Belgium became the first nation in the world to permit sex workers to sign formal employment contracts — giving them access to such benefits as sick days, annual vacation, maternity pay, and a pension — when a law came into effect on Sunday, NPR has reported.
The new law, which was passed in May, also enshrines fundamental rights for sex workers such as refusing clients and setting the conditions of an act, including stopping at any moment.
"I am a very proud Belgium sex worker right now," Mel Meliciousss, who is part of the Belgian union of sex workers, UTSOPI, said on her Instagram. "People who are already working in the industry will be much more protect[ed], and also people who are going to work in the industry also know what their rights are."
Two years ago the Belgian parliament voted to decriminalize sex work and narrow the definition of pimping to ensure that sex workers do not have trouble finding a banker, insurer, driver, or accountant, according to UTSOPI.
The new law goes even farther and gives sex workers labor rights and protections similar to those in other professions.
Employers must now get authorization, meet background requirements and are also required to make sure their premises are sanitary and equipped with a panic button. Employees are also forbidden from firing an employee who refuses a client or a specific act, NPR reported.
However, these protections are only given to sex workers who sign an employment contract, and not those who are self employed. In addition, those who do pornography or striptease are also not covered by the law.
New Zealand, the Netherlands, and some parts of Australia are the only other places where sex work has been decriminalized, but Belgium is alone in offering the new level of comprehensive labor protections.
Critics slammed the new provisions as normalizing a "violent" profession that leads to human trafficking, sexual exploitation and abuse, but brothel owners disagreed, the New York Post reported.
"I think many businesses will have to shut down because a lot of employers have a criminal record," said Kris Reekmans, who employs 15 sex workers at his massage parlor. "I hope the bad employers will be shut down and the good people who want to do this profession honestly will stay — and the more the better."
Brian Freeman ✉
Brian Freeman, a Newsmax writer based in Israel, has more than three decades writing and editing about culture and politics for newspapers, online and television.
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