Red Light Districts (RLDs) of Belgium

In Belgium, policies regarding sex work and prostitution are decided at the local, rather than national, level. Both Brussel’s and Antwerp’s red-light districts (RLDs) are single-use, meaning they’re removed from the center of the city, like Zone Galáctica, and mostly cater to local clientele. Both districts are host to window prostitution, which Ronald Weitzer calls a hybrid of indoor and outdoor prostitution, visible from the street but conducted within a building.[1] Workers themselves rent the rooms, deciding when to work and their rates. The two cities’ red-light districts provide a unique intra-national comparison, offering insight into how distinct municipalities differ on the management of their RLD.

Paradise Bar at Aarschotstraat / Rue d'Aerschot 12 in Brussels's red light district, George, 2012, Amsterdam Red Light District.

Brussels

The red-light district of Brussels is located in one of the poorest areas of the city, a neighborhood characterized by graffiti, litter, abandoned buildings and broken windows. There is a limited police presence in the area which is instead largely under the control of pimps and madams. The sex workers keep about half their earnings and they work closely with madams who rent the rooms from the owner. Beyond being just a general presence, madams deal with payment, notify workers when time is up and deal with unruly clients. The women work 8-12 hour shifts, often sharing the window rooms with a few other women, all of whom live outside the district.[2]

Blue Lagoon at Aarschotstraat / Rue d'Aerschot 72 in Brussels's red light district, Belgium, George, 2012, Amsterdam Red Light District.

Unlike in other cities, the windows in these rooms do not open. Clients drive slowly down the street, looking at the women in the windows and communicating nonverbally. Once they settle on a worker to engage with, the client enters the room, gives the woman payment and a tip for the madam and has a 15-20 minute sexual encounter. Unlike those in Antwerp, the rooms in most Brussels RLD are separated merely by a curtain, rather than a wall, preventing emotional connections and in some ways, keeping the women safer.[3]

Photo of 't Schipperskwartier, Antwerp's red light district, Belgium, George, 2008-2013, Amsterdam Red Light District.

Antwerp

Antwerp’s long history of visible prostitution due to it being a major port led the city to adopt a response plan in the 1990s. The plan restricted prostitution to the current RLD in order to reduce public nuisances and organized crime and (due to prostitute’s rights organizations involvement) improve conditions of the workers.[4] Owners of RLD buildings are required to apply for permits and they are closely monitored by city officials. While this has reduced a significant amount of crime, pimps do still exist in the Antwerp RLD.

The district is restricted to pedestrians and is kept clean and quiet, partially because of police surveillance (though the police station itself is usually unstaffed and is primarily symbolic). Dan Bilefsky, writing for the Wall Street Journal, notes that the local authorities say that in the first four years after its establishment, the zone had helped bring prostitution-related crime down 44 percent but also adds that illegal prostitutes still outnumbered those working legally within the zone at the time of writing.[5] In addition, Weitzer claims that for the most part, public complaints have stopped. The women work closely together without madams in single-occupancy rooms without bars or couches.[6]

Villa Tinto Sign, Amaury Henderick, 11/21/13, Business Insider.

Villa Tinto, considered “Europe’s most high-tech brothel,” showcases the modern innovations that can blossom in regulated zones. The brothel, designed with consultation from a committee of prostitutes, boasts biometric technology, room sensors, and elaborate lighting. Bilefsky writes:

Ms. Maes and other prostitutes say they appreciate the high-tech security. In case of trouble from clients, she can press a panic button next to her bed, which calls police and triggers a red flashing light in the brothel's control room. "In the old days I worked in a place where you were lucky if the electricity worked and I feared for my life," says Ms. Maes, a mother of two, who says she turned to prostitution from waitressing because it is lucrative and offers flexible hours. "If something should happen to me and I turn up dead tomorrow -- the technology here means that police will know exactly who I am." Before she could rent a room, Ms. Maes agreed to three rounds of biometric fingerprinting and handed over her passport to police.[7]

Ms. Maes’ testimony makes clear some of the advantages of working in authorized brothels, especially one as high-tech as Villa Tinto. Yet, Bilefsky later shares the story of a prostitute who was badly beaten by a pimp while working inside the zone, and was too scared to file a complaint.[8]