- Belgium has become the first country to grant prostitutes labor rights
- Sex workers will be able to save a pension and collect health insurance
- They have also been given the right to mediate conflicts with pimps.
Belgium has become the first country in the world to pass a labor law giving prostitutes new rights, including access to pensions, health insurance and maternity leave.
The new law, ratified on Friday, allows sex workers to sign employment contracts with pimps that give them access to rights they did not previously have, despite the legalization of the world’s oldest profession in 2022.
They also have access to family and unemployment benefits, as well as annual leave rights, and the new law gives them the right to terminate their contract without notice.
In addition to benefits, the law provides prostitutes with protection from work-related problems and requires pimps to adhere to strict working conditions.
Sex workers now have the right to refuse clients and sexual acts at any time, and can refuse to sit behind Amsterdam-style windows or advertise if they believe there is a risk to their safety.
The new law, ratified on Friday, allows sex workers to sign employment contracts with pimps that give them access to rights they did not have before (File image)
Sex workers also have access to family and unemployment benefits, as well as annual leave rights (File image)
However, if a sex worker decides to exercise these rights more than ten times in six months, the sex worker or pimp can request that a government-backed mediator come and resolve disputes.
The pimp, however, cannot fire his employee if he decides to exercise his right of refusal.
Pimps must also be registered with the government and meet strict criteria if they want an official license to run brothels.
They cannot have been previously convicted of crimes such as voyeurism, sexual assault, prostitution abuse, extortion or murder, among others.
If approved, pimps must provide panic buttons in rooms, or provide a remote panic button if their work takes them outside of a normal institution, and unions must be allowed access to workplaces throughout. moment.
If a sex worker decides to exercise her right to refuse more than ten times in six months, she or the pimp can request that a government-backed mediator come and resolve disputes.
If a sex worker wishes to leave the industry, she can do so anonymously.
If a sex worker wishes to leave the industry, she can do so anonymously. Contracts signed by sex workers will be provided under the same title as those given to restaurant and hotel workers.
While other countries, including New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands, have legally recognized sex work, nowhere else in the world is it afforded the same protections.
The law was approved with 93 votes in favor, 33 abstentions and no votes against.
UTSOPI, Belgium’s sex workers union, said new policies still need to be developed.
‘New laws can be misused to fight sex work. We already see certain municipalities hiding behind the words “safety” and “hygiene” to enact very strict local regulations that make sex work almost impossible in their territory.
“We must ensure that new laws benefit all sex workers and do not become a policy of persecution of the most vulnerable sex workers.”
