Last update:02 December 2024, 09:32 IST

Belgium decriminalized sex work in 2022, joining other countries that have taken a similar step, including Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey.

Protests in favor of labor rights for sex workers in 2022 | Image/Facebook@UTSOPI

Belgium has introduced a new law, the first of its kind in the world, recognizing the rights of sex workers and granting them access to health insurance, pensions, maternity leave and sick days, as no matter any other profession.

Belgium decriminalized sex work in 2022, joining other countries that have taken a similar step, including Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey. However, establishing labor rights and contracts for sex workers is a world first.

“This is radical and the best measure we have seen so far in the world. We need all countries to move in this direction,” Erin Kilbride, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, was quoted as saying by the BBC.

Sex workers welcome new law

Sex workers from all over Belgium, for whom this profession is a necessity, welcomed the new law and shared their struggle from the past, when such legislation did not exist.

“It’s an opportunity for us to exist as people,” said Sophie, a sex worker and mother of five who had no choice but to continue working into the ninth month of her pregnancy due to financial pressures, the BBC reported.

“I couldn’t afford to stop because I needed the money,” Sophie said, adding that her life would have been much easier if she had been entitled to maternity leave, paid by her employer.

Highlighting the importance of the new law, Victoria, president of the Belgian Union of Sex Workers (UTSOPI), said: “If there is no law and your work is illegal, there is no has no protocol to help you. This law gives people the tools to improve our safety. »

Victoria, who served as an escort for 12 years, said that before 2022, when sex work was illegal, she found herself in unsafe conditions, with no choice over who her clients were and her agency took a significant share of its income.

Recalling her struggles, Victoria told the BBC that she had once been raped by a customer. The situation became dramatic when she went to the police to report the incident. “She (the policewoman) told me that sex workers cannot be raped. She made me feel like it was my fault for doing this job,” Victoria said, adding that she left the station crying.

The landmark Belgian legislation took shape after 2022 protests sparked by the lack of state support for sex workers during the COVID-19 pandemic. It will come into force on December 1 and recognizes the rights of sex workers.