Belgium.- The Belgian Parliament recently approved labor legislation for sex workers, a decision that makes the European country the first in the world to offer guarantees and protection to those who engage in this practice.
With 93 votes in favor, 33 abstentions and 0 votes against, the law allows prostitutes to work under an employment contract, which guarantees access to social Security (pensions, benefits, healthcare, vacations, etc.) and protection against professional risks, details the newspaper The Brussels Times.
“Our country has put aside certain objections and moral questions to realistically address sex work, to give rights and protection of workers“, stated in dialogue with the media Daan Bauwens, spokesperson for the Belgian Union of Sex Workers (Utsopi).
Conditions and restrictions
At the same time, the legislation imposes conditions and restrictions on employers, which, in Bauwens’ opinion, limits the possibility of exploitation. Thus, those who have previous convictions for human trafficking, child prostitution, kidnapping and robbery, extortion and fraud, among other crimes, cannot be pimps. Furthermore, as Utsopi explains, they are obliged to designate a person for the security of the sex worker and make a “alarm button” for emergency cases.
Sex workers have right to refuse a client, abstain from a sexual act or interrupt it at any time. Likewise, they may refuse to sit behind a display case or advertise if there are dangers to their safety. If a worker wants to assert this right, he is protected against dismissal or other types of retaliation by his employer. However, if a sex worker exercises the right to refuse more than 10 times in a six-month period, Both you and your employer can seek the intervention of a government mediation service.
Voices against
This labor law was the ‘pending step’ for Belgium after becoming the first country in Europe to decriminalize sex workin March 2022. Utsopi considers it a “historic” step in the battle for the people who dedicate themselves to this work and highlights that, unlike other countries that have also recognized sex work, a “framework” had never been developed “specific legal”.
However, some anti-sexual exploitation activists have opposed this new legislation. Andrea Heinz, defender of the abolition of prostitution, assures that there are “few possibilities” that this decision “favors women.”
“Under full legalization/decriminalization, pimps become ‘managers’ with the support of the State to further consolidate and maintain its power. Pimps see the women they sell as products, not as people who deserve full dignity and respect,” Heinz wrote last week on the social network X, where she describes herself as a former prostitute turned activist.
Meanwhile, Bauwens assures that the law prevents sex workers from continuing to be legally discriminated against, but that the policy development later. “We must guarantee that the new laws benefit all sex workers and do not become a policy of persecution against the most vulnerable,” he said.
Source: RT
