The campaigners (pictured at a demonstration in Brussels in 2005) have spent decades lobbying Belgian politicians to change the law. Photo: JACQUES COLLET/AFP
Belgium became the first country in the world to pass a labor law on employment contracts for sex workers.
According to the law, if a prostitute refuses a client more than 10 times within six months, the pimp may provoke the intervention of a government intermediary, but cannot fire the employee.
It also entitles sex workers to health insurance, pensions, unemployment and family benefits, vacation and maternity leave.
< p>“This law is a world first. I can’t stress enough how important this is,” said Daan Bauwens, representative of UTSOPI, the Belgian sex workers’ union.
“With this model, Belgium really shows that it is committed to protecting sex workers, regardless of any moral judgments people may have about the profession,” he told the Brussels Times.
He added: “We hope this may lead to a reversal of the recent trend of client criminalization in Europe.
“We hope that other countries will copy this text, as they have done on topics such as same-sex marriage, abortion, euthanasia and transgender rights.”
The law makes it legal to conclude labor contracts with prostitutes after Belgium became the first country in Europe to decriminalize sex work for the self-employed in 2022.
It provides certain rights to employees and conditions to their employer. These include the right to refuse a client or sexual intercourse, and the right to interrupt sexual intercourse at any time without fear of dismissal or punishment.
Sex workers also have the right to perform sexual intercourse as they wish, and refuse to sit behind Amsterdam-style windows, which are also used in Belgium, or advertise if their safety is at risk.
Invoking any of these rights more than 10 times in six months may result in the worker or employer calling the government mediation service.
Sex workers can also terminate their contract at any time without notice and do so. do not lose the right to unemployment benefits upon dismissal.
The anonymity of workers will be protected as the contracts will be under the same heading as those for hospitality workers in the restaurant and hotel sector. This is so that they can apply for other jobs without fear of discrimination.
Registered pimp offices
The law does not apply to porn actors, strippers or webcam performers.
Pimps must have registered office in Belgium and apply for approval before they can offer contracts.
Approval will be denied if they have convictions for crimes including sexual assault, murder, extortion, abuse of sex workers or voyeurism.
They must provide the sex worker with a panic button, which must be located in the room where sexual services are provided or transferred if the worker is traveling to visit a client.
The employer must also ensure that sex workers have access to a person responsible for their safety, as well as access to trade unions and support organizations. to brothels always.
Other countries, such as New Zealand, Germany and the Netherlands, recognized sex work before Belgium, but never created a comparable legal framework.
The Belgian parliament approved the law After several years of lobbying by sex workers, on Friday there were 93 votes in favor, 33 abstentions and no votes against.
The next step will be the finalization of three decrees on the practical aspects of the procedure for recognizing employers, rules on the size of premises, hygiene labor and the maximum number of sex workers per room, as well as a government mediation service.
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