Sex workers and residents of Amsterdam came out to protest against the relocation of the “red-light district” outside the city center, NL Times reports.
Sex workers, business owners, and residents of De Wallen, Amsterdam’s red-light district, took to the streets and marched to City Hall to protest a proposal to move the popular tourist spot from the city center to another area.
Residents of the Nord and Zuida districts, where the authorities plan to open a new erotic quarter, also opposed such a relocation.
Arriving at the city hall, the protesters presented their “Manifesto for the Preservation of the Red Light District” to five city council members.
According to the sex workers, they are not against the municipality’s intention to reduce the crowds of tourists in the central part of the city, but, in their opinion, this should not happen only at the expense of relocating the “moths”. They insist on developing a comprehensive plan that will generally make the new location of the priestesses of love attractive to foreigners, including through other entertainment.
“This debate is not about the neighborhood, but about the city, not about prostitution, but about tourism. This requires a future-oriented vision for the development of the city. For an Amsterdam that everyone can be proud of,” the protest organizer told an Amsterdam TV channel.
By the way, red-light streets appeared along with the birth of the city itself. When Amsterdam was just a dam on the Amstel River, red lanterns already hung on brothels near the port in a part of the city called Wallen.