Prostitutes in Belgium get rights to maternity leave, pensions, right to refuse clients, sex acts

Prostitutes in Belgium are now able to take maternity leave, sick days and pensions paid for by their employers. They have also been given the right to refuse clients and sex acts and cannot be fired for doing so.

The legislation was passed by the Belgium parliament in May and took effect on Saturday, the Daily Mail reports. While sex work was decriminalized in the country 2022, the new rules enable prostitutes to sign formal employment contracts and establish working hours, pay and safety measures, giving sex workers labor rights like those of standard professions.

While The Belgian Union of Sex Workers described the law as "a huge step forward, ending legal discrimination against sex workers," other feminist organizations have warned the laws could be "catastrophic" for young girls and victims of sex trafficking.

Employers must provide clean sheets, condoms and hygiene products to their prostitutes and will be required to install emergency "panic buttons" in areas of work. According to the outlet, "prostitutes or their pimps will also be able to request a government-backed mediator to come in and settle any employment-related disputes."

Erin Kilbride with Human Rights Watch applauded the law as "the best step we have seen anywhere in the world so far." However Julia Crumiere with Belgian sex worker charity Isala said most prostitutes want to find their way out of the profession and do not want "rights."

"It is dangerous because it normalises a profession that is always violent at its core," she said.