Once used as a stop over for sailors, the port city of Amsterdam is now a stag party hot spot.

Hundreds of sex tourists arrive every week and head immediately to the Red Light District, bypassing the Van Gogh museum, canal tours and the Anne Frank House.

It's true, a trip to Amsterdam today would not be complete without a stroll down the Oudezijds Achterburgwal, meandering through the narrow canals laden with sex toy and porn shops, checking out the red lit windows and the scantily-clad women who work them.

But what led-up to Amsterdam becoming this sex industry centre and what rights are extended to those who work in this profitable tourism draw?

The birth of the sex scene

Prostitution in the Netherlands has been legal for more than a century. Napoleon made it official in 1815 in an effort to control STDs. And the commercial sex scene has been thriving ever since.

Generally accepted by the Dutch who tend to 'live and let live,' taxing prostitution was introduced in 1996.

It is unknown precisely how much the Dutch government collects from the estimated one to two billion euro industry but financial experts have calculated that if all sex workers and brothel owners paid tax, the government would rake in almost 450 million euros annually.

Although selling sex is legal, soliciting and living off the avails of prostitution (running a bordello or being a pimp) has always been illegal despite the dubious affiliations.

There are upwards of 25,000 prostitutes working in the Netherlands and more than half are illegal immigrants according to the Prostitute's Foundation, the Rode Draad (Red Thread).

Until October 2000, a blind eye was cast on the more than 2000 Dutch bordellos, if they were within the red light districts and adhered to strict fire, health and safety standards.

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