Amsterdam to clean up "Red Light" district

[Ban Hammer 14,287]

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - The city of Amsterdam announced plans Monday to clean up its infamous "red light" district to fight human trafficking, money laundering and drug abuse and replace prostitutes' windows with upmarket boutiques.

Amsterdam Mayor Job Cohen told a news conference he wanted to clamp down on the organized criminals whose growing influence has corrupted the historic city center.

"The romantic picture of the area is outdated if you see the abuses in the sex industry and that is why the council has to act," he said. "We don't want to get rid of prostitution but we do want to cut crime significantly."

Cohen said the city wanted to partially reverse the full legalization of prostitution introduced in the Netherlands in 2000 because it had not achieved its aim of bringing the profession out of the shadows and protecting sex workers.

The city wants to fight forced prostitution by clamping down on pimps and demanding that brothel owners, escort agencies and those who protect prostitutes apply for permits. It also wants the minimum age for prostitutes lifted to 21 from 18.

Prostitutes have plied their wares in the narrow alleys of the old center of Amsterdam for centuries. While they used to attract sailors and merchants in the city's heyday as the heart of a global trading empire, they are now a huge tourist draw.

Deputy mayor Lodewijk Asscher said the city wants to restore a number of historic buildings and reverse the decline of a large central area where brothels, sex clubs and the coffee shops that sell marijuana line the city's canals.

The neon-lit boudoirs that earn about 70 million euros ($100 million) a year should be limited to a few streets while drop-in centers for the homeless and drug addicts are relocated.

They will be replaced by chic apartments, upmarket shops, galleries and high-quality hotels and restaurants, Asscher said, adding that young fashion designers already plan to display their clothes in the windows of one former brothel from January.

TOURIST ATTRACTIONS

The city is not afraid of losing the "boorish Brits" who currently throng the 800-year-old district, he said, adding they should be replaced by tourists wanting to see its churches.

"It will always be an exciting city with more freedom and more tolerance than elsewhere in the world," Asscher said.

"There will be other tourists and maybe more tourists but if you go here as a tourist you don't have to feel embarrassed or ashamed about what you see. You can be assured that those prostitutes who remain are not working involuntarily."

While legalization was supposed to turn prostitutes into self-employed taxpayers who did not need pimps for protection, the city said the industry is still dominated by criminals attracted by the 370 euros each woman can earn a day.

It has already withdrawn permits from dozens of sex businesses it accuses of links with organized crime including the Yab Yum, which calls itself the world's most exclusive men's club and is fighting closure in the courts.

Mariska Majoor, a former prostitute who now runs an information center in the red light district, said the city's plans could force hundreds of women out of work or underground.

"Where should the women go?" she asked. "They are only talking about criminals and gangsters. We're talking about a legal profession here ... They completely ignore the hundreds of women who are working of their own free will."

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[MissStacey 1]

It's time to start a "Save the Hookers" campaign.

[SMOKE 1,426]

!@@#$%^&*()*&^%$#@!

now where am i going to take my vacation!

[Amby 490]

lol boorish brits

[Ban Hammer 14,287]

It's time to start a "Save the Hookers" campaign.

it's almaty to the rescue!

[almaty 19]

It's time to start a "Save the Hookers" campaign.

it's almaty to the rescue!

..f##k the dutch...especially the hookers

[Ban Hammer 14,287]

It's time to start a "Save the Hookers" campaign.

it's almaty to the rescue!

..f##k the dutch...especially the hookers

there's no need to fear, underwear man is here!

[peejay 327]

Clean up?

I guess it just further proves that "legalization" of vices isn't the success story that many people tout.

People usually begin to see why these vices were made illegal in the first place.

[mustang-sally 8]

I went to Amsterdam a few years ago, I didnt feel it offensive in any way. All the women had at least a bra and knickers on, in fact we had to laugh at a lot of them. Some were sat there knitting and others, well they didnt have matching underwear, looked like they got dressed in the dark !!!!

The shops and museum were more entertaining !!!!!!

What made me laugh was the 'live' sex shows. To a group of lads it was 'come see our live sex show!!!!!', to me and my hubbie (at the time) it was ' come see our family education show !!!' needless to say we didnt pay the equivalent of £40 to go in.

[sereia 0]

i went to the sex show there..we imagined it would be so sexy but it was the opposite! it was more of a joke than anything! there was a man in a gorilla suit with a strap on running around the theater and humping people...among other things. but it was a laugh, thats for sure!

i think they should clean this area up a bit. the article doesn't say to get rid of prostitution...but to help the rights of the woman who are possibly there as sex slaves.. peejay made a good point.

[Trompe le Monde 1,107]

is nothing sacred?

Still - the red light district after about 1am is like walking on to the set of the Thriller video