Several setbacks have led the coalition governing the City of Amsterdam to delay its announcement of the final location for the proposed Erotic Center. The mayor and aldermen are set to make their preference between three sites known around mid-December, according to Parool. Mayor Femke Halsema said the announcement will not be made for at least six weeks because the city has had to spend additional time responding to issues related to the recent war between Israel and Hamas. Additionally, the death of Halsema’s father two weeks ago extended the delay.
Sex workers, business owners, and residents from De Wallen, the neighborhood in Amsterdam that includes the Red Light District, marched to City Hall on Thursday afternoon in protest against a proposal to shut dozens of windows used by sex workers. Instead, the city wants to open an erotic center outside of the city center with about a hundred placements for sex workers.
Femke Halsema wants another term as mayor of Amsterdam, she said in a letter to the municipal council, asking for reappointment. Halsema took office on 12 July 2018. Her six-year term ends next year. “Together with our city council, the aldermen, and all Amsterdam residents, I want to continue working for a free, undivided, safe and proud city,” Halsema said.
On Monday, Amsterdam’s night mayor, Freek Wallagh, presented an alternative to the city’s plan for an Erotic Center in Amsterdam-Zuid or -Noord. Instead of moving sex workers out of the Red Light District, Wallagh suggests creating more room for sex work on the edges of the city center.
The Amsterdam branch of the hospitality association KHN has joined the protest against the Dutch capital’s plans to close some window brothels in the Red Light District and open an Erotic Center. Catering entrepreneurs in the Red Light District are very worried about the plans, the trade association told De Telegraaf.