Narrator: Prostitution has been part
of the fabric of Amsterdam for centuries.
But politicians want the city to have a reputation
for art and architecture, not sex and drugs.
And that might mean closing the windows
of the world-famous Red Light District for good.
They're pushing sex workers underground, basically.
Narrator: The brothels have already started to close,
although many sex workers are not going
to go without a fight.
They are forced to relocate,
because when they close your working place,
you don't have a choice.
The thing that hurts the most is that the city claims
it's for the best of the sex workers.
Narrator: So will the Netherlands'
oldest profession survive?
We went to Amsterdam to see if it's really lights out
for the Red Light District.
Moira works as a dominatrix at a club in Amsterdam.
I do something that most people
don't dare to talk about.
Narrator: She's been working in the sex industry
for almost a decade, and over the years,
she's seen it go through a transformation.
Moira: I have seen a lot of places close.
Red Light District area in Amsterdam got a lot smaller.
Narrator: But there was a time
when this was the most exclusive part of town.
Amsterdam was once one of the most important trading ports
in the world, a magnet for sailors and merchants.
Back in the 17th century, vast wealth
from the Dutch colonies flowed down these canals.
De Wallen, which today is the city's most popular
Red Light District, was at the center of it all.
There were a lot of sailors coming in,
and the area was very known for being
an entertainment area.
Narrator: It's no surprise that prostitution thrived.
Through the centuries, the city tried to regulate
and ban sex work.
The tale goes that in the 18th century,
brothel owners used red lanterns
to discreetly advertise their services.
Women would beckon customers from the windows
because they weren't allowed to do so from the streets.
In 1911, brothels were banned,
although prostitution remained legal.
By the 1960s, there were more than 3,000 women
working in the windows.
More and more arrived from abroad,
many from Suriname and Thailand,
to the point that local sex workers became a minority.
But what attracted some repelled others.
Ilse: A lot of people didn't want to live in the area anymore,
and it got a really negative reputation.
Narrator: In the '80s, criminals and drug dealers roamed the streets.
Illicit brothels were often controlled by gangs.
Even paying customers began to stay away.
Ilse: There was less people visiting the area,
so that was a difficult moment in time for sex workers.
Narrator: Hoping to bring order to the streets
and greater protection for sex workers,
the government lifted the ban on brothels in 2000.
Narrator: That year, there were reportedly
between 8,000 and 10,000 sex workers in Amsterdam.
Around a third worked in the windows.
Brothels needed a license to operate,
and the idea was that sex workers
would be self-employed taxpayers
who wouldn't need to rely on brothel owners or gangs
for their income.
The Red Light District became as much of an attraction
as Amsterdam's picture-postcard canals,
museums, and coffee shops.
By 2007, it was estimated that the windows
were bringing in around 70 million euros,
or nearly $100 million.
On a good day, sex workers could earn
almost 400 euros, around $550.
But the legalization of brothels
didn't entirely clean up the industry,
and sex workers continued to be stigmatized.
Some banks wouldn't even let them open accounts
or apply for loans.
And in 2008, police found that almost 80 women
had been trafficked by a group of Turkish men
who ran a prostitution network.
A survey at the time showed more than 60% of locals
supported a revamp of the city center.
People are coming to Amsterdam to have a party
in my part of town, and I don't like that.
Narrator: One of the only ways to close down
the brothels was for the city to become the landlord.
Today we celebrate the fact that some
of the first brothels are being used by some
of the best Dutch fashion talent.
Narrator: More than 100 brothels were closed,
and the city soon owned more buildings
in the Red Light District than all brothel owners combined.
The city council have invested a lot of money
to upgrade the area to try to attract
different type of entrepreneurs,
more creative companies, also new residents.
Narrator: In 2015, more than 200 people marched
through Amsterdam streets to protest the brothel closures.
Protester: We want respect.
(crowd cheers)
They want to clean up the area
or close down windows, so about 500 window prostitutes
would lose their working spaces
only because of moral changes and real-estate interest.
Narrator: But the Red Light District continued
to be one of the city's top attractions.
A 2017 study found that around 2.5 million tourists
were visiting the area every year.
That's double the number that visited
the Anne Frank House.
Stephen: We want the experienced tourist who doesn't inflict
his or her behavior on the city,
but comes to the city because they're inquisitive
about what life is about here and what our values are.
Narrator: In 2018, an estimated 6,000 people
visited the Red Light District in a single hour
on a busy weekend.
The same year, auditors said officials
had failed in trying to upgrade the area.
That was when the city's first female mayor
announced a plan to change the face
of prostitution in Amsterdam for good.
I want the women and men who do the work
be proud of what they're doing and be respected
for who they are.
Narrator: The most radical revamp
included shuttering more windows
and relocating sex workers to a so-called erotic center
outside the city center.
We would love to get rid of human-rights violations
and misbehavior.
Narrator: But the windows are where many
of Amsterdam's sex workers feel the safest.
Brenda: There's always people here
because it's a residential area, and if you were
to work in some remote area
that is deserted after 6 o'clock,
I wouldn't feel very safe there.
Moira: An erotic center kind of takes away anonymity.
Like, "Hi everybody, I'm a whore,
I'm going to work here," and, well, that is not really anonymous.
Narrator: One survey of nearly 200 sex workers
found that 90% didn't want to move.
If they close the windows,
then all the sex workers will go underground.
It's going to lead to a lot of more crime
and hate against sex workers.
Narrator: But in March 2020, all brothels
were closed as COVID-19 swept through the city,
and the Dutch government imposed
a strict nationwide lockdown.
Overnight, many of the 7,000 registered sex workers
were left without their main source of income.
They were allowed to go back to work in July 2020.
This is Moira back then.
She added a leather mask and black gloves
to her collection as a COVID precaution.
Narrator: As the city recovered,
so did plans to relocate sex workers.
Officials have proposed eight possible locations
for the new erotic center, but sex workers still think
the city center is where they belong.
The Red Light District needs to have
a bit of a rough edge.
Narrator: And many fear that soon,
the last of Amsterdam's red lights may flicker out,
and that hundreds of years of the city's history
will come to an end.
Moira: I was sad to see a lot of these things disappear.
It's history, it's culture, it's independence
for women who want to work in this line of work.
And I'm not sure if there is anything
we can do to stop it.
♪ All my days are spent ♪
♪ All my cards are dealt ♪
♪ There's another hill ahead ♪