Belgium Enacts Landmark Legislation Providing Maternity Benefits and Pensions for Sex Workers – One America News Network
OAN Staff James Meyers
11:47 AM – Monday, December 2, 2024
Starting Sunday, sex workers in Belgium will have access to pensions, maternity leave, health insurance, and various other employment benefits due to a groundbreaking law.
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In May, Belgian lawmakers endorsed measures to grant sex workers the same employment protections as all other workers, aiming to mitigate abuse and exploitation.
This new legislation, which took effect Sunday, guarantees sex workers employment contracts and legal safeguards.
Significantly, this law follows Belgium’s decriminalization of sex work two years prior.
“It’s an opportunity for us to exist as people,” Sophie, a sex worker in Belgium, shared with BBC.
“I had to work while I was nine months pregnant. I was with clients up until a week before my delivery. Stopping was not an option due to financial needs,” she recounted.
The newly established law ensures Belgian sex workers have access to employment contracts and legal protections, encompassing health insurance, paid leave, maternity benefits, unemployment assistance, and pensions. Additionally, it outlines regulations governing working hours and compensation.
Employers are mandated to comply with rigorous safety and cleanliness standards, ensuring all brothels maintain supplies of clean condoms, linens, hygiene products, and an emergency alert system, as stipulated by the new legislation.
Moreover, the law prohibits anyone with a conviction for sexual assault or human trafficking from operating as an employer.
Isabelle Jaramillo, a coordinator at Espace P, an advocacy organization that contributed to the legislation, emphasized that this law marks a transformative milestone, establishing clear protocols for employers.
“This is an incredible step forward. It means their profession can finally be recognized as legitimate by the Belgian state,” she conveyed to The Associated Press.
“Previously, employing someone for sex work was tantamount to being a pimp, regardless of the consensual nature of the arrangement. Now, brothel operators must obtain state authorization to hire workers,” she stated.
While countries like Turkey, Germany, Greece, and the Netherlands have also legalized sex work, they lack the labor protections now implemented in Belgium.
Some critics oppose the new law, arguing it legitimizes a “violent” profession that can perpetuate human trafficking, sexual exploitation, and abuse.
“In what other profession is a panic button necessary?” questioned Julia Crumière, a volunteer with Isala, an organization assisting street-based sex workers in Belgium.
“It’s not the oldest profession in the world; it’s the oldest exploitation known to humanity.”
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