Belgium Adds Historic Protections for Sex Workers
In a historic first, Belgium has created a law ensuring labor rights for sex workers, entitling them to formal employment contracts. Under the new law, which goes into effect Sunday, December 8, sex workers may benefit from many of the standard conditions of employment such as maternity leave, sick days and pensions, but the law also takes a large step forward in creating safer work environments for sex workers. Workers will have the fundamental rights to refuse clients, choose their practices, and stop an act at any moment, according to the Associated Press.
Sex work has experienced decriminalization in a number of countries in recent years, such as Germany and the Netherlands, but lack of protections for sex workers remains widespread even in these places. In the United States, the nature of sex work legislation has also been subject to criticisms that the Stop Enabling Sex Traffickers Act and the Fight Online Sex Trafficking Act, passed in 2018 with bipartisan support, may have caused sex workers harm by eliminating online platforms where sex workers had previously screened clients.
Decriminalization of sex work, however, has several positive outcomes, particularly when countries enact wholesale decriminalization versus the “Nordic model” or the end-demand approach, which decriminalizes the sale of, but not the purchasing of sex, according to research conducted by the American Civil Liberties Union. Among the findings, studies showed that decriminalization led to an increase of safety for sex workers, including a decrease in violence against sex workers from clients and police.
Similarly, criminalization of sex work has disproportionate effects on marginalized communities, including immigrants, people of color, and LGBTQ+ people, especially transgender women. Decriminalization, especially in Belgium’s case, can also lead to an increase in healthcare access and an increase in effective STI prevention, though conflicting opinions remain on whether decriminalization increases trafficking, according to the ACLU’s findings.
Photo courtesy of the Associated Press
