Sex Workers in Belgium granted Employment Rights

Sex workers in Belgium have been granted full employment rights, including maternity pay, sick days and pensions.

The new law, which came into force on December 1, 2024, puts them on par with those in other professions in a legal breakthrough some supporters are calling a “revolution”.

Sex workers can now sign employment contracts and have been granted fundamental rights including being able to refuse clients, choose their practices, and stop an act at any moment.

Belgium decriminalised sex work in 2022, and while countries such as Germany and the Netherlands have legalised sex work, none have implemented labour protections as comprehensive as Belgium’s.

The legislation establishes rules on working hours, pay and safety measures, as well as granting sex workers access to health insurance, paid leave, maternity benefits, unemployment support and pensions.

It also places duties on employers, who must provide clean linen, condoms, and hygiene products, and install emergency buttons in workspaces.

Anyone wishing to employ sex workers now has to obtain authorisation, adhere to strict safety protocols, and meet background requirements, including no prior convictions for sexual assault or human trafficking.

Isabelle Jaramillo, co-ordinator of Espace P, an advocacy group involved in drafting the legislation, said:

“This is an incredible step forward.

“It means their profession can finally be recognised as legitimate by the Belgian state.

“From the employer’s perspective, this will also be a revolution. They’ll have to apply for a state authorisation to hire sex workers.

“Under the previous legislation, hiring someone for sex work automatically made you a pimp, even if the arrangement was consensual.”

Independent sex work remains permitted, but unregulated third-party hiring or violations of the legal framework will be prosecuted.

The protections do not cover home working, or activities such as striptease and pornography.

The Belgian Union of Sex Workers described the law as “a huge step forward, ending legal discrimination against sex workers”.

But it said the rules could “be instrumentalised” to reduce or eliminate sex work.

It added: “We already see certain municipalities hiding behind the words ‘safety’ and ‘hygiene’ to promulgate very strict local regulations that make sex work almost impossible on their territory.”

Emphasising the need for better police and judicial training to protect undocumented sex workers, Ms Jaramillo added:

“There’s still a lot of work to be done.”

Some feminist organisations have criticised the new law.

When the bill was published in 2023, the Council of Francophone Women of Belgium said it would be “catastrophic” for young girls and victims of trafficking.

The head of the organisation said: “To assume that prostitution exists and that we must protect workers is to accept this sexist violence and not to fight it.”