Sex workers oppose prostitution ban: ‘Completely illegal’.
The association of sex workers Espace P is considering an appeal against the ban on prostitution in the City of Brussels. About two hundred sex workers in a precarious situation lose their income because of this ban. Sex workers union Utsopi is preparing for a social drama.
The phone of street worker Fabian Drianne doesn’t stop ringing. The sex workers were just recovering from the lockdown in the Alhambra district, when mayor Philippe Close (PS) decides to shut down prostitution in the entire territory of the City of Brussels again for health reasons.
The Espace P sex workers’ association is looking into the possibility of appealing this decision to the Council of State. In June, the Security Council decided that sex work could be resumed if certain safety regulations — such as wearing a mask — were observed. “Our lawyers have already looked at the new regulation,” says Drianne. “It is completely illegal according to them.”
Only way to eat
Drianne has been working in the Alhambra district for twenty years and sees how several mayers pull out all the stops to make sex work disappear. From extra taxes on the hotels they take clients to, to this total ban. “There are certainly problems, but they are mainly related to violence and drugs. Prostitution is seen as the cause of all problems, but sex workers are the most precarious”.
It bothers Drianne that sex workers are not allowed to work, but no alternative is offered. “Prostitution is the only way to provide food on the shelf for the Romanians, Bulgarians, Albanians and South Americans who work here,” he says. “Many of them don’t speak French very well, so they can’t put an ad online. Working in other municipalities is not an option either, because there are not always hotels where sex workers can do their work safely and hygienically.
Social dramas
Finding a political solution is not the task of Espace P, says Drianne. But chasing the sex workers away without offering an alternative is in any case not the right choice according to him. He predicts the same social dramas as during the lockdown. Back then, he had to negotiate with homeowners about deferral of payment, put sex workers in contact with food banks where they could also go without being affiliated with the Public Centre for Social Welfare and ensured that people had basic necessities such as toothpaste, soap and food.
Maxime Maes, coordinator of sex workers association Utsopi is also preparing for a new social drama. “We’re going to see if we can do a collection again, like we did during the lockdown. Although I don’t really think that we are the ones who should take responsibility”.
Most vulnerable
During the lockdown Maes also saw a lot of sex workers from the Alhambra district at the food distribution they organized in Sint-Joost-ten-Node. “The sex workers from this area are the most vulnerable. Sometimes they don’t have any papers, there are a lot of transpersons, who don’t always have access to work or housing”.
Last week, Maes was surprised to see that the City of Brussels did not include transpersons working as sex workers in their LGBTQ action plan. He therefore regrets that there is hardly any consultation between the associations and the City of Brussels.
In the municipalities of Schaerbeek and Sint-Joost-ten-Node, prostitution is still allowed.
