Amsterdam officials set to ban tours of red-light district

Amsterdam will ban tours of its red-light district to prevent overcrowding and improve working conditions for sex workers in the area, The New York Times reported.

“We are banning tours that take visitors along sex workers’ windows, not only because we want to prevent overcrowding in the red-light district, but also because it is not respectful to sex workers,” Amsterdam Deputy Mayor Udo Kock told The Times in a statement. {mosads}

“It is outdated to treat sex workers as a tourist attraction,” he said. 

Officials told the Times that tourists disturb businesses in the district and often treat sex workers rudely, citing instances of “unwelcome photographs.”

Prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, though officials have voiced concerns about forced and underage prostitution as well as unsafe working conditions. 

The ban on tours in the red-light district will reportedly go into effect at the beginning of 2020.