A three times 50 minute documentary with the title ‘A clean sweep for the Red-light district’ (De Bezem door de Wallen) is broadcasted on March 19 and 26, and the 2nd of April 2012 by the Dutch public TV program NCRV Dokument.
In the summer of 2007 the Amsterdam city council developed an ambitious plan to stop what the council calls ‘criminality in and the degradation of the red light district’. The new policy – with the name ‘Project 1012’ has the goal to close a large part of the prostitution windows and coffee shops and to attract more chic visitors and less cannabis smoking backpackers.
This policy has serious consequences for the companies that rent windows to prostitutes and for the owners of coffee shops, gambling halls and sex theatres.
In this documentary trilogy Frans Bromet follows threatened entrepreneurs to find out what the effect is of the radical policy for the famous Red-light district in Amsterdam. He also runs after the local politicians and civil servants that are responsible for the far reaching policy.
More information about the series
One of the main pillars under the 1012 project is fighting forced prostitution. To this end, the Amsterdam municipality wants to close almost half of the prostitution houses. Joop and Ronnie Joinking are among the window operators threatened with closure. Father Joop, formerly a window cleaner, started in the business when he and his wife were able to buy a prostitution business. He and his son Ronnie now own 15 windows.
One of their clients is sex worker Rosa. Joop, Ronnie and Rosa say they have never noticed forced prostitution. Officer of the vice police Harold van Gelder, Heleen Driessen of the Amsterdam Human Trafficking Coordination Point and Mariska van Huissteden of the Prostitution and Health Centre tell that there are indeed victims of human trafficking behind the windows. Window hire Sonia says she has regularly helped girls get out of the trade. Yet she also often sees these girls coming back again. ‘Out of love for their pimp, the girls will do anything. But what kind of love is that?’
Cindy is a sex worker who enjoys her work. She enjoys the intimate contact she has with men and shows off what is on her price list. Cindy used to be in a window owned by Charles Geerts, at the time the biggest window operator in the Red Light District. Geert’s windows were bought up by the housing corporation Stadsgoed to be put to a ‘high-end’ use. Currently, fashion designers work there, displaying their work behind the former prostitution windows.
Asked whether closing prostitution windows helps combat trafficking in women, Cindy says: ‘There will soon be too few windows for prostitutes and they will start working in the illegal circuit, making it more difficult to control abuses.
For this documentary series Featurez proposed the idea, gave advice, did the research, set-up, and planning, accompanied the filming, did the sound and extra filming.
The three episodes of ‘A clean sweep for the Red-light district’ are published on the Featurez.com video page.