Confrontation focuses on legalisation of brothels

Date: 13/03/1997

By Simon Coss

DISAGREEMENT over the laws covering brothels has caused a rift within the European Parliament's Green Group.

Swedish Group vice-president Inger Schörling is angry about recent comments from Green colleague and chairwoman of the women's rights committee, Nel van Dijk, who suggested member states should consider legalising brothels.

“This would be a retrogressive step towards the attitudes of the 19th century. It reinforces the idea that men can use women as they want,” said Schörling.

Van Dijk disagrees, arguing that her colleague is making moral judgements about other people's career choices. She says the issue centres on ensuring people are afforded basic employee protection, whatever sector they choose to work in.

“I really do not like the moral aspect of this debate. If people make the choice to work in this sector, who am I to judge? You can make fairly good money working in the sex business,” she said.

Van Dijk argues that clarifying the legal position of the sex industry would eradicate the existing criminal element and allow those who chose to work in the sector to enjoy the same rights as other EU workers.

The matter was recently the subject of a heated debate within the Green Group and is set to be discussed by the women's rights committee later this month.

In an effort to understand each other's point of view better, Schörling and Van Dijk will visit the red-light districts in Amsterdam and Stockholm later in the spring. “I will be showing my colleague how the system works in the Netherlands and then she will show me the Swedish set-up,” explained Van Dijk.

Prostitutes' organisations seem likely to support the line taken by the president of the women's rights committee.

“The persecution of sex workers is inexorably linked with the idea that sexual services should not be sold. Sex workers are seen as victims who are 'forced' into prostitution either by violent coercion or economic circumstances. It is a shameful aspect of the modern women's movement that the oppression of prostitutes has effectively been assisted by the exclusion of sex workers from important policy-making areas,” said a recent report by the Network of Sex Work Projects, a group which has worked with the European Commission, the World Health Organisation and the Global Programme on AIDS.

Van Dijk claims her campaign to allow people to follow their chosen careers in no way detracts from her commitment to combat the exploitation of thousands of people forced to work in the sector against their will.

The MEP recently had a well-publicised run-in with Justice and Home Affairs Commissioner Anita Gradin, whom she criticised for not considering the legalisation issue seriously.