The BBCWarning – Contains sexually explicit material.
“I had to work when I was nine months pregnant,” says Sophie, a sex worker in Belgium. “I was having sex with clients a week before I gave birth.”
She juggles work as a mother of five – which is “really hard”.
When Sophie had her fifth child by caesarean section, she was told she needed six weeks of bed rest. But she says that wasn’t an option, and she immediately went back to work.
“I couldn’t afford to stop because I needed the money.”
Her life would be much easier if she had the right to maternity leave, paid for by her employer.
Under a new law in Belgium – the first of its kind in the world – that will now be the case. Sex workers will be entitled to government employment contracts, health insurance, pensions, maternity leave and sick days. Basically, it will be treated like any other job.
“It’s an opportunity for us to exist as people,” says Sophie.
There are millions of sex workers worldwide. Sex work was decriminalized in Belgium in 2022 and is legal in several countries, including Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey. But the establishment of employment rights and contracts is a world first.
“It’s radical, and it’s the best step we’ve seen anywhere in the world so far,” says Erin Kilbride, a researcher at Human Rights Watch. “We need every country to move in that direction.”
UTSOPICritics say the trade leads to trafficking, exploitation and abuse – which the law will not prevent.
“It’s dangerous because it normalizes a profession that is always violent,” says Julia Cromier, a volunteer with Isla – an NGO that helps street sex workers in Belgium.
For many sex workers, a job is a necessity, and the law can’t come soon enough.
Mel is horrified when she is forced to give oral sex to a client without a condom, knowing that a sexually transmitted infection (STI) is circulating in the room. But he felt he had no choice.
“My choice was either to spread disease, or to make money.”
She became a bodyguard when she was 23 – she needed the money, and she quickly began to earn more than expected. He thought he had struck gold, but the STI experience quickly brought him back down to earth.
Mel would now be able to refuse any client or sexual act that made her feel uncomfortable – meaning she could have handled the situation differently.
“I could point the finger at my madam. [employer] And said: ‘You are violating these terms and you must treat me as such.’ I would have been legally protected.”
Belgium’s decision to change the law in 2022 was the result of months of protests, due to a lack of state support during the Covid pandemic.
One of the foremost was Victoria, president of the Belgian Union of Sex Workers (UTSOPI) and previously an escort for 12 years.
It was a personal battle for him. Victoria sees prostitution as a social service, with only 10 percent of what she does being sexual.
“It’s paying attention to people, listening to their stories, eating cake with them, dancing to waltz music,” she explains. “Ultimately, it’s about loneliness.”
But the illegality of its employment before 2022 poses significant challenges. He worked in precarious conditions, with no power to take a large cut of his earnings from his clients and his agency.
In fact, Victoria says she was abused by a client who became her obsession.
She went to a police station, where she says the female officer was “very strict” with her.
“He told me sex workers can’t be raped. He made me feel like it was my fault, because I did it.” Victoria left the station crying.
Every sex worker we spoke to told us that at some point they had been pressured to do something against their will.
Because of this, Victoria strongly believes that this new law will improve their lives.
“If there’s no law and what you’re doing is illegal, there’s no protocol to help you. This law gives people the tools to keep us safe.
Controlled sex work pimps will be allowed to operate legally under the new law – provided they follow strict rules. No person who has been convicted of a serious crime shall be permitted to employ sex workers.
“I think a lot of businesses will have to close, because a lot of employers have criminal records,” says Chris Rickmans. He and his wife, Alexandra, run a massage parlor on Love Street in the small town of Bequivoort.
Among the massages they offer clients are “tantra” and “double bliss”.
It’s completely sold out when we go – not what we were expecting for a Monday morning. We are shown meticulously furnished rooms with massage beds, fresh towels and robes, hot tubs and a swimming pool.
Chris and his wife employ 15 sex workers, and pride themselves on treating them with respect, protecting them and paying them well.
“I hope that the bad employers will be closed and the good people, who want to do this profession honestly, will stay – and the better,” he says.
Erin Kilbride of Human Rights Watch takes a similar view – and says that, by imposing restrictions on employers, the new law would “significantly erode their power over sex workers”.
But Julia Cromeyer says the vast majority of women she helps just want help leaving the profession and getting “regular jobs” — not labor rights.
“It’s about not being outside in freezing weather and having sex with strangers who pay for access to your body.”
Under the new Belgian law, every room where sex services are provided must be equipped with an alarm button that will connect a sex worker to their “reference person”.
But Julia believes there is no way to make sex work safer.
“What other job would you need a panic button for? It’s not the world’s oldest profession, it’s the world’s oldest exploitation.
How to regulate the sex industry remains a divisive issue globally. But for Mel, bringing her out of the shadows can only help women.
“I’m very proud that Belgium is so far ahead,” she says. “I have a future now.”
Some names have been changed to protect people.