Amsterdam’s Mayor Femke Halsema is considering plans to cover up the city’s 330 infamous red light windows.
In March it was also announced that Amsterdam will ban guided tours around its brothel areas from January 2020.
Deputy Mayor Udo Kock said it was no longer appropriate to see prostitution “as a tourist attraction”.
Proposals
Mayor Helsema, who has concerns about human trafficking, is bringing a series of proposals before the council.
These include, closing the curtains of brothels so that prostitutes are no longer visible from the street, and relocating brothels outside of tourist zones.
Prostitution was legalised in the Netherlands in 2000.
Currently, more than 1,000 groups visit the brothel areas of Amsterdam every week, with around 28 tours an hour every evening.
‘Strong policy’
This month, Mayor Helsema will hold meeting with residents, business workers and prostitutes, and in September the proposals will be discussed with the city council.
One resident of the area, Bert Nap, said: “Now we need a strong city government that dares to make strong policy.”
“Residents have called for this for a long time, and I believe they will be moved entirely from the city centre.”
“People come with the idea that anything goes in Amsterdam, and you have to stop that.”