Amsterdam is unique among most places on the planet, not only for their laws and allowances, but also in how they treat people.
After spending a few weeks in Amsterdam the summer I turned 21, I had questions. There was so much that happened in this city that would be completely unheard of in my home country of the United States. As the US is slowly starting to come around to some Amsterdam-esque laws regarding recreational drug use, I wanted to know if we’d ever start looking at sex workers in a similar light. What I can remember of the famous Red Light District was a bit hazy, so I decided it was time to return to this amazing city.
And here I sit, as one of Amsterdam escort girls, ready to answer every single question I have, except for the one about her real name.
The Real Life of Amsterdam Escort Girls
“Even in Amsterdam, sex workers have pseudonyms.” Says Tonya* as she takes a moment to straighten a stack of books on the coffee table in front of us. While I can’t argue that it’s a good practice, not using personally identifying details when you’re selling such a highly emotive product, it does seem to be counter intuitive to the Dutch way of doing things. The Dutch, on top of being incredible, friendly, warm, and very welcoming, are probably the most straight forward, no-nonsense, candid people I have ever met. Where their brusque and blatant honesty can sometimes catch even an American by surprise— why would a Dutch sex worker lie about her name?
“It’s for the tourists.” she laughs. Tonya explains that most natives treat her with a sort of benign disinterest. Even clients. “I think that is what makes being an escort in Amsterdam so much fun? You have these clients who are happy to see you, and happy to have their experiences with you, and then they are happy to act as though they have never heard of you before.” More than that, because she pays taxes, and her career is considered legitimate by legislators, she has a bank account, owns a home, and exists in a way that most people would consider normal.
“I think that compared to other places, or what I have seen in movies, being an escort in Amsterdam is not as wild or extreme as you would see elsewhere. We are companions, paid to provide company that is comfortable and comforting. We get regular medical care, we have many representative organizations, we also have many informational shops where anyone can go in and ask questions about prostitution here— how it works, what the workers think of it.”
Red Light vs. Amsterdam Escorting
More than just the banal life admin aspects of the job, Tonya says that Amsterdam has clearly defined roles for it’s sex workers— who they can be, what they can do, and where they can sell. All rules which are in place to try and keep the profession safe from trafficking and abuse.
“Of course it’s not a perfect career, the laws aren’t perfect by any means. But they do help, and the police seem to try and enforce them in such way that it is difficult to be an underage girl, or someone brought here illegally, and work as a sex worker.” This is largely because all sex workers must supply proof of age and legal right to work before they can begin working. This is accelerated by the fact that escorts and prostitutes can only operate within certain conditions and in certain places.”
Tonya describes the difference between prositution and escorting services. Prostitutes are only allowed to operate inside of the Red Light District, as street prostitution elsewhere is strictly forbidden. Most work out of brothels or gentlemen’s clubs in the area. Escorts on the other hand are allowed to advertise online and in print, working for agencies or independently. Then we can provide in-call and out-call services, overnight stays or weekend companionships. Which all allow us to operate outside of the red light district, but still within pretty defined roles.”
It’s Not Perfect, But It’s Mine
All of this got me thinking, is this how escorts and prostitutes— sex workers at large— should be treated the world over? Even at first glance, Amsterdam’s red light district seems clean and orderly, none of the women that my eyes wandered passed seemed to have that classic American “prostitute look”. You know the one, it just screams drug addiction, Daddy issues, and an abusive pimp. On the contrary, every sex worker (both men and women) that I saw seemed to appear healthy, relatively happy (if not on occasion bored), but other than that it seemed, superficially at least, like a better system. I put these thoughts to Tonya.
“Well, I think it is a nice system. It’s not perfect by any means, but it treats me and most of the people I know, well. As to whether it should appear in the same way in other countries, I don’t know. I don’t live in those countries. I know that our system works very well here. And I’m grateful for that. It allows us, escorts and prostitutes, a choice, a living wage. Homes. Healthcare.”
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