"The country is rich and the people are prostitutes, and there are no prostitutes, and they are not rich" is a fallacy that circulates among the people, which means that after the country is rich and the people are rich, they begin to be full of lust and lust, and want to get more satisfaction and have fun in "that aspect", so it gave birth to the great development of the industry.
A low-lying country in Western Europe is a prime example of this, and when we think of a place where the sex industry is legalized, we will definitely think of the "red light district", and when we think of the "red light district", we will naturally think of the country with the highest degree of sexual openness: the Netherlands.
An old and long-standing rigid demand industry: the sex service industry
As we all know, physiological needs are the most basic instinctive needs of people, so the sex service industry can be said to be the oldest industry in the world. In the ruins of Pompeii thousands of years ago, the roads would be paved with stone bricks, which would then point to the local brothels in an interesting way; In the mainland, there is an ancient poem "Spring Breeze Ten Miles Yangzhou Road", strictly speaking, it refers to Yangzhou's "red light district".
In the history of mankind, things related to wind and moon and eroticism have always been sensitive topics, and they have always been in a gray area, which cannot be stifled, but it is also difficult to get into the hall of elegance.
As for the sex industry, it will be strictly banned by the state, at least it will not encourage the development of this "special economy", but the wildfires are inexhaustible, the spring breeze blows and grows, people are human after all, how can any policy, regime, organization completely suppress and strangle the nature of people?
Therefore, the sex industry has always existed, not in the light but in the dark. As we all know, there is exploitation where there are people, and sex workers who work for a variety of reasons are actually exploited by brothels, bustards, pimps, etc., who treat their bodies as commodities but do not receive the corresponding return and value.
On the one hand, more and more attention has been paid to the protection of human rights, and sex workers are also human beings, and the problem of their exploitation should be regulated and solved; On the other hand, social ethos and ideas are constantly opening up, and many people feel that working in the sex industry is not a big deal, it is purely a personal choice.
There are even many people who have no worries about food and clothing and "go to the sea" to work purely out of interest. Together, these two changes have led to the legalization of the sex industry, spearheaded by the Netherlands, which we are introducing today.
Legalizing the sex industry: a moral balance that is helpless
Since the Netherlands officially became a country in 1463, it has been known for its open, pluralistic and inclusive atmosphere, and in the past Europe, artists and thinkers who were denounced as heretics often went to the Netherlands for refuge, which led to the great development of Dutch ideology and culture, and also made such a small country as Huizinha, Descartes, Grotius, Spinoza, Erasmus and others.
This belief in diversity and inclusion has continued into modern times, which is why the Netherlands is arguably the most sexually open in Europe.
At the same time, however, Western Europe is heavily influenced by Catholicism and Christianity, and conservative forces have always had a strong social base, and these conservative forces oppose premarital sex and advocate abstinence from desire.
On the one hand, it is inclusive and open, and on the other hand, it is conservative and conservative; On the one hand, there is the ancient industry, and on the other hand, there is a strict dogma. The sex industry in the Netherlands has been in this state for a long time, sex workers are exploited, squeezed, and metabolized from generation to generation.
There are also only a handful of laws and regulations related to it. Since 1830, sexual activity that is voluntary and does not involve minors has been legal, until in 1911, the Netherlands outlawed brothels in order to protect prostitutes from exploitation, but in practice this prohibition was never enforced, and only when there was a violation of the law, it was interfered with.
Finally, in the second half of the twentieth century after World War II, there were rounds of sexual liberation movements in the world, and the people's ideas became more and more enlightened, their ideas became more and more avant-garde, and the attitude of the government and the people towards the sex industry became more and more inclusive and humane.
In order to better address the real problems and protect the rights and interests of practitioners, the Dutch parliament passed a bill on the legalization of brothels in 1999, which came into effect on 1 October 2000. The Netherlands has finally become the first to eat crabs: legalizing the sex industry.
The elephant in the room - the bill to legalize brothels, why did the Netherlands pass it?
The law on the legalization of brothels passed in 2000 strengthened the Government's management and control of pornography, for example by restricting the location of business establishments to ensure that nearby residents were not disturbed; In addition, the law regulates the size of the premises, fire protection measures and hygienic conditions: for example, brothels must be equipped with alarm buttons, condoms and hot and cold water.
At the same time, law enforcement officials have stepped up their efforts to crack down on crimes such as forcing prostitutes, allowing minors to sell themselves, and trafficking in prostitutes. It is worth noting that no matter whether it is strictly prohibited or liberalized, illegal or legal, the sex trade of minors is always a red line that cannot be stepped on.
The lifting of the ban on brothels in 2000 was a very avant-garde move at the time, and many people saw the lifting of the ban as the first step in the standardized management of brothels, but in fact, there were also deep economic and cultural reasons behind it.
First of all, the sex industry is an important source of GDP and an important support for the economy. According to the New York Times, the sex industry in the Netherlands grew by 25% in the last decade of the 20th century and accounted for 5% of the national economy at the beginning of the century; In 2005, Germany's tax revenue on the industry amounted to 6 billion euros, which is equivalent to opening another Porsche company. Even the female executive of the Dutch Central Bank was exposed to provide "sexual abuse services" in her spare time in order to stimulate and increase income, charging as much as 3,000 yuan per hour.
The large-scale development of the sex industry has a strong promotion effect on the tourism industry that cannot be ignored, and the driving effect on employment is self-evident. The Netherlands is already a big tourist country, so the legalization of the sex industry has become an inevitable development in terms of economic development.
Second, culturally, the legalization of the sex industry means that there is a moral balance between open and conservative forces. In the multi-party coalition government of the Netherlands, the Christian Democratic Union, the largest political party, advocates the preservation of traditional values and morals, and the party enjoys a greater voice in the coalition government.
It is precisely because of the openness of ideas, because of the acceptance of the people, and because of the concessions of conservative forces that the bill to legalize brothels can be successfully passed, which is actually a milestone in the development of inclusive culture in the Netherlands, and an inevitable historical development.
Of course, some people think that the ultimate beneficiaries of the scaling of the sex industry and the legalization of brothels are the brothel owners and prostitutes. After all, after the law is liberalized, prostitutes can swagger into the service place, and related industries can usher in explosive growth.
For example, in early 2007, Charlie Gertz's business covered one-third of the 360 windows in Amsterdam's red-light district, with a total turnover of several million and a net profit of more than one million euros all year round.
The legalization of the sex industry has actually created a group of wealthy people, but do these people include sex workers? No. Have the rights of sex workers been realised? This brings us to our next question.
Is the legalization of brothels and the legalization of the sex industry really a good medicine?
On 17 May 2017, Amsterdam's "Municipal Brothel" was officially opened, an act by sex workers to unite to defend their rights.
Since the legalisation of prostitutes in the Netherlands in 2000, the government has wanted to create a "clean" sex industry where sex workers can earn money without pimps. However, the result did not go as expected, and many organized money laundering, human trafficking and other crimes were spawned in the red light district.
In order to combat organized crime in the red-light district, the city of Amsterdam began closing some of De Wallen's shop windows in 2007. As the number of shop windows decreases and rents rise, some landlords exploit prostitutes – charging them even when they don't work. With the new scheme, the city of Amsterdam wants to free prostitutes from extortion by pimps and landlords. Because the mayor of Amsterdam, Van der Lahn, has been actively promoting new projects, the Dutch jokingly call the project a "municipal brothel".
It is true that the legalization of the sex industry has disadvantages and advantages, and is a double-edged sword for social development.
The data shows that countries that have legalized the sex industry have seen a decline in sexual violence crimes; The level of social health has improved; Economic development has added new momentum.
At the same time, however, the legalization of the sex industry has brought about a great deal of organized crime. Statistics show that the number of people infected with sexually transmitted diseases and AIDS due to prostitution in European countries is as high as 15% of the total number of patients; a large number of sex workers have been threatened with violence; Nearly half of the drug deal is done in the red light district; Every year, 500,000 women are trafficked illegally into Europe.
In the face of all kinds of chaos, the Netherlands, Germany and other countries have to restrict the development of red light districts, provide help and rent support for sex workers, and truly achieve the effect of helping fundamentally, and finally let sex workers live a new life, so that those who are willing to stay can be regulated and protected by the law.
The legalization of the sex industry has gradually gone through a process of underground covert development→ legal crazy expansion→ standardized and rational development.
Treating the symptoms is more important than the root cause: the journey of legalizing the sex industry in the Netherlands has taught us
The mainland is a socialist country, and under the socialist system, prostitution is illegal. Even though there are many liberals who have been calling for the legalization of the sex industry for many years, look at the lessons of the past, given our huge population and social size, how much chaos will be bred if the sex industry is liberalized?
In fact, solving the problem of sexual violence and improving the health level of society can be achieved by improving the law, developing more scientific and rational sex education, and improving medical insurance.