EXCLUSIVE. Madame Louise runs the only legal brothel with staff in Flanders: “The inspectorate suddenly raided with six officers. They don’t do that at illegal brothels”

A. That is the total number of brothels in Flanders that organize prostitution according to the new Belgian law. Eighteen months after its introduction, the sector is not following suit, namely that one Madame Louise who gives the sex workers who work for her a real employment contract, health insurance, pension rights and compensation for commuting. And so Louise now finds herself alone against a billion-dollar business of hidden prostitution and undeclared work. “I feel exploited… by the system,” says Louise, who opens the doors of her brothel for HLN once for a candid conversation.

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