Offbeat Pay Pimps $2K or Eat Dog Food – Amsterdam’s Red Light District Is Sick
Mar 2, 2025
Renate van der Zee, a journalist with over a decade of experience researching the sex trade in Amsterdam, reveals the dark side of the city's Red Light District. She discusses the harsh realities faced by women controlled by pimps, forced to earn exorbitant amounts or face dire consequences. Renate highlights the troubling link between legalization and increased trafficking, as well as the emotional manipulation used by traffickers. Her shift in perspective from supporting legal brothels to advocating for change underscores the critical need for awareness and action surrounding these issues.
AI Snips
Chapters
Transcript
Episode notes
Legalization Didn't Solve Trafficking
- Legalizing brothel-keeping in 2000 aimed to regulate and control prostitution with permits and rules.
- Renate van der Zee found regulation failed to stop trafficking and control was often illusory.
Shelter Work Revealed Brutal Cases
- Renate volunteered in a shelter and heard horrific stories of trafficking and abuse.
- One Ugandan woman was starved, repeatedly raped, filmed and blackmailed to prevent escape.
Two Worlds Are Intertwined
- The worlds of legalized prostitution and trafficking are intertwined rather than separate.
- Many trafficked women have worked behind legal windows, showing regulation doesn't isolate criminal networks.