Belgium Provides World-First Social Guarantees for Sex Workers

On 1 December, a law on social guarantees for sex workers came into force in Belgium, which provides for official employment, the right to parental leave and a pension, reports AP.

The new legislation stipulates that sex workers in Belgium will have access to health insurance, paid leave, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits and pensions.

The legislation also establishes rules on working hours, remuneration and safety measures for sex workers.

For example, employers of sex workers in Belgium now have to obtain a permit, follow strict safety protocols and meet pre-requisites, including no convictions for sexual abuse or human trafficking.

They also have to provide clean underwear, condoms and hygiene products and install emergency call buttons in sex workers' workplaces.

Independent sex work in Belgium remains permitted, but unregulated hiring of third parties or violations of existing legislation will be prosecuted.

The Belgian parliament passed the law on social guarantees for sex workers, which equates them to any other workers, in May - the first such initiative in the world.

The law aims to end the ‘grey area’ created in 2022, when sex work was decriminalised in Belgium without providing sex workers with any protection or labour rights.

Some countries in the European Union, such as Germany and the Netherlands, have legalised sex work, but none have introduced comprehensive protection of sex workers' rights like Belgium.