Belgium made history on Sunday as the first country in the world to allow sex workers to sign formal employment contracts, granting them access to sick leave, maternity pay, and pension benefits.
The new law also ensures fundamental rights for sex workers, including the right to refuse clients, set conditions for their services, and stop an act at any time.
Although lawmakers passed the law in May, it officially came into effect on Sunday.
“I am a very proud Belgium sex worker right now,” Mel Meliciousss, who is part of the Belgian union of sex workers, UTSOPI, said on her Instagram. “People who are already working in the industry will be much more protect[ed], and also people who are going to work in the industry also know what their rights are.”
In Belgium, offering or paying for sexual services was already legal, with laws primarily targeting brothels and third parties involved in sex work, such as landlords, bankers, and drivers, who were often accused of “pimping.”
In 2022, Belgian lawmakers voted to decriminalize sex work and redefine pimping to ensure sex workers could access services like banking, insurance, and accounting without difficulty, according to UTSOPI.
The new law goes a step further by granting sex workers labor rights and protections equivalent to those in other professions. This includes access to pensions, unemployment benefits, health insurance, family benefits, paid vacation, and maternity leave.
Employers are now required to obtain authorization and meet background checks, ensuring no history of convictions related to sexual assault, human trafficking, or fraud. Additionally, employers must maintain clean, sanitary premises equipped with a panic button and are prohibited from firing employees who refuse a client or particular act.
These changes, which have been years in the making, were spearheaded by the sex worker union. Prior to this, workers often felt pressured to continue working well into pregnancy or beyond retirement age due to the lack of access to such benefits.
“This law is a huge step forward, ending legal discrimination against sex workers by allowing a full-fledged contract,” the group said back in May.
These protections are available only to sex workers who sign formal employment contracts, not to those who are self-employed. Additionally, the law does not extend to individuals involved in pornography or striptease.
Prostitution has been decriminalized in a few countries worldwide, including New Zealand, the Netherlands, and certain regions of Australia. However, Belgium stands alone in offering such comprehensive labor protections for sex workers.
In the U.S., Nevada is the only state where brothels are legal, though prostitution outside these licensed establishments remains illegal. Recently, states like New York and California decriminalized loitering with the intent to engage in sex work. Last year, Maine lifted penalties for selling sexual services but kept laws in place that penalize those purchasing such services.