A woman shows her socks with a sign ‘sex worker’ during a protest organized by the Belgian Union of Sex Workers against the closure of sex work activities in Brussels amid the COVID-19 pandemic. File photo by Julien Warnand/EPA-EFE
Dec. 1 (UPI) — A new law in Belgium granting labor rights to sex workers went into effect Sunday after the European country voted in 2022 to decriminalize sex work, in what advocacy groups have heralded as a major step forward for the rights of sex workers globally.
“Today is a very historical day for us sex workers. Belgium is the very first country who has a work regulation for sex workers who work for a boss,” a sex worker going by the name Mel said Sunday in a video shared by the Belgian Union of Sex Workers, or UTSOPI.
“I am a very proud Belgium sex worker right now. UTSOPI hand a very difficult job to make this happen.”
The law was passed by the Belgian parliament with a vote of 93 votes in favor, 33 abstentions and zero votes against in May 2024, ending two years of lobbying by UTSOPI and its partners Violett and Espace P.
Specifically, it enshrines major protections for sex workers including the right to refuse a client, the right to refuse a sexual act, the right to end a sexual act at any point and the right to perform a sexual in the manner in which they wish to perform it. And, if a sex worker fears for their safety, they can refuse to sit behind a window or advertise their services.
Belgian law already makes rape and nonconsensual sex acts illegal, but a sex worker’s employment will now be safeguarded when they choose to not engage in sex acts that they do not want to perform. In interviews conducted with sex workers by the BBC, they all recounted how they had been pressured into sex acts against their will.
Further, sex workers can now sign legal contracts with their employers which they can end at any time without notice. If sex workers end a work contract, they do not lose their rights to unemployment. And employers must equip their premises with panic buttons.
“Thanks to this law, sex workers will also be able to work under an employment contract, thus gaining access to social security: pension, unemployment, health insurance, family benefits, annual vacation, maternity leave,” UTSOPI said in a statement.
“At the same time, the law ensures that sex workers in the workplace are protected against job-related risks and conditions are imposed on employers.”
And though the union championed the legal measures, it also warned in comments to The Guardian that the law could be used to reduce or eliminate sex work in certain municipalities and local governments.
