Netherlands wants to register prostitutes, raise minimum age
Posted: Fri 16th Apr 2010 06:01 am
Netherlands wants to register prostitutes, raise minimum age
15/04/2010
Prostitutes in the Netherlands should in future be at least 21 years old and carry a pass with their photo and a special registration number, says a law amendment filed in parliament on Thursday.
"People of 21 are better able than people of 18 to make a well-considered decision about whether or not to work as a prostitute," caretaker justice minister Hirsch Ballin, who submitted the amendment, said in a statement.
"They are better able to deal and negotiate with clients. They are more likely to have some further education and thus be less economically dependent on prostitution work."
Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000, but Ballin said the new measures sought to "draw a clearer line between legal and illegal prostitution".
"The law is aimed at regulating the prostitution trade, not to obstruct the legal part of it," said the statement.
"The new law wants to make a contribution to the fight against force, abuse and human trafficking" in the sex trade, "given the risk that prostitutes between the ages of 18 and 21 would disappear into the criminal underworld".
It had been decided to counter that risk with "strong controls and penalties for illegal prostitutes, their handlers and clients".
The amendment, yet to be adopted by parliament, will compel prostitutes to enroll on a national register and to have an entry interview on the risks of the job and alternatives, said the statement.
Registered prostitutes will receive a pass with a profile photograph and registration number, which will enable clients to control that they are using the services of a legal practitioner.
Under the current law, only brothel owners and other prostitute handlers require authorisation.
Prostitutes without passes will be fined up to 380 euros (514 dollars), and their clients up to 7,600 euros or sent to jail for six months.
Owners of illegal brothels face up to two year prison sentences or fines of up to 18,500 euros.
Source
15/04/2010
Prostitutes in the Netherlands should in future be at least 21 years old and carry a pass with their photo and a special registration number, says a law amendment filed in parliament on Thursday.
"People of 21 are better able than people of 18 to make a well-considered decision about whether or not to work as a prostitute," caretaker justice minister Hirsch Ballin, who submitted the amendment, said in a statement.
"They are better able to deal and negotiate with clients. They are more likely to have some further education and thus be less economically dependent on prostitution work."
Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands since 2000, but Ballin said the new measures sought to "draw a clearer line between legal and illegal prostitution".
"The law is aimed at regulating the prostitution trade, not to obstruct the legal part of it," said the statement.
"The new law wants to make a contribution to the fight against force, abuse and human trafficking" in the sex trade, "given the risk that prostitutes between the ages of 18 and 21 would disappear into the criminal underworld".
It had been decided to counter that risk with "strong controls and penalties for illegal prostitutes, their handlers and clients".
The amendment, yet to be adopted by parliament, will compel prostitutes to enroll on a national register and to have an entry interview on the risks of the job and alternatives, said the statement.
Registered prostitutes will receive a pass with a profile photograph and registration number, which will enable clients to control that they are using the services of a legal practitioner.
Under the current law, only brothel owners and other prostitute handlers require authorisation.
Prostitutes without passes will be fined up to 380 euros (514 dollars), and their clients up to 7,600 euros or sent to jail for six months.
Owners of illegal brothels face up to two year prison sentences or fines of up to 18,500 euros.
Source