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Project 1012

Project 1012 is a Dutch government initiative that aims to 'clean-up' De Wallen, Amsterdam's red-light district, through new housing and enterprise projects that would drive out organized crime. Ideas include high-end or luxury boutiques, cafés, and art galleries intended to attract tourists of a higher social class. Two projects have already gained lead since is 2007 announcement, specifically the Red Light Radio Station and the Red Light Secrets Museum.

Image of the infamous Red Light Secrets Museum of Prostitution in De Wallen, Amsterdam, one of the forward initiatives of Project 1012.

Determined to eliminate crime in De Wallen, the Netherlands forced brothel owners to sell their leases, given that all land in the country is already owned by the government. But prostitution rings were still performing business, thanks to the legalization of prostitution, and such government acts only increased the wealth of brothel owners without criminalization. There is no public evidence of how much the government paid for such leases. More than 100 windows have closed as an effort to 'crackdown on crime.'

According to the Project 1012 coordinator, Joris Bokhove: "We try to support young entrepreneurs as much as we can, although our resources are limited. In some cases we have been able to subsidize startups, and real estate partners are willing to lower the rent for the startup period. We connect entrepreneurs with each other to encourage new partnerships, and actively involve them in the development of the neighborhood."

Criticisms of Gentrification

Scene of the 'windows' in De Wallen, which are closing as Project 1012 continues to be enacted.

The initiative has been criticized as an attempt at gentrification, or renovation of poorer neighborhoods to accommodate large influxes of wealthier populations. More expensive infrastructure, as a result, has led to the displacement of communities, often those consisting of people of color or of lower-income, who cannot otherwise afford to work or live in the area. Specifically in the Netherlands, sex workers do not benefit from Project 1012 as they are unable to sell leases, because they do not own them. Criticisms surround this issue, in particular, since Project 1012 was initially advertised to benefit the prostitutes working in the area, not the property lease owners.

"Closing the windows makes it harder for sex workers to find work," says Felicia, a sex worker from Romania who runs the popular blog Behind the Red Light District and works in the windows around Oude Kerk, just a few doors down from the Prostitution Information Center (PIC).

However, there are complications to enacting Project 1012, since De Wallen is one of the most well-known areas of Amsterdam and is deemed infamous to worldwide tourist communities.

Protests against Project 1012

More than 200 sex workers marched and protested against the 'closing of windows' and Project 1012 in April 2015. This was the largest protest concerning sex worker issues in Dutch history. Criticisms detail issues with the government using 'human trafficking' as an excuse to gentrify the region. Perpetrators of human trafficking are said to be benefiting more than the sex workers themselves as they must sell their leases to the government as a part of Project 1012. Dutch non-profit organizations that work with human trafficking victims have also criticized Project 1012 for making work less accessible to more vulnerable, newer-to-the-industry sex workers.