Angry over the city’s decision to close a number of sex businesses, brothel owners in the Amsterdam’s booming red light district are fighting back by taking the city council to court.
According to a recent BBC report, the city council is demanding the closure of 33 brothels by the end of the year. If successful, this will account for around a third of the district's sex businesses.
The prostitutes’ union Red Thread told the BBC that the move will force many women to work illegally. Brothel owners said they will go to the highest court to save a third of the windows in Amsterdam's famous red light district from disappearing.
Amsterdam's mayor, Job Cohen, told reporters that the closures are due to what he calls “criminal activity, such as women trafficking and money laundering.”
But Red Thread, which represents 20,000 prostitutes, countered that closing legal brothels will force many women onto the streets.
The city council has suggested that banks play a more important role in funding sex business than private creditors. According to the report, the city believes that with proper paperwork for registered brothels and prostitutes, banking could have a positive effect on the fight against crime in Amsterdam’s sex industry.
