Belgian sex workers granted maternity pay, pensions

Carl Deconinck

Belgium has given sex workers full employment rights, including sick leave, maternity pay and pensions.

They can now work as employees and build up social rights with an official employment contract.

Many countries have decriminalised sex work but granting them full employment rights goes further.

“We could never have imagined reaching this milestone so soon,” Daan Bauwens of Utsopi, the Belgian advocacy group for sex workers, said of the move, passed by lawmakers in May but which took official effect on December 1.

Under the bill, Belgium considers sex work the same as any other form of employment.

Sex workers who enter into an employment contract with a recognised employer gain access to social security, can take maternity leave, are entitled to sick days and can accrue pension rights.

Employers are now required to obtain authorisation and meet background requirements, such as having no prior convictions for sexual assault, human trafficking or fraud. They are also required to ensure their premises are clean, sanitary and equipped with a panic button and are prohibited from dismissing an employee who refuses a client, according to news outlet npr on December 1.

It also, in theory, limits who can be an employer, avoiding exploitation, news outlet VRT NWS reported.

Those who employ sex workers without recognition risk prosecution.

It is hoped the rules will lead to a safer workplace environment for prostitutes and has been supported by progressive human rights organisations, who called for other nations to follow the Belgian example.

Employers are also obliged to equip workspaces with an alarm system and provide mobile alarm devices for sex workers who operate off-site. They also have to provide clean linen, condoms and hygiene products.

Additionally, sex workers have the right to refuse clients, decline specific acts, or stop any sexual activity at any time. They are also entitled to perform sexual acts according to their own terms and conditions.

Isabelle Jaramillo of the advocacy group Espace P, said: “This is a revolution, even for employers. Under the previous law, hiring someone to perform sex work automatically made you a pimp, even if it was done with mutual consent.

“And for sex workers, it means their profession is finally being recognised as legitimate by the Belgian Government.”

Mel Meliciousss, who is part of the Belgian union of sex workers, UTSOPI, said on her Instagram: “I am a very proud Belgium sex worker right now.

“People who are already working in the industry will be much more protect[ed], and also people who are going to work in the industry also know what their rights are.”

According to the Belgian newspaper Het Laatste Nieuws recently, it was expected that around 5,000 sex workers would start working under an employment contract. Self-employed sex work will also remain permitted.

Only adults are allowed to enter into an employment contract as a sex worker and such work cannot be undertaken by someone whose primary occupation is a student, nor can it be undertaken as part of a flexible job arrangement or casual work.