II SÉRIE-D — NÚMERO 9

20

Current situation, legislation and policies

1. Prostitution as such has never been a criminal offence in the Netherlands, provided it was voluntary and

that no minors were involved. Brothels were illegal until 1 October 2000, when articles 250bis and 432 were

removed from the Criminal Code and the ban on brothels and pimping lifted. It is now legal to run a business

where men or women over the age of consent are voluntarily employed as sex workers.

2. Trafficking was already illegal before the ban on brothels was lifted, and it was the work of the police and

the Public Prosecution Service to combat it. Protocols, policy plans and special guidelines to tackle trafficking in

women associated with prostitution were already in place. More recently, Dutch police forces have formed

specialist teams against human trafficking.

3. The law on regulation of prostitution and prevention of abuses in the sex industry currently in force makes

licences compulsory, so as to standardise policy across different municipalities. Sex clubs, brothels and escort

services may operate as legal businesses.

4. A 2008 report of the KLPD, the national police, states that 50% to 90% of the women in licensed

prostitution work involuntarily. The report describes the case of two criminals convicted for trafficking and

exploiting more than 100 women in the Netherlands and neighbouring countries. One of the alarming aspects

of the case was that all the sex workers involved in the Netherlands worked in licensed and tax-paying brothels.

5. Many underage victims in the Netherlands are exploited by human traffickers known as ‘loverboys’. This

term is usually used to refer to a generally young human trafficker who seduces vulnerable young girls and

persuades them to work as prostitutes for him. The Minister of Justice has introduced the term ‘pimp boy’ in this

context in an attempt to remove any possible misunderstanding about the nature of this form of human

trafficking.

6. In 1997, at an EU ministerial conference on trafficking, the so-called Hague Declaration was adopted.

One of the recommendations in this Declaration was to appoint national rapporteurs. Corinne Dettmeijer is

currently the Dutch National Rapporteur on Trafficking in Human Beings. She was appointed on 1 October

2006.

7. The responsibility for keeping a national register of (presumed) trafficked persons falls upon the

Coordination Centre for Human Trafficking (COMENSHA), the former Foundation against trafficking in women.

Only registered trafficked persons are entitled to support and advice from national service providers.

8. The legalisation approach seems to be losing ground in the Netherlands, as shown by the evolution of

policies in the main cities. In 2006 the Mayor of Amsterdam, Lodewijk Asscher, refused to renew the licences of

37 prostitution firms in the red-light district. Tippelzones, the areas designated by the public authorities for

prostitution, have been closed down in Rotterdam and The Hague, and so have one third of window brothels in

Amsterdam.

10. In 2013, the city of Amsterdam introduced new regulations on prostitution. Legal age for prostitution was

brought from 18 to 21. Brothels are now forced to remain closed between four and nine in the morning.

Prostitutes have to pass language tests and do shorter shifts. Brothel keepers have an obligation to produce

business plans demonstrating how they protect their workers’ health and safety.

11. Last year, Amsterdam’s Mayor announced Project 1012, a regeneration project aimed at “giving the city

back to its inhabitants”. Under the city plans, prostitution would be reduced to just two zones, Oude Nieuwstraat

and Oudezidjs Achterburgwal, reducing the supply by roughly 50 percent. Red Light District zones along Singel

canal and Spuistraat would be shut down. In addition, all windows (in which sex workers put themselves on

display) around the Old Church would be forced to close. There wouldl also be a 50 percent reduction in the

number of coffee-shops in the 1012 district, which represents a decrease of 17 percent city-wide.

Main findings and issues raised during the visit

1 – The Netherlands has just adopted new legislation to transpose the EU directive against trafficking

(Directive 2011/36/EU of the European Parliament and of the Council on preventing and combating trafficking

in human beings and protecting its victims).

2 – EUROPOL supports national police forces by collecting and analysing information on criminal activities

and subsequently sharing it. The data they shared during the visit is in line with that provided by all the other