:00 a.m. and 3:00 a.m., and by no less than 63 percent between 3:00 a.m. and 5:00 a.m.

In the past few years, Amsterdam has taken many measures to try to reduce crowds and nuisance in the Red Light District. Some of these policies and plans have drawn fierce criticism. Plans to move sex workers out of the Red Light District and into an erotic center on the Europaboulevard, for example, drew the ire of sex workers and local residents alike. Last month, squatters spent several days in former prostitution rooms in the Red Light District to show solidarity with sex workers who don’t want to move.

Other measures had less effect than hoped. A “Stay Away” campaign aimed at young party tourists from the United Kingdom did not yield significant results, Halsema informed the city council in November, eight months after implementing the marketing campaign. Locals also reported not seeing much impact from the “blow verbod” - a ban on smoking cannabis on the streets in the Red Light District.

An annual survey by municipal research agency O&S showed last month that many locals experience the city center as dirtier and more crowded.

Alderman Sofyan Mbarki (City Center Approach) recently acknowledged that Amsterdam residents aren’t experiencing much improvement from the measures to improve the quality of life in the city center. He said that “bigger steps” are needed to achieve the “transformation,” Parool reported. Mbarki did not elaborate on these steps.

He did say he would expand the Stay Away campaign to also show German, French, and Dutch party tourists what kind of tourists Amsterdam does not want.