Belgian sex workers get maternity and sick leave, a milestone in labor rights

() – Sex workers in Belgium are now entitled to formal employment contracts, including sick pay and maternity leave, under a landmark law that came into force on Sunday.

According to the law As Belgian lawmakers approved in May, sex workers who sign such a contract will also be entitled to a range of other rights and protections that typically apply to workers employed in other industries, such as health insurance and benefits. unemployment.

“This is a world first in the sense that it is the first comprehensive legislative framework that gives sex workers equal rights (to other employees) and protects them from the risks inherent to the (work),” Daan Bauwens, told . director of the Belgian Union of Sex Workers.

Sex workers who sign a formal employment contract are now guaranteed “all kinds of social protection” for most employees in Belgium, according to Quentin Deltour, public relations manager at Espace P, a group that advocates for workers’ rights. sex in Belgium and who helped draft the law.

Under the law, sex workers also have the right to refuse to provide services to a client or to perform a specific sexual act and to stop any activity at any time.

The new law requires employers of sex workers to obtain a license from the government, Deltour told . Licenses are only granted if the potential employer meets certain criteria, including having no prior convictions for rape or human trafficking.

The law also imposes obligations on employers of sex workers, requiring them to provide condoms, clean bedding, and an emergency alarm button in workers’ rooms, among other duties.

Previously, Deltour said, many sex workers signed contracts with their employers or pimps, but these documents were “worthless” because working as a pimp was illegal.

These contracts had the same legal validity as those that facilitated the delivery of illegal drugs, Deltour explained. If a person signs a contract promising to deliver “one kilogram of cocaine every week” and does not do so, they cannot be legally penalized for failing to comply with that contract. “The judge is going to say, ‘No, this contract has no value,’” Deltour said.

Sex workers around the world face widespread discrimination, violence and other violations of their human rights.

While a handful of countries have legalized sex work (such as Germany and the Netherlands), in the vast majority of other nations it remains illegal to buy or sell sex, or both, according to the Global Network of Sex Work Projects, an international association of sex worker groups.

The new law in Belgium comes two years after the country decriminalized sex work and repealed laws that prohibited third parties, such as owners and accountants, from providing their services to sex workers.

According to the Belgian Union of Sex Workers, these laws made it “impossible to carry out work normally and safely.” “Employers were also criminalized, making it impossible to work legally in a brothel.”

Decriminalization in Belgium “eliminated any kind of criminal sanction for the buyer or seller” of sex, Erin Kilbride, a researcher at Human Rights Watch, a US-based nonprofit, told . That was a crucial step to protect sex workers from violence, for example, but it did not give them access to social security.

“(Decriminalization) gets you to a point where you are allowed to live above ground without fear of going to prison, but that is a low standard,” he said. “Sex workers deserve the same rights and freedoms as all workers, and this law is a world first that takes us in that direction.”

The new law, however, does not cover all types of sex workers. For example, it excludes those who work independently, online or in pornographic films, Deltour said.

“This is a weakness,” he said. “But at least it is a first step, the door is open… we are at the door and now we are going to fight for the rights of others.”