http://www.cym18.com/nederland.html
Alkmaar
How to Get There : exit Alkmaar railway station by the main entrance and turn left; on reaching a canal turn left again.
Amsterdam
There are actually three red light areas in Amsterdam.
What tends to be known as the Red Light District (but more locally as De Wallen) lies south of Centraal Station, bounded by the Warmoestraat, Nieuwmarkt and Damstraat.
The relevant streets are Barndesteeg, Bethlehemsteeg, Bloedstraat, Boomsteeg, Dollebegijnensteeg, Enge Kerksteeg, Goldbergersteeg, Gordijnensteeg, Molensteeg, Monnikenstraat, Oudekerksplein, Oudekennissteeg, Oudezijds Achterburgwal, Oudezijds Voorburgwal, Sint Annendwarsstraat, Sint Annenstraat, Stoofsteeg and Trompettersteeg.
The trade has existed here for at least 500 years, and the windows have existed since the 1950s. There are currently 330 windows.
In 2017, the city authorities intervened more directly and sponsored the opening of My Red Light, Boomsteeg 1A - which is run more directly by sex workers themselves. See a newspaper report here
Read a report from the British Guardian newspaper on the clamp down on prostitution in the area during 2007/2008.
In 2023, measures were inreoduced and were planned to cut down on the more anti-social nature of the area. Smoking cannabis will not be allowed outside, and various measures are planned to cut down on the sale of alcohol after a particular hour, and so on
There is an ongoing issue of mass tourism and this brings up issues of the windows, because some think the crowds are being tempted by the wrong kind of attraction. There are currently 330 windows and there are always attempts to reduce then or or abolish them completely, but this opposed by the sex workers' union themselves (among others). In the past, some windows have been shut down but that concentrates the tourists in an even smaller area.
The trade union PROUD strongly denies that there is any forced prostitution in the area. There is so much bureaucracy before you can work here - documents to ne filled in and passport shown, such that it would be extremely hard for any clandestine activity to exist.
For the residents, there are disadvantagers - resnta have gone up and it is harder to do their shopping. Their shops have been replaced by those catering to tourists - restaaurants and 'Nutella shops' which sell waffles under the (false) guise of being traditional Dutch fare
Since 2018, no more tourist shops have been allowed, alcohol cannot be consumed in public and the number of guided tours is severely restricted.
•Prostitution Information Centre
Otherwise :
The Singelgebied is along the Singel near Lijnbaanssteeg and Oude Nieuwstraat. Yab Yum, one of Amsterdam's most exclusive brothels was located at Singel 295 until closed by the local authorities in January 2008. Relevant streets are Korte Kolk Steeg. Spuistraat, Teerketelsteeg, Nieuw Oude Straat, Lijnbaanstraat, the Singel itself, Bergstraat, Korsejespoortsteeg .
Ruysdaelkade, De Pijp
How to get there : : Trams 16, 24 from the center.
Arnhem
The windows formerly in Spijkerkwartier were shut down around 2006
A toleration zone was set up in Oude Veerweg / Westervoortsedijk in the Kleefse Waard estate with Verrichtungsboxen (secure, enclosed places for cars)
Den Haag
Geleenstraat (shown) / Hunstraat
Doublestraat (in the old town)
Another area, Poeldijksestraat, was closed down in 1999 and the buildings demolished in 2006.
Car pick-up zone: Lulofstraat
Deventer
Bokkingshang.
In 2011, 33 of the 44 windows were shut by the authorities because of suspected criminal activity. I am unsure whether any still remain. Reports still appear in the press about re-opening the windows but I am unsure of the current situation.
Doetinchem
Roerstraat. Traffic has allegedly increased since the closure of the Spijkerkwartier in Arnhem in January 2006.
Eindhoven
Edisonstraat
Groningen
Nieuwstad
Since 2015, the trade on Hoekstraat/Muurstraat was discontinued
Auto pick-up zone: Bornholmstraat (closed)
Haarlem
Begijnhof: 3 courts -
Het Steegje, Rode Lantaarn, Het Poortje (this latter-named possibly requires an entry fee)
10 minutes from the station
Heerlen
Car pick-up zone (known in Dutch as Tippelzone)
Old zone: Sittarderweg
Newer zone: Imstenradenweg, adjacent to the industrial area in Beitel (closed, I think)
Leeuwarden
De Waeze: 4 courts - Esperanza, Love and Joy, Moulin Rouge, Walhalla
Nijmegen
Nieuwmarkt 24 to Nieuwmarkt 40. Near to Kronenburg Park
Another area of uncertainty. By 2018, the number of locations had dropped dramatically.
Tippelzone : Nieuwe Marktstraat
Rotterdam
Rotterdam does not have a specific red-light district as such, but it does have various clubs and 'private houses' (privehuizen).
•Article on Clob OQ and White's, and the history of sex work in Rotterdam in general
•List
•List
Former Tippelzone : Keileweg (closed in 2005)
See Netherlands Model which has some depictions of Rotterdam
Utrecht
On the Zandpad, more than a hundred canal boats were moored to a long wharf north of the Rode Brug (red bridge). There was also a street in the city center - Hardebollenstraat.
Both were closed down in 2013.
A replacement area is currently being built, but has been delayed. I think the current opening date is projected to be 2023.
Tippelzone : Europalaan. This is also subject to uncertainty. It was due to be re-located by 2020 but no alternative site could be found. Europalaan now appears to be extinct.
