The City of Antwerp announced new, stricter rules for businesses and events offering a sexual context. From June 1, , the City of Antwerp will expand its existing regulations for sexual business to escort agencies and erotic pop-up events. Darklands is such a pop-up event. In , the City of Antwerp approved the police regulations on sex exploitation politiereglement op de seksuitbatingen , in which a uniform regulatory framework was introduced for sex exploitation.
In these regulations, the city stipulates that such establishments must comply with the rules on urban development, fire safety, hygiene and morality. By introducing these rules, the city has a better overview of the industry and the working conditions of sex workers. By extending the existing regulations in a uniform manner to escort agencies and erotic pop-up events, the city is also ensuring safer and healthier working conditions here.
Sex workers can enjoy the same protection and rogue operators will no longer be able to use loopholes to circumvent certain regulations. The changes will take effect on June 1, , so that operators have time to make the necessary adjustments. There has been a clear shift in sex exploitation in Antwerp in recent years. Window prostitution and other forms of visible prostitution are decreasing in popularity, while escort agencies are becoming an increasingly important part of the industry.
The city therefore decided, and because of the decriminalization of sex work since June , to also include escort agencies, which were not previously covered by the regulations, in the police regulations on sex exploitations and to subject them to conditions. This concerns all such agencies that offer sexual services on the territory of Antwerp.
Sex workers who work as escorts can end up in unsafe situations because they do not work in fixed locations. The amended regulations now also stipulate that, for this reason, there must be mobile panic buttons for escorts, among other things, to increase safety. Such a panic button is then connected to the person in charge of that office or a private security firm.
