Belgium has become the first country in the world to grant sex workers the same labor rights as other professions, including access to maternity leave, pensions, health insurance, and paid vacations. The groundbreaking law, which officially took effect on Sunday, allows sex workers to sign formal employment contracts, ensuring benefits like sick pay and unemployment assistance.
The law also introduces fundamental rights for sex workers, such as the ability to decline clients, set their own working conditions, and stop an act at any moment. These measures aim to provide a safer and more dignified work environment.
“I am a very proud Belgium sex worker right now,” said Mel Meliciousss, a member of UTSOPI, the Belgian union of sex workers, in an Instagram post. She highlighted how these protections ensure better safety and awareness of rights within the industry.
Belgium had already avoided criminalizing sex work itself, focusing instead on prosecuting brothels and third-party facilitators like landlords and drivers. However, in 2022, lawmakers voted to decriminalize sex work entirely. This new legislation builds on that decision, offering comprehensive protections to workers.
Employers are now required to meet strict standards, including obtaining authorization and maintaining safe, clean premises equipped with panic buttons. Employers cannot dismiss workers for refusing a client or specific act.
For years, Belgium’s sex worker union, UTSOPI, has campaigned for these changes, highlighting how the lack of labor protections forced many workers to continue during pregnancy or beyond retirement age. “This law is a huge step forward, ending legal discrimination against sex workers by allowing a full-fledged contract,” the union stated when the law passed in May.
Notably, the protections apply only to formally employed sex workers, excluding self-employed workers and those in related industries like pornography or striptease. Despite this limitation, Belgium’s reforms surpass those of other nations such as New Zealand, the Netherlands, and parts of Australia, which have decriminalized sex work but lack comparable labor protections.
