Do all good things really come to an end? It seems the above might ring true for Amsterdam’s infamous “De Wallen” area (commonly known as the city’s world-famous Red Light District). A new “erotic center” is set to take the “cabins”–those windowed booths that display the city’s various prostitutes to passersby—to a remote spot. Amsterdam’s mayor, Femke Halsema, has worked tirelessly, most recently trying to get the oldest profession out of the area, which she says is littered with tourists who abuse and gawk at the girls. Halsema also wants only Dutch residents allowed in the city’s nearly 200 marijuana-selling “coffee shops.” Kill-joy. When I strolled through the De Wallen (of course only for research), I remember passing by it a couple of times before realizing I had walked right on by. The thing is, the area feels more like an outdoor boardwalk scene; the water, open-air bars, tons of people milling about, twinkly lights. And until it gets dark and you can see the red lights from the prostitute’s windows reflecting off the canal water, you won’t realize it’s anything but a busy street.
And this is a city is filled with canals and busy streets.
Yes, the girls are out there, with lots of themselves ‘out there.’ But what I had read about and certainly saw every few steps or so, was a big burly dude at the ready right around or above a bunch of cabins. I knew him to be the bodyguard for the prostitutes in his charge, and if one of his girls’ hit a buzzer located in her booth, the guy would come running. There were also lots of police in the area. Since prostitution is legal in the city, they step in when the girls get in trouble. Opposition to the mayor’s relocation comes from the Red Light United Group, the D66 party, and the Greens, Labour, and the Socialist Party. These groups are also against the new regulations on coffee shops. In a city as wide open and liberal as Amsterdam is, it seems odd that anyone would try to keep tourists, pot smokers, random fuckers, or anybody else from what this wonderful city is so known for.
Kommentarer