Bad economy forces prostitutes to lower prices


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Amsterdam?s famous  red-light district under threat, economic crisis on the one hand and lawmakers are proposing changes to the sex-for-hire industry following a recognition in the freewheeling Netherlands

The economic crisis is forcing prostitutes to lower their prices and to accept dubious sexual practices, according to sector organisation Geisha.

?The trend is apparent in the main cities, with some prostitutes unable to pay the rent on their rooms?, Ilonka Stakelborough from Geisha told Algemeen Dagblad.

Until recently, the minimum price was ?50, but this has now dropped as low as ?20 in cities such as Amsterdam and The Hague.

Geisha is to set up a project for sex workers so they can form a co-operative. Geisha will rent a room which prostitutes only pay rent for when they are actually working.

But things could soon change for the sex-for-hire industry following a recognition in the freewheeling Netherlands that its decision in 2000 to legalize brothels has failed to stem human trafficking.

?For something as simple as the lust for sex, we are tolerating modern-day slavery,? said Myrthe Hilkens, a Labor Party legislator who supports a series of moves to tighten the rules on prostitution. ?I think that cannot be.?

The proposals are far-reaching. Most contested is a bill to require all prostitutes be registered with the government?a measure that has already been approved by the lower house but is struggling in the Senate.

Also in the works: raising the minimum age to 21 from 18, and a requirement that escort services be licensed, just as brothels currently are.

A vote is expected before the summer recess on July 9.

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Until recently, the minimum price was ?50, but this has now dropped as low as ?20 in cities such as Amsterdam and The Hague.

 

Bad news for them but good news for the customers. 

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