Belgium grants sex workers employment rights

Belgium has adopted a historic law against sexual exploitation. The new law responds to some of the worst forms of violence and discrimination faced by people who sell sexual services. https://t.co/cgz12amgn2 pic.twitter.com/7iFdUYj8Uo

— Human Rights Watch (@hrw) December 3, 2024

Sex workers in Belgium now have the right to formal employment contracts that include benefits such as sick pay and maternity leave. The landmark law went into effect on Sunday. Under the new law, sex workers who sign employment contracts are entitled to a range of rights and protections that apply to workers in other industries. These include health insurance, unemployment benefits, and pensions. Daan Bauwens, director of the Belgian Union of Sex Workers, said this is a world first.

🗞️ A recent labour win for sex workers in Belgium featured in the @guardian https://t.co/AEfpt6q5V5

📑 Our latest working paper takes an in-depth look at sex worker organising in Europe, with case studies from Sweden, Germany & the UK

'The sex worker rights movement and trade… pic.twitter.com/UWOZtLgM7c

— ETUI – European Trade Union Institute (@ETUI_org) December 3, 2024

He explained that it is the first comprehensive law that grants sex workers equal rights with other employees and protects them from job risks. Sex workers with formal contracts now have “every kind of social protection” granted to most employees in Belgium.

Under a new law in Belgium (the first of its kind in the world): Sex workers will be entitled to official employment contracts, health insurance, pensions, maternity leave & sick days. https://t.co/hpdFWoxLQC

— Martin Halla (@HallaMartin) December 3, 2024

This is according to Quentin Deltour, public relations manager at Espace P, a group that advocates for sex workers’ rights in Belgium. Espace P helped draft the law.

“Belgium..allows sex workers to sign formal employment contracts — granting them access to sick days, maternity pay & pension. The new law also guarantees…the ability to refuse clients, set the conditions of an act, and stop an act at any moment” https://t.co/c3k9f1MwQd

— Veena Dubal (@veenadubal) December 2, 2024

The law also ensures that sex workers have the right to refuse services to a client or perform a specific act. They can stop any activity at any time. Employers must obtain a license from the government to employ sex workers.

Employment rights for sex workers

They can only get a license if they have no previous convictions for crimes like rape or human trafficking. Employers also have to provide condoms, clean bed linen, and an emergency alarm button in workers’ rooms. Before this law, contracts between sex workers and employers were not legally valid because working as a pimp was illegal. Belgium decriminalized sex work two years ago. This removed criminal penalties on both the buyer and seller of sex, offering some protection from violence. However, it did not grant sex workers access to social security. Erin Kilbride, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, said decriminalization brings sex workers to a point where they can live without fear of prison. But she noted that is a low bar. “Sex workers deserve the same rights and freedoms as all workers, and this law is a world first moving us in that direction,” Kilbride said. The new law doesn’t cover all types of sex workers, such as those who work independently, online, or in pornographic films. Deltour admitted this is a weakness. “(But) at least it is a first step, the door is open… we are in the door and now we are going to fight for the others’ rights,” he said.