Prostitution in the Netherlands

Prostitution in the Netherlands is legal and regulated. Operating a brothel is also legal. In the last few years, a significant number of brothels and "windows" have been closed because of suspected criminal activity. De Wallen, the largest and best-known red-light district in Amsterdam, is a destination for international sex tourism.

As with other countries, estimates regarding the total number of prostitutes vary. Most sources place this number between 15,000 and 30,000.

An article published in 1997 in the International Encyclopedia of Sexuality claimed that the total number of prostitutes in the Netherlands was about 15,000 to 20,000. CATW has stated that there were 30,000 prostitutes in the Netherlands, citing "Sex tax Ticks off Dutch," Associated Press, 14 October 1997. According to Radio Netherlands, in 1999, there were estimated to be 25,000 prostitutes in the Netherlands, with 12,500 working at any one time at a total of 6,000 locations.

A later study by the Dutch Ministry of Foreign Affairs in 2000 estimated that there were a total of between 20,000 and 25,000 prostitutes in the Netherlands.

Around 90% of sex workers are estimated to be female, 5% male and 5% transgender.

In the 1970s, the majority of foreign prostitutes were from Thailand, in the 1980s from Latin America and the Caribbean. After the fall of the Berlin Wall, many prostitutes came from Central and Eastern Europe. No more than one third were Dutch nationals, the remainder representing 44 nationalities. The majority were from the Dominican Republic, Colombia, the Czech Republic and Poland.

An article written by Marie-Victoire Louis in Le Monde diplomatique in 1997, claimed that 80% of prostitutes in Amsterdam were foreigners and 70% had no immigration papers (but did not quote the source). A Dutch report released in June 1999 estimated that two thirds of prostitutes were foreigners.

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