Prostitute Windows In Amsterdam’s Red Light District Are To Be Closed
Filed under: News | By: Lucy
Posted on: September 21, 2007 | 5 Comments
The Red Light District in Amsterdam in probably the most famous Red Light District in the world. Tourists flock their to see (and sample) the delights the city has to offer and the memory of their stag do in Amsterdam will replay fondly on many married men’s minds. It seems that Amsterdam wants to cleanup it’s image and many of the windows used by prostitutes in the city are set to close.
The authorities say that the brother windows, used by working girls to advertise, are a magnet for crime and money laundering. The Mayor, Job Cohen, said the move was not intended to get rid of prostitution entirely, since it is part of the area’s history and a major tourist draw for the city.
A public housing corporation has bought 18 buildings - with 51 windows- for almost £20 million. That is around a third of the windows in the red light district, although there are other prostitution zones in the city.
Mayor Cohen said, “We don’t know yet what’s going to come in their place. We’re very busy making a development plan, and we hope to have that ready by the end of the year.”
Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands and coffee shops are licensed to sell small amounts of marijuana - I suppose this all helps the Red Light District’s laid back attitude.
However, behind the sex shows, the district is a magnet for petty crimes and human traffickers, drug lords and mafia organisations, so the authorities believe.
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I spent a week in Amsterdam for the first time in 2007. I had noguide and didnt need one as i found the people there to be very helpful. Had the most amazing time there and the locals where incredible too.! The history was amazin as i do art myself which was a bonus for me. It was almost like livin in history. People there were very laid back and the coffie shops were great and had many different musical and articulate themes to them which i loved. I dont smoke in the uk but there i did and it was an experience i wont 4get.! But there is one thing missing which is i would had come to know and find out any of these things in Amsterdam if it not for me being lured to the city by the knowledge i knew about the red lights district. If it not for that i would had nether had come to this country at all and experience all the other beauty this country has.! The red lights is a good thing because at the end of the day it doesnt force alotof women in the uk to the dangerous streets. As long as sex is controlled there is nothing i see wrong at all. People die everyday in the uk because of unprotected sex, drunken sex etc. Sexual diseases are on the rise all the time in uk. I think many countries who share our problem in the uk should take a leaf out of Amsterdam and Holland as a country.
The red light and coffie shops are a good sellin point at the end of the day and itsbeen in your history for so long it would be a shame for the country and tourist alike if these things change.!
Take it from me if things change i wouldnt had write this as i wouldnt had really known or cared to know history or what not from the country. Red light district is why i have so i say keep it going and improve it more to keep drug lords out and happy faces in. Thankyou.!
Its true that the red light district is in a beautiful area of Amsterdam. I have been living and working as a social worker there for the past year and a half. Unfortunately I think what you may miss as a tourist is the pain and suffering that goes on behind the windows. The district is a glamorous and it depicts exactly what you want to believe…that beautiful girls are making money and people are able to pay for sex without having to feel bad about it. However you should know that a majority of the women in the district are controlled to some extent by pimps, some live in horrible conditions, some have been trafficked and are literally sex slaves. I have spoken to many prostitutes and only come across a handful that would say they enjoy their job and feel good about what they do. Many struggle just to make it, and sure there are a few who make loads of money…but that isn’t the norm. It is an emotionally exhausting job and one that few sign up for of free will in my opinion. Sex is not controlled like you think…there are girls every day who are abused behind the windows, who are not allowed proper nourishment and food, and some who have been killed and raped by clients, pimps, mafia groups. Don’t believe just what you see but take a second glance behind the glamour of the windows and maybe you will see a different picture!
I watchd a film that had human trafficing and if i had my ways i would shoot down people that do this to girls .i am sure if the world would feel the same way .if you participate in this its lik you rapeing your own mother sister and wife
Is it a real picture of the Red light districh what you showed? I live in Amsterdam and I don’t remember something like that
this is wrong why would somebody do this to a woman i doubt that is a real picture but you never know its sick just so people can get money why dont the goverment just give them some whats the difference its just paper that gets printed of GOD !