Green light for Amsterdam’s red light district

Amsterdam’s famed red light district reopened after a long shutdown, with sex workers and clients having to observe new rules to prevent infection.

The Netherlands ordered all brothels closed in mid-March and had originally planned to keep them shut until September, but recently brought the date forward as Covid-19 cases dropped.

“It feels very good” to be back at work, said Felicia Anna, a 34-yearold Romanian sex worker in the Amsterdam red light district and chairperson of the Red Light United trade union.

“During the lockdown, a lot of sex workers ran into financial trouble so we’re very happy that we can finally start our job again,” said she.

Anna said there were fears that there would be fewer clients, since many of them are tourists and the Netherlands still has a travel ban on many countries.

“But I did ask some of my colleagues and so far they said that the work is quite okay.”

“I’m totally booked” said Foxxy, a sex worker and activist at the Prostitution Information Center in Amsterdam.

While less restrictive than other countries, the Netherlands’ “intelligent lockdown” emptied the red neon-lit, street-front windows from which many of Amsterdam’s prostitutes normally beckon customers.

Now they are reopening but, as with Dutch hairdressers and masseurs which have already been allowed to resume operations, sex workers are encouraged to verify that their clients do not have Covid19 symptoms.

“Before I make an appointment, I have to check with the client if they’re feeling okay and if they don’t have any of the symptoms, or if any of their housemates has symptoms,” Foxxy said.

Other measures include “disinfection and washing the hands, cleaning the sheets after every appointment. Those are the basic needs. But we don’t need to wear any face masks during the playdates, thank God.”

She added that “most of us will avoid face to face, so no kissing”.

Felicia Anna said that “after the customer leaves the room, we’re going to disinfect everything he might have touched, bed, sink, the toilet if he used the toilet, the doorknobs, everything.”

But she said that sex workers were already well versed in hygiene, adding: “We already dealt with much bigger diseases than corona.”