Gender , Racism , Human Rights. The Netherlands. As a warm summer evening begins to creep into the blue sky, the local neighborhood is bustling with affluent women comparing purchases outside boutique clothing shops, map-wielding tourists taking in the sights, and locals lounging with a glass of wine along the canals. Their impassive eyes fall on bodies contorted to display erotic silhouettes and expressions of femininity painted on faces with a heavy hand. The natural beauty of these woman giving way to an articulation of male fantasy and desire.
Barely registering what he or she has seen, casual spectators move on with their business as though nothing remarkable has occurred. What began as an inquiry into common business practices quickly evolved into an exploration of how ethnic identity shapes the prostitution sector.
The candid access the workers and clients in De Wallen provided allows us to see the subtle ethnic profiling and racisms that nuance sex work in Amsterdam. How is racial identity linked to prostitution in the Netherlands? How might a Dutch or non-Dutch identity affect the relationships sex workers have with men, with pimps, and with each other?
How does ethnicity interface with the Project initiative? Finding answers in an industry entrenched in secrecy is not easy, but can applicable answers to our questions be found? Here we aim to create a space to discuss the consequences of racism in the Netherlands for the seen, but often unheard, sex worker community, and illustrate how a racially nuanced view of prostitution in Amsterdam might improve future plans for De Wallen.
The government held the view that brothels undermined the morality of the people. An understanding of how legal prostitution has developed in the Netherlands is critical to understand the contemporary industry in Amsterdam.
