1945

Prostitution in the Netherlands: Amsterdam, Rotterdam and The Hague

Over the centuries, Dutch officials have developed what is referred to as gedogen towards prostitutes and spaces for prostitution, a type of attitude which “involves self-regulation, enforced if necessary through administrative rules, but always with the criminal law as a threat in the background”, as explained by Brants (1998). Before 2000 and the legalization of prostitutes and brothel keeping, prostitution in Dutch cities was neither forbidden nor officially allowed: solicitation practices in open spaces, brothels and even procuring (though legally forbidden since 1911) could be found on the streets and taverns of the main cities. Excess, however, was condemned: disorderly behaviour, drunkenness and forced prostitution of minors were periodically sought out and sentenced by the municipal or regional courts. That attitude towards prostitution combined the law and judicial practice with temperance: even when brothels became illegal after 1911, brothel-like establishments opened their doors and continued offering paid sexual transactions, with the police well aware of their existence.

Related Subject(s): Migration ; Women and Gender Issues
Countries: Netherlands
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