AMSTERDAM may soon have a mega Dutch brothel that will span over five floors and house hundreds of sex workers.
Remarkable plans have been unveiled for Erotisch Centrum – a multi-million dollar facility featuring several bars and venues for erotic entertainment, such as a strip club.
Amsterdam City Council has long been planning to build a massive brothel to relocate prostitutes away from the city’s current red light district.
And from this week, residents will be able to respond to the plans that are being backed by the city’s mayor herself.
According to Femke Halsema, the space will ensure safer working conditions, reduce criminality and tackle human trafficking.
Concept designs revealed in 2020 showed two towers in red and black with spiral ramps.
It comes as part of Dutch attempts to clear their capital’s reputation and improve its image as a historical city.
The city ultimately intends to close down the centuries-old red light district, known for its neon-lit windows where sex workers stand to attract clients.
But many residents – and prostitutes – have already voiced their concerns about the plans.
In December 2023, Mayor Halsema proposed that the building should be built in Zuid – an affluential district in the south of the city.
The plans for a building solely dedicated to sex work were supposed to provide safe working conditions.
But it has attracted a wealth of criticism claiming that it does the exact opposite.
Some sex workers have expressed disapproval about being relocated from the historic hub of prostitution, De Wallen, arguing that alternative locations may carry stigma and pose risks for them while commuting to and from their jobs.
During a public discussion on the planning, former sex worker Mariska Majoor, said: “A prostitution window on the street is very different from one in a closed erotic centre.
“The location is dark at night. There will be more stigma and more danger.
“I’m worried they will be waited for on the paths by people with nefarious plans.”
While another sex worker added: “Sex workers have moved from doorways to windows…and now into a segregated centre pushed to the edge of town, out of sight, out of mind.
“Keep your laws off our bodies and no erotic prisons.”
Over 40 people spoke out against the plans during the public discussion – with some even going as far as to compare the brothel to a 16th century “spinning house” that marked “fallen women”.
The European Medicines Agency, who moved to the Zuid district in 2019, have said that they are “extremely concerned” by the plans.
A spokesman for the agency said: “EMA is very concerned that this will create safety, security and nuisance issues.
“The change of the location of the red light district is motivated by concerns of nuisance, drug-dealing, drunkenness and disorderly behaviour.
“Locating the Erotic Centre in close proximity to EMA’s building is likely to bring the same negative impacts to the adjacent area.
“(We will be taking this to the) highest appropriate political and diplomatic level to ensure a safe working environment.
“EMA’s work is essential for the protection of public health in the EU, and this should not be jeopardised by fears of staff and EU experts coming to EMA’s building.”
So far, only seven people have spoken out in favour of the plans – among them, a male sex worker called Richard Jones.
Jones believes that the mega brothel could create more space for sex workers from minority groups.
He said that these sex workers are currently working in homes, either their own or their clients, and that this poses a big safety risk.
Jones went on to argue that if they had access to a large space, tailor-made for sex work, these minorities would be much safer.
He also added: “People who say they don’t want it in their neighbourhood don’t realise it is already happening…with their husbands, their friends, with them themselves.
“At the moment, your houses are our workplaces.”
Inside the rise of AI brothels
By Sarah Bull, Senior Reporter
IT’S a city famous for its landmarks and culture.
But beneath Berlin’s vibrant exterior is a disturbing underworld of cyber adult entertainment.
The German capital is the first place in the world to open an AI brothel, which allows people to book an hour with artificially advanced “sex dolls” ready to grant their every wish – however depraved that may be.
And shockingly, there are also numerous people who use the AI “women” solely to abuse – without any fear of the consequences – and then share the disturbing images of their actions on social media.
Writer Laura Bates experienced Cybrothel first hand when she visited for her new book The New Age of Sexism: How the AI Revolution is Reinventing Misogyny.
And in an interview on the Should I Delete That? podcast, Laura explained she made a custom request – for her robot doll to have her clothes slashed and torn – just to “see if they did it”.
She said they were happy to, with “no questions asked”.
You can even order a doll “covered in blood”, Laura said.
“I genuinely think it’s the most f***ed up thing I’ve ever heard in my life,” podcast host Em Clarkson said.
But Cybrothel co-owner Matthias Smetana insisted of the sessions available there: “If you are here, the only person who can judge you is yourself.”
“We have a lot of people who have never been in touch with sex work, who are really down to try it but are looking for a safe space,” he told news.com.au.
“If you face performance anxiety, this doesn’t go in Cybrothel as you are dealing with sex toys, not humans.”
And it’s not just in a cyber brothel in Berlin that people are able to “enjoy” the perks of an AI sex robot – advancing technology means you can have one in your pocket too.
Read the full story here...
