If it were up to Mayor Halsema, the erotic center would come at the Europaboulevard in South. The mayor just announced this in a letter to the city council. The mayor has been waiting anxiously for months for the final preferred location to be announced.
Three locations were still in the picture for the new location for sex workers, two in the South and one in the North. According to the mayor, the Europaboulevard in South is the most suitable location. According to Halsema, research and discussions with stakeholders show that this location is ‘the most promising and has the fewest disadvantages’.
Reducing nuisance in the Red Light District
The erotic center should provide space for about a hundred sex workers and is intended to reduce nuisance in the Red Light District. According to the mayor, the situation in the red-light district is no longer sustainable, and residents of the Red Light District have also been calling for measures to improve the quality of life for years. According to the mayor the center must be a place ‘where sexuality, eroticism, diversity and inclusivity are welcomed and celebrated’. There will also be catering, entertainment and culture in the building.
There has been a lot of commotion about the plans for a year now. In the remaining neighborhoods on the shortlist (around the Rai in South and the NDSM wharf in North) there were well-attended and heated information meetings. Many local residents are not looking forward to the arrival of such a center in their neighborhood; they fear unsafe situations, nuisance and traffic congestion.
“Let’s just say what it really is,” said one commenter the meeting in the Rai“It will be a mega-large brothel with a hundred tendon rooms. It would be the largest brothel in Europe. And that will be full of schools here in our neighborhood. My daughter goes to primary school here. It is truly incredible.” Both district councils also issued negative recommendations.
There was even a Monster Alliance was founded against the arrival of the erotic center of very diverse groups such as business associations, sports clubs and residents. Instead of an erotic center, the association would rather see the city council tackle the problems in the Red Light District itself.
Many sex workers also see no point in setting up an erotic center and prefer to continue working in the Red Light District. “We want to do something about the problems in the area,” protesting sex workers said earlier. “Do something about the drug dealers and the disrespectful behavior. Relocating us is not a solution.” They think they can work more safely in the Red Light District than in the newly established center.
But of course there are also supporters of the plans. See like this many LGBTIQ+ sex workers such a center as a more inclusive and safer workplace. Some of the Red Light District residents, united in the Stop the Madness action group, are also in favor and hope that by reducing the number of windows, the neighborhood will become more liveable.
A majority of the municipal council supports the arrival of an erotic center in principle – it is also in the coalition agreement of PvdA, GroenLinks and D66 – but there are still many questions about the location and what that means for the realization of the plans. Halsema’s plans will be discussed in the council early next year.
Last week, AT5 made this overview of the history of the erotic center:
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