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Open day in the Red Light District of Amsterdam |
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Saturday, 31 March 2007 |
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 Amsterdam's sex workers came to work early today to offer a free look into their business in the red-light district.
Hundreds of wide-eyed visitors queued in the sunshine to enter the dimly-lit sex clubs and peep shows that draw thousands to the city and to snoop around sex workers' neon-lit boudoirs.
“I think the open day is a great idea,” said Love, an erotic dancer at Amsterdam's Banana Bar, who was on hand to answer questions and pose for photographs.
“It is especially interesting for women. If they learn what we do here they will realise it is not a big deal if their husbands or boyfriends want to come here.”
Organisers staged the open day to counter bad publicity surrounding the 800-year-old district after reports of organized crime.
More than 30 brothels are fighting closure after officials revoked their licences last year over suspected links to money laundering and drug dealing.
But the district is as big an attraction as Amsterdam's art museums and coffee shops, where marijuana is freely smoked and sold.
Every night visitors throng the streets, to see the sexy women sitting behind huge red-lit windows, and who sell their services for as little as €50 ($82).
 The “open day” in the Red Light District of Amsterdam concludes with the unveiling of a statue to an unknown sex worker, intended to honour those employed in the industry world-wide, including those without the same protection found in the Netherlands, where prostitution is legal.
Amsterdam's window-girls are self-employed tax payers, hiring their own windows at around €110 ($170) per night.
“People who work in the sex industry don't get enough respect,” said Mariska Majoor, a former sex worker who now runs the red-light district's information centre.
“This day is to help break down taboos around prostitution and to create more understanding and respect”
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