Amsterdam's first female mayor set to end red light district 'human window displays'

Femke Halsema to combat ‘humiliation of women by large groups of tourists’

Amsterdam’s famous Red Light District windows displaying sex workers may soon be a thing of the past.

The city’s first female mayor, Femke Halsema, has vowed to address “the humiliation of women by large groups of tourists”.

Following a number of interviews with residents, business owners and the women themselves, Halsema deemed the practice of visitors gawping at the latter with no intention of paying for their services “unacceptable”.

The mayor has proposed several solutions to the issue, one of which would see the Netherlands capital’s 330 windows obscured by curtains.

“The traditional, licensed form of sex work in parts of the city centre is under pressure due to the growing number of visitors to Amsterdam,” Halsema told The Telegraph.

“For many visitors, the sex workers have become no more than an attraction to look at. In some cases this is accompanied by disruptive behaviour and a disrespectful attitude.

“At the same time, there has also been a major increase in unlicensed, invisible prostitution.”

Other proposals include closing some or all of the windows in the city centre and relocating them elsewhere, potentially into a sex work hotel.

Halsema will have further discussions with locals over the summer, with plans to present all the options to the city council, lawyers and finance team in September.

It follows Amsterdam’s decision to outlaw all tours of the Red Light District from 2020.

The Netherlands capital will also cap the number of people allowed on guided tours of the city’s medieval centre, which encompasses the red light district, at 15 per group.

The changes come into effect on 1 January next year and the ban includes pub crawls and guided walks.

“We do not consider it appropriate for tourists to leer at sex workers,” said deputy mayor Udo Kock in March.

He added that it was no longer appropriate to “see sex workers as a tourist attraction“.