Amsterdam’s Red Light Zone Stays Shut as Rest of City Edges Open - The New York Times

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Patrick Kingsley, an international correspondent, and Laetitia Vancon, a photojournalist, are driving more than 3,700 miles to explore the reopening of the European continent after coronavirus lockdowns. Read all their dispatches.

AMSTERDAM — The red lights still shone above the windows in De Wallen, Amsterdam’s main red-light district, but the windows themselves were empty.

The streets lining the canals, normally crammed with tourists, were deserted.

The brothels were closed, the prostitution museum shut until further notice.

“No photos of sex workers,” read the signs above the brothel windows. “Fine: 95 euros.”

But there were no sex workers to photograph in the windows, and no tourists to photograph them.

The Netherlands is reopening. Hairdressers, driving instructors and beauticians have been back at work since May 11, without needing to wear a mask. Restaurants reopened their outdoor seating areas at the beginning of this month. Gyms and saunas are scheduled to restart in early July.

Central Amsterdam, normally thronging with tourists, has been almost empty since the start of the lockdown.

In De Wallen, a locksmith is open, as are a few (mostly empty) bars, and the shops selling sex toys, whips, handcuffs and the odd latex dress.

But sex workers have been told to wait until September, emptying the area, and sending many sex workers into poverty — or secretly back to work.

Charlotte de Vries, the professional name of an escort working in Amsterdam, would normally meet up to seven clients a week. But the week the lockdown began, all seven canceled, immediately costing her about $1,500.

“And I stopped counting after that,” said Ms. de Vries, sitting a table on the edge of the red light district. “I thought, I just don’t want to know.”

As she spoke, the bells chimed across the street, at Amsterdam’s oldest church. Now that the area was deserted, she said, you could hear the sounds of the neighborhood for once.

For now, Ms. de Vries is able to rely on savings. But many of her colleagues cannot. Over 400 sought assistance from a new emergency fund set up by volunteers, which offers aid of about $45 to the most desperate applicants.

This assistance hasn’t been nearly enough. Ms. de Vries said she knows seven sex workers who have been forced to work in secret, just to pay their rent. Rosie Heart, the professional name of a second Dutch sex worker, said she knew of at least 10.

“It’s a disaster, really,” said Ms. Heart, who usually provides escort services in Amsterdam and London, in addition to working as a representative of Proud, a labor union for Dutch sex workers.

Working in secret like this makes sex workers particularly vulnerable because they are more at risk from abusive clients.

A Dutch sex worker, who uses Rosie Heart as her professional name, has been without work since March, when the Dutch government banned sex work in response to the coronavirus crisis. 

Before the coronavirus crisis, if a client became violent, “you would go to the police,” Ms. de Vries said. “But now you can’t do that because what you’re doing is illegal.”

A neighbor walked past, nodding a hello. One of the few silver linings to the crisis had been the opportunity to get to know the area’s residents better, Ms. de Vries said.

Dutch sex workers now face such hardship because of patchy government support. Like many governments at the start of the crisis, the Dutch authorities created emergency income streams for people suddenly left without work.

But in practice, many sex workers do not qualify for the new subsidies, because of the way they were registered with the tax authorities before the crisis. Or they are too scared to apply for it.

Though prostitution is legal in the Netherlands, many sex workers prefer not to declare their profession to the government because the trade still carries a social stigma — or because they work without all the licenses needed for them to be completely compliant with the law.

In a survey of 108 sex workers in the Netherlands conducted online by SekswerkExpertise, a research group in Amsterdam, 56 percent of the respondents said they had applied for coronavirus support. Of those applicants, only 13 percent said they had received help.

Of those who did not apply, about one in three said they already knew they would not qualify, and one in six said they were worried about outing themselves as sex workers to government institutions, in case their identities were leaked.

A few revelers enjoying beers on a recent evening. Amsterdam restaurants reopened their outdoor seating areas at the beginning of June.

And migrant sex workers, working without a permit, cannot even contemplate applying for assistance.

Ms. Heart was one of the few successful applicants, receiving about $1,500 a month since March, roughly half her usual earnings.

The Coronavirus Outbreak

• Frequently Asked Questions and Advice

  Updated June 2, 2020

  • Will protests set off a second viral wave of coronavirus?

    Mass protests against police brutality that have brought thousands of people onto the streets in cities across America are raising the specter of new coronavirus outbreaks, prompting political leaders, physicians and public health experts to warn that the crowds could cause a surge in cases. While many political leaders affirmed the right of protesters to express themselves, they urged the demonstrators to wear face masks and maintain social distancing, both to protect themselves and to prevent further community spread of the virus. Some infectious disease experts were reassured by the fact that the protests were held outdoors, saying the open air settings could mitigate the risk of transmission.

  • How do we start exercising again without hurting ourselves after months of lockdown?

    Exercise researchers and physicians have some blunt advice for those of us aiming to return to regular exercise now: Start slowly and then rev up your workouts, also slowly. American adults tended to be about 12 percent less active after the stay-at-home mandates began in March than they were in January. But there are steps you can take to ease your way back into regular exercise safely. First, “start at no more than 50 percent of the exercise you were doing before Covid,” says Dr. Monica Rho, the chief of musculoskeletal medicine at the Shirley Ryan AbilityLab in Chicago. Thread in some preparatory squats, too, she advises. “When you haven’t been exercising, you lose muscle mass.” Expect some muscle twinges after these preliminary, post-lockdown sessions, especially a day or two later. But sudden or increasing pain during exercise is a clarion call to stop and return home.

  • My state is reopening. Is it safe to go out?

    States are reopening bit by bit. This means that more public spaces are available for use and more and more businesses are being allowed to open again. The federal government is largely leaving the decision up to states, and some state leaders are leaving the decision up to local authorities. Even if you aren’t being told to stay at home, it’s still a good idea to limit trips outside and your interaction with other people.

  • What’s the risk of catching coronavirus from a surface?

    Touching contaminated objects and then infecting ourselves with the germs is not typically how the virus spreads. But it can happen. A number of studies of flu, rhinovirus, coronavirus and other microbes have shown that respiratory illnesses, including the new coronavirus, can spread by touching contaminated surfaces, particularly in places like day care centers, offices and hospitals. But a long chain of events has to happen for the disease to spread that way. The best way to protect yourself from coronavirus — whether it’s surface transmission or close human contact — is still social distancing, washing your hands, not touching your face and wearing masks.

  • What are the symptoms of coronavirus?

    Common symptoms include fever, a dry cough, fatigue and difficulty breathing or shortness of breath. Some of these symptoms overlap with those of the flu, making detection difficult, but runny noses and stuffy sinuses are less common. The C.D.C. has also added chills, muscle pain, sore throat, headache and a new loss of the sense of taste or smell as symptoms to look out for. Most people fall ill five to seven days after exposure, but symptoms may appear in as few as two days or as many as 14 days.

  • How can I protect myself while flying?

    If air travel is unavoidable, there are some steps you can take to protect yourself. Most important: Wash your hands often, and stop touching your face. If possible, choose a window seat. A study from Emory University found that during flu season, the safest place to sit on a plane is by a window, as people sitting in window seats had less contact with potentially sick people. Disinfect hard surfaces. When you get to your seat and your hands are clean, use disinfecting wipes to clean the hard surfaces at your seat like the head and arm rest, the seatbelt buckle, the remote, screen, seat back pocket and the tray table. If the seat is hard and nonporous or leather or pleather, you can wipe that down, too. (Using wipes on upholstered seats could lead to a wet seat and spreading of germs rather than killing them.)

  • How many people have lost their jobs due to coronavirus in the U.S.?

    More than 40 million people — the equivalent of 1 in 4 U.S. workers — have filed for unemployment benefits since the pandemic took hold. One in five who were working in February reported losing a job or being furloughed in March or the beginning of April, data from a Federal Reserve survey released on May 14 showed, and that pain was highly concentrated among low earners. Fully 39 percent of former workers living in a household earning $40,000 or less lost work, compared with 13 percent in those making more than $100,000, a Fed official said.

  • How do I take my temperature?

    Taking one’s temperature to look for signs of fever is not as easy as it sounds, as “normal” temperature numbers can vary, but generally, keep an eye out for a temperature of 100.5 degrees Fahrenheit or higher. If you don’t have a thermometer (they can be pricey these days), there are other ways to figure out if you have a fever, or are at risk of Covid-19 complications.

  • Should I wear a mask?

    The C.D.C. has recommended that all Americans wear cloth masks if they go out in public. This is a shift in federal guidance reflecting new concerns that the coronavirus is being spread by infected people who have no symptoms. Until now, the C.D.C., like the W.H.O., has advised that ordinary people don’t need to wear masks unless they are sick and coughing. Part of the reason was to preserve medical-grade masks for health care workers who desperately need them at a time when they are in continuously short supply. Masks don’t replace hand washing and social distancing.

  • What should I do if I feel sick?

    If you’ve been exposed to the coronavirus or think you have, and have a fever or symptoms like a cough or difficulty breathing, call a doctor. They should give you advice on whether you should be tested, how to get tested, and how to seek medical treatment without potentially infecting or exposing others.

  • How do I get tested?

    If you’re sick and you think you’ve been exposed to the new coronavirus, the C.D.C. recommends that you call your healthcare provider and explain your symptoms and fears. They will decide if you need to be tested. Keep in mind that there’s a chance — because of a lack of testing kits or because you’re asymptomatic, for instance — you won’t be able to get tested.

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But she said she would not apply for help from July onward, since sex workers would likely then be the only people out of work for reasons directly related to the coronavirus restrictions.

She feared that would out her as a sex worker, and potentially prompt local officials to evict her from her home, on the — mistaken — assumption that she uses her apartment as an unlicensed brothel.

“One minute I could be applying” for state support, Ms. Heart said. “The next minute I could be fighting to stay in my home.”

Some unemployed sex workers have turned to the internet to try to make a living from online sex shows. Ten attended a recent online training session at the Prostitution Information Center, a nonprofit that provides support to sex workers and guided tours of De Wallen to tourists.

But it can take months to build up a base of paying customers online, and there are substantial costs to setting up an online business. Online sex work needs a good camera, a microphone, a strong internet connection — and a private space where you are not likely to be disturbed.

A new influx of internet sex workers could also make life more difficult for those already in the online business. “There’s even more competition, so it’s even more tricky,” said Ms. Heart.

De Wallen, Amsterdam’s main red-light district, is usually crowded with tourists and sex workers at all hours. But it is now almost deserted. 

Sex workers said they do not understand why they are not allowed to go back to work in at least some capacity in July, along with gyms and saunas. Their work doesn’t have to involve kissing, and a lot of sex work, even before the coronavirus crisis, did not involve full intercourse, or face-to-face contact.

Hairdressers can now welcome clients again, “and hover in front of their face to cut their bangs,” Ms. Heart said. So she wondered why sex workers weren’t allowed to perform sex acts that stopped short of intercourse.

“I’m absolutely not saying we should be allowed to go back to work as normal, certainly not,” she added. “But if you’re saying that everyone can go back to work, but not sex workers — there’s something wrong with your thinking.”

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