Susanna Domosi:
One aspect of the red light district of Amsterdam is the “wholly liberal and tolerant attitude” of the place. Amsterdam is known and built on a liberal and tolerant attitude when it comes to all aspects of life, therefore the red light district in the city is completely legal. The honesty of people enjoying soft drugs, sex, and pornography is a quality unparalleled to most places around the world. Prostitution was not always legal in Amsterdam, but in modern day, prostitution is seen as a legal job where people working in the industry even have to pay taxes for their work. There is still much discrimination towards people working in the industry, such as banks not wanting to give workers loans, but Amsterdam and its red light district as a whole is one of the most liberal places when it comes to sex in the world.
Jiwoo Han:
There is one interesting aspect in Amsterdam’s Red Light District which is the statistics in the area. This area is especially known for sex shops and cannabis coffee shops. From these commercial activities, they have their unique statistics in the area. There are people living in this area, 8060 people who do not work in the red light district, to be more exact. Most of them range from 18 to 35 years old. Furthermore, more interestingly, there are around 200 children living in this area. It is easy to think that the dropout rate for the children is relatively high in this area when compared to other areas without the red light district. But, it was the complete opposite. Only 7% of the student drops out of school in the area and 81% have a basic education. There are also a lot of people who work in the red light district, 20,075 people. This number of people is much bigger than the number of people who do not work in the red light district. In addition to that, this area contains about 250 cultural facilities such as The Old Church and the Hash Marihuana Hemp Museum. Based on statistics, it is tricky to say whether this area is mixed harmoniously or disharmoniously.
Daphne Young:
The prostitutes of Amsterdam’s red light district are generally below the age of 30, they range from single, in relationships, married, with or without kids, from different social and family backgrounds. They must be at least 18 years old and their clients must be at least 16 years old. Generally, prostitutes are their own boss. Although pimping is also legal most prostitutes will deny that they have a pimp. Prostitutes rent rooms for the day and/or night and discuss prices with clients prior to the job. During the day renting a small room would cost on average about 85 euros while at night renting one would cost on average 115 euros. On average, prostitutes in this red light district charge about 30 euros for 15-20 minutes of sexual intercourse. More than half the clients are foreigners and most of the clients range from 25 to 45 years old. Although prostitution is legal some prostitutes may find themselves in undesirable situations, most of the rooms that are rented out have buttons that when pressed will alert the police.
4 responses so far ↓
j.azcue // Mar 2nd 2017 at 10:48 pm
Continuing the discusion of my classmates, I completely agree with Sussane’s statement, “The honesty of people enjoying soft drugs, sex, and pornography is a quality unparalleled to most places around the world”. I think she defines with the most concrete words the main reason why most people travel to Amsterdam. It provides the perfect atmosphere for tourist to experience such a bizzare and soemtimes prohibited activities. Jiwoo continued with some very interesting statistics which I also finded surprising. I guess that by legalizing such activities and having a more notorious role in the area it creates a more controled environment because even though these substances and activities are legal, rules in Netherlands are very strict and followed by their population.
j.moreno1 // Mar 3rd 2017 at 12:23 am
Jiwoo Han, you bring up a great point with the statistics you shared about the community of Amsterdam’s Red Light District. One thing that stood out to me the most was the children that live in the area. It is interesting to study the statistics and find out that the district has not had such a big impact on the children of the community. Being raised in a less liberal home, I do not think I would feel comfortable raising my children in a community where obscene things are the norm. This discussion on Amsterdam’s red light district is interesting and something I’ll have to check out when I visit next month.
yy155739 // Mar 3rd 2017 at 2:31 am
I thought the idea of the “wholly liberal and tolerant attitude” of the Amsterdam red light district to be an interesting aspect that was discussed. The idea of the place being unlike anywhere else in the world due to this is an engaging thought. It makes me curious to wonder why it’s only in this one district that the idea of these crimes are so welcomed. Is it the people? Is the way that they’re raised? Is there a positive stigma towards the concept? And overall, is this a good or a bad thing for the neighborhood as well as the city? I feel like these questions could provoke a lot of insight.
m.santos4 // Mar 3rd 2017 at 12:33 pm
I found Daphne’s research on the prostitution that goes on in Amsterdam’s red light district interesting. The age limit for clients is ‘at least’ 16 years old, where one can say is extremely young. According to her research, the cost for 15-20 minutes of sexual intercourse is 30 euros, or one night would be around 115 which is roughly 31 or 122 dollars, which is also the common price in the United States. To my knowledge, I knew prostitution occurred in Amsterdam but I never went in depth about their prices, age limit, or even the fact that they have a “safety button” in the rooms they rent out. Whenever I think of Amsterdam, old fashioned, friendly, and a marijuana- legal neighborhood.
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