In a world first, Belgian sex workers now have access to contracts, benefits and pensions

Many sex workers in Belgium will now be treated like other workers in the country, with access to employment contracts, maternity leave, health benefits, pensions and more.

That’s thanks to a ground-breaking new law that came into force on Sunday and is being hailed as the first of its kind anywhere in the world.

“Sex work is work, and that’s something people need to understand,” said Mel Melicious, a sex worker in Antwerp, Belgium. How it happens host Nil Köksal.

“When someone works in another industry or in some other industry, they also get those rights, why not sex workers?

CBC identifies Meliciousss with her professional pseudonym, given the dangers and stigma sex workers often face.

Advocates for the rights of sex workers are hailing the new law as a victory that will make the industry significantly safer and fairer.

But some feminist organizations say it formalizes an industry they see as inherently violent, while failing to protect those most likely to be exploited.

How does it work?

The new law was adopted last year following the country’s 2022 decision to decriminalize sex work. This applies to sex workers who have employers, such as those who work in brothels.

Under the law, anyone who wants to employ sex workers must obtain a state permit, follow safety protocols and meet background requirements, including no prior convictions for sexual assault or human trafficking.

“From an employer’s point of view, this will also be a revolution,” said Isabella Jaramillo, coordinator of Espace P, an advocacy group involved in the legislation.

“Under previous law, hiring someone for sex work automatically made you a pimp, even if the arrangement was consensual.”

Employees at these institutions will have access to health insurance, paid vacation, maternity benefits, unemployment benefits, and pensions.

Employers must provide clean linen, condoms and hygiene products, as well as install emergency buttons in workplaces.

The legislation also sets out rules on working hours, pay and safety measures, ensuring that sex workers can refuse clients, choose their practice and stop working at any time.

What does this mean for sex workers?

Meliosa, a member of the Belgian sex workers union UTSOPI, says she is not directly affected by the law as she is currently self-employed.

But she hopes it means her younger colleagues will never have to go through what he did.

“I know for the younger Mel it would have made a big difference. Because the first time I went to work in a brothel, the things that happened there were not quite right and I could feel it,” she said.

She says she had no choice but to take on clients she wasn’t happy with. It was also the brothel’s policy to perform oral sex without a condom.

“If I had the rights back then that sex workers have now, I would have made a difference in this matter and spoken up and advocated for myself in this work,” she said.

Meliciousss says she knows other sex workers who got pregnant and had to keep working until the last minute, only to return to work immediately after the babies were born.

“It’s not healthy. It’s not right that it used to be like this,” she said.

She hopes other countries will follow suit, including Canada, where selling sexual services is legal but buying them is illegal.

Canada also prohibits third parties from promoting, promoting or profiting from sex work. The Supreme Court of Canada is currently hearing arguments on the constitutionality of these laws.

What is the pushback?

But not everyone sees the law as a victory for sex workers, and several feminist organizations have condemned it.

Isala, a non-profit organization that works with street sex workers in Belgium, says prostitution is inherently violent and the law “amounts to normalizing the use of women’s bodies and sexuality”.

Isala argues that this exploitation disproportionately affects undocumented women and girls, who are far less likely to benefit from job contacts.

“On the contrary, the new legislation reinforces the social and psychological isolation in which they already live and, above all, does not respond to the expressed desire of the majority of them: to leave prostitution and leave it with dignity,” the group said. in a press releasetranslated from French.

Jaramillo says the law alone won’t be enough to protect everyone and called for better training for police and courts to protect marginalized workers.

“There’s still a lot to do,” she said.

Meliciousss says she understands this law is not a magic bullet.

“I’m not naive,” she said. “Bad people with no good intentions don’t care about this law. I understand that.”

Still, she says it’s a positive first step that will strengthen rights and legal resources for those who previously had none.

As far as Meliciousss is concerned, sex work has always existed and always will.

“It’s better to regulate it than to just leave people to their own devices,” she said.