Legal prostitution in Amsterdam - Research Paper Example

Legal Prostitution in Amsterdam Home to some of the greatest, majestic and startling tourist destinations on the face of the earth, Amsterdam, lies in the North Holland Province of the country known as Nederland. Amsterdam hosts amazing tourist spots like the Royal palace, Vondel Park and ING House. The city is known as a very popular tourist destination among the denizens of USA, Europe and many other prospective countries of the world. Tourism Industry plays a significant role in providing an extra ordinary boost to the economy of Amsterdam and thus Nederland.

As of 2007 the turnover obtained from the Tourist Industry of Amsterdam alone was a mighty$ 5 billion and the number of jobs created in the sector was approximately 50,000. However one fact that is worth mentioning here is that, nature, architecture and historical aesthetics are not the only tourist attractions that are found in Amsterdam (City of Amsterdam 2008).One of the primary factors that makes Amsterdam an exciting tourist destination among young and hedonistic tourists is the legalized Red Light Districts in the city.

Operating of sex shops and brothels is completely legitimate under the Country jurisdiction. Tens of hundreds of brothels and sex shops operate with a legal license and form a distinctive hallmark of the city’s tourist attractions. Thousands of prostitutes make money out of this profession and feed their bellies and support their families on a daily basis. Prostitution is taken like any other profession in Amsterdam and the prostitutes are not considered to be lower cast human beings to be looked down upon.

The Red Light District is not only famous for the lusty and sensual appeals among the tourists; but it also entails the architecture including the old construction style buildings, large windows, the pink and red color combination of paint on the walls and lights. Red Light District forms a distinctive part of the city. It has glamour, charm, novelty and attraction. Even the people that dislike Red Like Districts will found themselves spell bound and mesmerized with the beauty of the place and admire the scenes if not be a part of them.

Benefits for womenLegalizing prostitution is beneficial for women indeed but to some extent as here we need to consider not only the women that are employed under this profession, but the women in general. Indeed legalizing prostitution is a friendly move for women that are jobless or have to support their remorse-stricken families. But on the social and educational front this move could also prove to be a blunder. Prostitutes usually get good remuneration for the range of services that they offer.

Moreover prostitution is not restricted to sex shops or brothels in fact a good percentage of prostitutes operate from their residences. This ease of operations and flexibility bolstered by the legal authorities for this profession may attract a large number of girls towards it, and may also prevent these girls from persuading ambitious and harder career options such as science and politics. Similarly this could also hamper social and domestic affairs of life. People may ruin their marital lives by indulging themselves into the rows of prostitution as well.

Prostitution Practicing in AmsterdamProstitutes have to get them registered and get a license to operate legally in the city. The customers are required to check the license that contains the registration number of the prostitute and her photograph on it, with no other personal data or information. This is a gallant and thoughtful effort of the legal authorities to ensure the safety of the clients as well as the prostitutes because now this business is being done under predefined codes of conduct.

As the local authorities have awarded legal status to prostitution, the dangers of human trafficking have risen to sky high levels. Since prostitution has become an industry and a profession capitalist mindsets will attract more and more people to become a part of this industry from across the globe and bolster their bottom lines by leaps and bounds. Around thirty thousand prostitutes are registered in Amsterdam and out of this a large majority comes from Eastern Europe, US and Asian regions and this already poses a threat to the authorities (City of Amsterdam 2008).

Interesting Thought acquiredAs an individual I have always believed that there is a thin line between love and lust. When the feelings of lust are combined with the emotions of two people then something unimaginable and inexplicable is produced and that is called Love. However while studying about prostitution and its legal status in Amsterdam I realized that prostitute is a person that sells emotions while the client buys emotions. Throughout my life I never looked at emotions and feelings as things that could be bought or sold in the open market but that’s the reality of a capitalist world order where everything, even feelings and emotions, has become a property that could be bought or sold with convenience.

ReferenceCity of Amsterdam. Research and Statistic Economic Development Department. “Fact Sheet”. 2008. Web. 11 October 2011.