Just like everything else in Belgium, prostitution is a complicated topic. Despite sex work being the oldest job in the world, the lack of official statute makes it difficult for the estimated 28, sex workers in Belgium to do their job without getting in legal trouble. First, the official rules: sex work in itself is legal. Neither the sex worker nor the client can be prosecuted. However, all third parties are committing a crime when they get involved. However, as that is not workable, Belgium has a tolerance policy.
The Belgian prostitution law, which dates from the s, is at its core an abolitionist one, aiming to eradicate sex work in the country, according to UTSOPI. To complicate matters even further, the tolerance policy is not a matter of federal law, or even a regional one: it is implemented by the municipalities, meaning that different rules apply in different cities, and sometimes even in neighbouring municipalities within a city.
One of the main reasons why the regulation concerning sex work have major flaws is because no one wants to deal with the subject, according to Bauwens. In Brussels, it all depends on the commune. In Schaerbeek, sex work is entirely tolerated. In Saint-Josse-ten-Noode, however, a policy was initially created to get rid of all sex workers, which resulted in situations where the rules on one side of the street differed from those on the other side.
At the height of the first wave of the coronavirus crisis, sex workers were first overlooked and left without support when the federal government ordered the sector shut. Then in June, they were left to fend for themselves again when the workers were given the federal green light, subject to some conditions, but local authorities kept their businesses closed, according to Maes.
After at least five years without really talking, this was a huge step. But even with steps in the right direction, there is still a long way to go. The fact that Saint-Josse is now changing its approach to sex work, does not alter the situation in other municipalities. The office of federal Justice Minister Koen Geens started the task, looking to decriminalise adult pornography and the economic exploitation of consenting adults.
