Two of the oldest streets in the Hague, have the dubious reputation of offering the cheapest rates for sex work in the Netherlands. Shireen Poyck, lobbyist and long-time resident of the Hague old town has spent over 20 years campaigning for the removal of the Red Light district from her neighbourhood. During this time, she has come to believe that legalization of sex work is not the answer. Local authorities have offered few workable solutions to a problem that no one wants on their doorstep.
‘Doubletstraat looks very small but is in fact very big’ Shireen Poyck tells me, more than a little wryly. This is one of the two streets in the Hague that is dedicated to the sex trade. Doubletstraat and Geleenstraat contain many brothels, women are displayed in windows and attract thousands of Johns every day. ‘It’s like an IKEA but without the parking spaces!’ says Poyck. This long time resident of the old town has spent years campaigning to have these streets closed down. This Red Light district, like the one in Amsterdam and other Dutch cities attracts drugs, vandalism, high volumes of traffic, noise and general disruption of the peace. As a member of the residents committee of this neighbourhood, Shireen has regularly lobbied the city council for action, to little avail.
‘Do we move it or do we stop it?’ – Shireen Poyck
Yet the kind of action Shireen Poyck now hopes for, is not what it was 20 years ago. Initially a supporter of the legalisation of sex work, Poyck explains that her own first hand experience of living with legalised prostitution has changed her mind. ‘Do we move it or do we stop it?’ she wonders. Certainly the current working conditions are very bad. Small, unsafe, dirty rooms used mostly by migrant women working for pimps who are answerable to no one. As a resident of the old town neighbourhood, Shireen wants them out. But as a concerned citizen she also wants to be sure that the move will mean better working conditions for the women involved.
Each year, the municipality conducts research into the matter and each year, it is agreed that working conditions in the Red Light district are unacceptable. Last year, plans for an erotic centre on the outskirts of the Hague, near the Binkhorst, were drawn up. The centre would include medical facilities, law enforcement, banks and other necessary conveniences. However there has been push back from those living in this area and the municipality has cited unresolved issues around building permits and funding as obstacles to its realisation. ‘Nobody wants these people near them. So what does the municipality do – nothing!’ Shireen tells me, in exasperation.
‘I’ve totally changed my mind!’ – Shireen Poyck
At heart, the issue seems to be the inescapable fact that sex work is unlike other forms of employment. In spite of largely liberal attitudes toward it and its legalization here in the Netherlands, there is still a stigma attached to the oldest profession in the world. Sex workers are reluctant to register publicly with the local municipality. They are also not afforded the same rights when it comes to sick leave, holiday leave and pensions as others working in service industries. Legalisation has not changed many of the age-old structures that have shaped this industry for centuries.
Many, including Shireen, thought that when the industry was legalised in 2001, it would mean more independence for the women involved. This is not the case. There are many layers to this industry. The brothel owners or managers, who are legal and rent rooms or houses from a landlord. There are also the pimps, who are illegal, they are often involved in the trafficking of migrant women. It was hoped that legalisation would help eliminate the pimps but this has not happened. ‘I was one of the first to say legalisation is a good idea. But now I’ve totally changed my mind!’ admits Shireen.
Legalisation has empowered the wrong people.
The reality for this long-time lobbyist is that legalisation has empowered those who ‘make big money off the women involved’. It has not had the desired effect of empowering the sex workers themselves as independent service providers. ‘And now people say, it’s legal, what’s the problem?’ says Shireen. She admits that when she asks those in favour of legalisation if they would be comfortable with their daughter or sister becoming a sex worker, the answer is invariably negative. ‘They don’t like my remark and they don’t like the idea’.
She tells me about Dutch artist, Saskia Tannemaat, who became famous in the Netherlands for her portraits of the women working on Doubletstraat in the Hague’s Red Light district. Tannemaat gained the confidence of those she painted and many shared their stories with her. ‘They are terrible stories’ says Shireen, with feeling. ‘Stories of mistreatment, coercion, of a desperate desire to escape’.
‘ This street makes millions’ – Shireen Poyck
Money too is an important part of this complex problem. The business of prostitution generates large amounts of revenue – ‘this street makes millions’, Shireen assures me. But little goes to the sex workers. The issue of poverty and those drawn into this work because of it, makes the problem both local and global. Human trafficking and prostitution often go hand-in-hand. Shireen agrees that this is what makes the problem so difficult to deal with at a local level. Ideally support needs to be provided for the vulnerable at source – education, training, opportunities for a better life. If there are other options made available to these women, then you can ask them ‘Do you still want to be a prostitute on Doubletstraat in the Hague?’ maintains Shireen. ‘And they will say, ‘no!’
Nordic model?
Perhaps the biggest concern for Shireen is what she describes as a lack of energy and enthusiasm to further discuss this long-running issue among stakeholders. This might mean having to admit that the 20 year experiment with legalisation has largely failed. ‘Legalisation of sex work wasn’t thought through properly’, admits Shireen, ‘it was a dream’.
Is it time to consider the Nordic model? First introduced by Sweden 20 years ago, it criminalises prostitution and makes the buying of sex illegal. Studies show that this approach results in a decline of demand for prostitution. Shrinking demand has resulted in a corresponding reduction in supply. This ultimately lowers the volume of the sex trade more generally. With such an approach the Red Light districts, famous for the women displayed in their windows, might finally become a relic of the past.