topics
tools
Expatica countries
Index Last Var.(%)
BEL 20 2270.63 -0.42
DAX 6788.8 0.59
IBEX 30 8902.1 0.60
CAC 40 3424.71 0.43
FTSE 100 5895.47 0.33
AEX 325.12 -0.06
DJIA 12890.46 0.05
Nasdaq 2927.23 0.39
FTSE MIB 16653.83 -0.09
TSX Composite 12497.94 -0.18
ASX 4330.9 -0.60
Hang seng 20888.68 -0.58
Straits Times 2972.47 -0.29
ISEQ 20 503.71 0.33
You are here: Home News Dutch News Utrecht clamps down on prostitution

Dutch News

archive
Enlarge font Decrease font Text size


31/10/2008Utrecht clamps down on prostitution

Zandpad will be placed under camera surveillance to help combat sex trafficking.

31 October 2008

UTRECHT – The city of Utrecht plans to clean up prostitution after strong indications that most women are forced into working the streets.

The entire area of Zandpad in the city will be placed under CCTV surveillance in an effort to tackle the trafficking of women, says Utrecht Mayor Aleid Wolfsen.

“If women are abused or exploited, filming the area, and knowing which pimps are connected to which women, will increase our opportunities to help the women."

Wolfsen said that two independent studies had concluded that between 50 and 90 per cent of the women working in the Utrecht prostitution zones were not doing so voluntarily.

On Zandpad Street alone, some 900 prostitutes are working in 140 prostitution venues, housed in typical Dutch houseboats along the Vecht river.

Prostitution itself is legal in the Netherlands, with companies operating brothels being required to obtain a licence before they can open for business.

Brothels are required to list individual sex workers as employees. It is a bureaucratic procedure, which doesn't provide the authorities with information on whether or not the women were employed voluntarily.

Wolfsen hopes to change the law by requiring individual prostitutes to apply for a licence themselves.

Police, the courts and health care workers will exchange more information in the future.

Utrecht does not want to go as far as Amsterdam and Alkmaar, where many red light area premises have been closed.

[dpa / Radio Netherlands / Expatica]


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment

General rating: Not rated yet

Rate article:    Add my rating


0 reactions to this article

Be the first person to add a comment
Discussion Forums

Legal Problems in the Netherlands

KM partner can be treated as EU memeber in paying tuition fee?

Student Forum The Netherlands

Uni fees - questions

Legal Problems in the Netherlands

Problem with Internet Provider

Legal Problems in the Netherlands

KM -> PR -> Citizenship

Legal Problems in the Netherlands

Stopping Naturalisation Process

participate in the forums

Inside Expatica
Setting up home in the Netherlands

Setting up home in the Netherlands

A guide to telephone, internet and television along with utility services water, electricity and gas in the Netherlands.

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Dutch immigration and residency regulations

Lost in the Dutch immigration system? Look no further than this guide compiled for our Survival Guide 2012.

A brief introduction to the Netherlands

A brief introduction to the Netherlands

Expatica offers a whistle-stop tour of life in the modern Netherlands.

Giving birth in the Netherlands

Giving birth in the Netherlands

The challenges and benefits of the maternity system in the Netherlands and how it differs to other countries.