ABSTRACT
On 1 October 2000, the Netherlands decriminalised the sex industry by lifting the general ban on brothels in the Criminal Code (CC). Since then, the Dutch Penal Code no longer treats organising the prostitution of adult persons as a crime – provided it is done with the consent of the sex worker. It is legal to operate a sex business when it takes place on a consensual basis and involves persons above 18 years of age. 1 There was no new national prostitution law: regulation of the sex industry was left to the municipalities through the introduction of local licensing systems.
