CNN The red curtains are drawn, and the room is dark. It's closed for business. Correction: A previous version of this story misspelled Liesl Gerntholtz's name. Chat with us in Facebook Messenger. Find out what's happening in the world as it unfolds. Dark walls, with vibrant patterns in certain places, and a dark ceiling surround a dark bed coated in a protective sheet. A mirror the size of the bed lines the wall adjacent to it. A large bath sits in the middle of the room, with a sink nearby, and a tall red chair sits prominently in the corner.
The room mirrors many in the De Wallen region in central Amsterdam, home to the city's red light district, with this one regularly rented by a woman who uses the name Foxxy Angel professionally. She rents the room, often referred to as a window, from the Dutch sex workers collective My Red Light. Sex work has been legal in some form in the Netherlands since , but it was recognized as a legal profession in The year-old sex worker can be found here during the day, ready for clients, usually tourists.
A pull of the curtain string is all it takes to reveal the heaving crowds on the streets outside and to indicate that the room is open for business. I like to make money," said Angel, who has been in the business for more than 15 years. Amnesty International votes in support of decriminalizing sex trade. When her shift ends, she also sees clients in bars or clubs and goes on location for larger group experiences. But she's set an age limit of 45 before she moves on to focus more on her advocacy work, fighting for sex workers' rights; she's an ardent member of the Dutch Union of Sex Workers, also known as PROUD.
She's fighting because Amsterdam, she said, isn't as liberal for sex workers as many believe. In , a law made the job subject to municipal regulation, requiring a license to operate and following certain rules set by a municipality. Being a sex worker is legal in licensed areas, Angel explained. Foxxy Angel shows her tattooed knuckles. But she also wants the flexibility bestowed on other professions, she said, such as the option to work from home.
We need to have the same rights. A further issue, added Velvet December, advocacy coordinator for PROUD, is that municipalities in the Netherlands have the right to make their own legislation, so each can differ.
