Workers in the sex industry often take to the streets to protest restrictions on their work by Amsterdam authorities
Brothels are legal in the Netherlands, but they must obtain a license to operate from local authorities. At the same time, authorities are trying to combat human trafficking.
"The court considers that it is permissible to require a brothel owner to be able to communicate in the same language as the prostitutes working for him," says the court statement, whose rulings are binding for all 28 countries in the European Union. Only in such a case can a brothel, including the world-famous Amsterdam "windows with prostitutes," prevent the exploitation of victims of human trafficking or other crimes, the European Court believes.
According to the BBC, the court considered the complaint of a certain J. Harmsen, whom the Amsterdam city council had denied a license to rent places in "windows for prostitutes" in the local red-light district. The court ruled that the city authorities had every right to deny him a license because he could not speak the language of his prostitutes – Bulgarian and Hungarian – and thus could not determine whether they were victims of human trafficking or whether anyone was forcing them into prostitution.
The brothel owner insisted that he could resort to the help of interpreters or use online translators. He also claimed that the mayor of Amsterdam (who was not mentioned in his complaint) violated EU rules on the single market in the European Union, and argued that the city council's decision was discriminatory and disproportionate. However, the European Court rejected this argument, citing the interests of society as a whole.
Prostitution was legalized in the Netherlands and Germany in 2002. According to Dutch law, people working in the sex industry must register with the local chamber of commerce and pay taxes.
In recent years, the Amsterdam authorities have adopted a stricter policy towards the sex industry as part of the fight against human trafficking and organized crime. It is estimated that about 75% of sex workers in Amsterdam come from Eastern Europe, Africa, and Asia.