AMSTERDAM OFFICIALS AGREED TO CLOSE RED-LIGHT DISTRICT

The capital of the Netherlands may soon be left without one of its main attractions - the red-light district. The reason for this was the immoral behavior of visitors who come to famous brothels, leaving behind heaps of rubbish and dirt. The road signs with the words “Do not pee in the street” that appeared in the city center at the initiative of the local residents speak for themselves.

At the same time, experts also name the second reason, why the city authorities dared to change the image of Amsterdam. The pandemic has stopped the flow of tourists who came to see the sexy exotic: shop windows in brothels, numerous sex toy stores and the ability to legally buy marijuana.

As a result, the idea to move the entertainment area from the city center to the outskirts was put forward, although it has not yet been decided where exactly.

One of the most active initiators of the eviction of the priestesses of love to the outskirts of the city was the mayor of the city Femke Halsema. Even before her election as mayor, Halsema openly spoke about the fact that women working in the red light district were often condemned, humiliated and insulted. The first female mayor in the history of Amsterdam, then the head of the Green Party, she started to fight prostitution and the large-scale sale of cannabis.

The burgomaster managed to do a lot: to close a number of brothels and cafes selling marijuana, to ban mass guided tours around the district (since April last year). A special tax that a tourist needs to pay for an overnight stay in Amsterdam (€ 3 extra) was introduced.

However, the financial problem associated with the closing of the district is still quite acute.

According to rough estimates of analysts, the city budget may eventually miss about a third of the previous revenues.

Opinion polls show that about 11% of tourists who planned to visit the capital of the Netherlands will abandon their plans if the city loses its “walls”, as the locals call the district.

In previous years, the “walls” were visited by a thousand organized groups weekly - Amsterdam opened its doors to 20 million visitors every year. The guides who paid € 165.40 to the budget are left without their job, which means that they will need to undergo retraining.

Sex workers themselves are protesting against the decision of the city authorities, because their work is strictly adjusted. For a session from clients, which is usually measured per minute, the prostitute received up to € 100, paying a tax of 52% if her annual income exceeded € 54 thousand. In addition, the city used to make money by renting "windows", the cost of which was usually € 165 per night. It is known that the opponents of the decision to close the quarter have already created the Red-Light United NPO, through which they began to lobby for the interests of the industry.