A new Belgian law addressing sexual and labor exploitation came into force on December 1. The law follows years of human rights advocacy by community experts Utsopi, Violett, and Espace P, and responds to some of the worst forms of violence and discrimination faced by people who sell sexual services.
First, the law provides access to social security for workers who sign employment contracts. Belgium decriminalized sex work in 2022, in line with policy recommendations from several UN bodies. Research consistently shows that criminalization increases sex workers’ risk of murder and police abuse, and impacts on their ability to secure housing, while having no demonstrable impact on eradicating trafficking.
Decriminalization is a data-backed policy solution which mitigates a wide range of abuses, but decriminalization alone doesn’t guarantee people access to social security, which is also a human right. A 2015 International Labour Organization (ILO) Recommendation called on states to extend “social security, maternity protection [and] decent working conditions” to informal workers. Belgium’s new law allows workers to sign employment contracts with vetted establishments, which, under Belgium’s social security system, would give them access to health insurance, unemployment support, paid vacation, parental leave, and pensions. Unfortunately, however, the law does not extend these benefits to self-employed workers.
Second, the law establishes specific rights for contracted employees and strict requirements for employers. Workers can refuse clients, stop services at any time, and impose conditions on how they perform services. Employers must undergo background checks and provide a clean work environment.
I’ve interviewed sex workers and survivors of sexual exploitation – groups which intersect but are not synonymous – in dozens of countries. Most cases of sexual exploitation I’ve documented involve people who consented to selling sex, but did not consent to abuses they experienced working in unregulated conditions. In practice, sexual exploitation can take the form of wage theft, forced relocation, punishment for taking breaks, unhygienic conditions, and a lack of autonomy over how many clients they see. Belgium’s law tackles these abuses head on, a testament to the fact sex workers were in the room when it was drafted.
For the law to live up to its potential, Belgian authorities should ensure that workers who cannot or do not wish to sign employment contracts – such as undocumented or street-based sex workers – are not subjected to increased policing or harassment. The government should focus on upholding and protecting the rights and labor protections for those sex workers with employment contracts rather than penalizing or punishing those without.
