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Authors: Ronald Weitzer
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red-light district, in other parts of the city. In this book, a red-light district is defined as an area where sexually oriented businesses are clustered and does not include areas where prostitution is confined to street-level transactions.
Scholars are just beginning to draw connections between the social ecology of different red-light areas and the experiences and perceptions of workers, clients, residents, and visitors. These structural-experiential links are explored in the book with the help of ethnographic material on the three red-light landscapes. In addition, the social structure of a commercial sex district can have important public-policy implications. Different kinds of arrangements present unique challenges for authorities responsible for maintaining order and public safety; they affect workers and clients in different ways; they are more or less likely to generate complaints from local residents and merchants; and they influence whether the commercial sex sector will become politicized and perhaps subjected to greater restrictions. Comparativeanalysis of different cases can help in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of various models and contribute to the larger enterprise of identifying best practices in the legal regulation of prostitution, a theme explored in the book’s conclusion.
I conducted countless hours of street observations in the three cities: photographing and mapping the configuration of businesses in each red-light area; recording observations of people on the street and their interactions with each other and with local sex workers; and talking with some workers in each setting. I conducted in-depth interviews with key players, including government officials, brothel and window owners, and sex worker advocates. The data are more extensive for Amsterdam and Frankfurt than for Antwerp, largely because Antwerp’s red-light district is small, fairly isolated, and single purpose, whereas the other two are major commercial sex emporiums and thus more complex and challenging study sites. I have studied Amsterdam (and other Dutch cities) for more than a decade, whereas my fieldwork in Antwerp and Frankfurt was more limited and more recent. My ethnographic data are presented in conjunction with information from other sources, including government documents, newspaper reports, scholarly articles, public opinion polls, and online discussion boards where clients converse about their experiences in and observations of the various red-light districts.
The field research would not have been possible without the assistance and insights of local experts and friends who have helped me tremendously over the years. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sietske Altink, Frank Bovenkerk, Sander Flight, Juanita Henning, Lorraine Nencel, Joyce Outshoorn, Maurice Punch, Marieke van Doorninck, Jan Visser, Henk Wagenaar, Gerhard Walentowitz, and Hans Willems. These experts informed me about policy changes, shared their own research findings, and advised me on practical matters, such as whom to interview and how to gain access to them. I am extremely indebted to my interviewees in Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Frankfurt as well as the individuals in the sex industry who provided information but were not formally interviewed. Juanita Henning deserves special thanks, for helping me arrange and conduct interviews in Frankfurt. The Frankfurt data would have been very thin had it not been for her extraordinary help and insights. Additional help with the German situation was provided by Gerhard Walentowitz, who clarified many issues for me.
Shannon Dolan served as my research assistant during the final years of the project and deserves special thanks. Michael Goodyear, Christine Milrod, John Dombrink, Henk Wagenaar, Gerhard Walentowitz, Sander Flight,Hans Willems, Sietske Altink, and Kathy Guidroz read various chapters and provided extremely valuable feedback, as did the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. Finally, my wonderful
Scholars are just beginning to draw connections between the social ecology of different red-light areas and the experiences and perceptions of workers, clients, residents, and visitors. These structural-experiential links are explored in the book with the help of ethnographic material on the three red-light landscapes. In addition, the social structure of a commercial sex district can have important public-policy implications. Different kinds of arrangements present unique challenges for authorities responsible for maintaining order and public safety; they affect workers and clients in different ways; they are more or less likely to generate complaints from local residents and merchants; and they influence whether the commercial sex sector will become politicized and perhaps subjected to greater restrictions. Comparativeanalysis of different cases can help in assessing the strengths and weaknesses of various models and contribute to the larger enterprise of identifying best practices in the legal regulation of prostitution, a theme explored in the book’s conclusion.
I conducted countless hours of street observations in the three cities: photographing and mapping the configuration of businesses in each red-light area; recording observations of people on the street and their interactions with each other and with local sex workers; and talking with some workers in each setting. I conducted in-depth interviews with key players, including government officials, brothel and window owners, and sex worker advocates. The data are more extensive for Amsterdam and Frankfurt than for Antwerp, largely because Antwerp’s red-light district is small, fairly isolated, and single purpose, whereas the other two are major commercial sex emporiums and thus more complex and challenging study sites. I have studied Amsterdam (and other Dutch cities) for more than a decade, whereas my fieldwork in Antwerp and Frankfurt was more limited and more recent. My ethnographic data are presented in conjunction with information from other sources, including government documents, newspaper reports, scholarly articles, public opinion polls, and online discussion boards where clients converse about their experiences in and observations of the various red-light districts.
The field research would not have been possible without the assistance and insights of local experts and friends who have helped me tremendously over the years. I owe a huge debt of gratitude to Sietske Altink, Frank Bovenkerk, Sander Flight, Juanita Henning, Lorraine Nencel, Joyce Outshoorn, Maurice Punch, Marieke van Doorninck, Jan Visser, Henk Wagenaar, Gerhard Walentowitz, and Hans Willems. These experts informed me about policy changes, shared their own research findings, and advised me on practical matters, such as whom to interview and how to gain access to them. I am extremely indebted to my interviewees in Amsterdam, Antwerp, and Frankfurt as well as the individuals in the sex industry who provided information but were not formally interviewed. Juanita Henning deserves special thanks, for helping me arrange and conduct interviews in Frankfurt. The Frankfurt data would have been very thin had it not been for her extraordinary help and insights. Additional help with the German situation was provided by Gerhard Walentowitz, who clarified many issues for me.
Shannon Dolan served as my research assistant during the final years of the project and deserves special thanks. Michael Goodyear, Christine Milrod, John Dombrink, Henk Wagenaar, Gerhard Walentowitz, Sander Flight,Hans Willems, Sietske Altink, and Kathy Guidroz read various chapters and provided extremely valuable feedback, as did the anonymous reviewers of the manuscript. Finally, my wonderful
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