{"id":346,"date":"2021-06-23T19:38:00","date_gmt":"2021-06-23T19:38:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/?p=346"},"modified":"2026-11-10T16:54:36","modified_gmt":"2026-11-10T16:54:36","slug":"a-forced-farewell-to-de-baan-five-sex-workers-share-their-thoughts","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/articles\/a-forced-farewell-to-de-baan-five-sex-workers-share-their-thoughts\/","title":{"rendered":"A forced farewell to de Baan: five sex workers share their thoughts"},"content":{"rendered":"<ul class=\"wpm-language-switcher wpm-switcher-list\">\r\n\t\t\t<li class=\"wpm-item-language-en\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\" data-lang=\"en\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-multilang\/flags\/gb.png\" alt=\"English (UK)\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>English (UK)<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t<li class=\"wpm-item-language-nl\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<a href=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/nl\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\" data-lang=\"nl\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-multilang\/flags\/nl.png\" alt=\"Nederlands\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Nederlands<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/a>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t\t\t<li class=\"wpm-item-language-es active\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span data-lang=\"es\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/plugins\/wp-multilang\/flags\/es.png\" alt=\"Espagnol\">\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<span>Espagnol<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t\t<\/span>\r\n\t\t\t\t\t<\/li>\r\n\t<\/ul>\r\n\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">As of July 1<sup>st<\/sup>, 2021, street prostitution will be prohibited in Utrecht. After 37 years, the designated zone for street-based work at the Europalaan will be closed. For years, sex workers at de Baan and social workers from HAP,&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.belle-hulpverlening.nl\/english\/\">the zone\u2019s walk-in living room<\/a>, have fought relentlessly against this closure. Nevertheless, the municipality of Utrecht is the municipality of Utrecht, and they drop their sex workers as hard as usual.&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.utrecht.nl\/ondernemen\/prostitutie\/tippelzone\/\">There is no other location to replace the zone, and sex workers will not be compensated for their loss of income<\/a>.<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">The zone started in the 80s to regulate the sex work of women using drugs in Utrecht. It also provides a workspace for trans and migrant sex workers based in Utrecht and sex workers based outside of Utrecht. To be allowed to work, sex workers need a permit from the municipality, which favors sex workers from Utrecht. For every permit granted to a worker living in Utrecht, two workers from outside Utrecht are allowed to work. The fewer the Utrecht sex workers, the fewer the permits issued to sex workers from outside Utrecht.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">For many sex workers, the service road between Praxis and De Stadstuin has been their regular spot for years. Some moved there after the municipality had banned window-based sex work at &#8216;t Zandpad and the Hardebollenstraat. Others work there from time to time. We asked them what they are leaving behind and what they will miss the most about de Baan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Lorena<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I can start working whenever I want, with whoever I want. Since I don&#8217;t have to pay for a window, I can also leave whenever I want. It&#8217;s a nice place to earn my money. I get along with my colleagues, and the people from HAP are lovely. When something happens, they are always willing to help. Once a year, they organize a barbeque. There is food, and everyone will join. It&#8217;s a real party! Working with clients is a way for me to practice my Dutch. That may sound strange, but when I came here, I didn&#8217;t speak the language at all. By talking to customers, my vocabulary became a lot better. That was really handy.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text is-stacked-on-mobile\"><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-insightde-baanhap1.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-348 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-insightde-baanhap1.jpg 720w, https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-insightde-baanhap1-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 720px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I don&#8217;t know yet what I am going to do after the closure. I&#8217;m trying not to think about it. I also don&#8217;t understand why we must leave entirely. It&#8217;s unfair. When we heard we had to close, that was already terrible news, and then Corona came on top of it. We thought we had a year and a half left, but eventually, we were open only for five more months. That promised time was stolen from us, and we are not getting this time back. The municipality won&#8217;t even give us some extra time until the end of the year, for example. It is so incredibly unjust.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\"><\/p>\n<\/div><\/div>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Patricia<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I live nearby, so the zone is practically around the corner. I also worked at the Keileweg in Rotterdam, but that closed years ago. In Utrecht, you had to wait at least two months to get a permit. I tried working in The Hague and Amsterdam windows, but that is not for me; I get claustrophobic in such spaces. I&#8217;d rather be outside. I get along with the other sex workers, though I prefer to work alone. If a colleague comes to chat with me, I like it, but not for too long. Because I am here to make money. Some clients are very shy. They wouldn&#8217;t dare stop at a group, but they would stop if you stand by yourself. When it is cold or rainy, I go and sit in my car. Then I&#8217;m actually still behind a window but my own window.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Marie-Louise<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I already went through a lot of misery when I got my first boyfriend. It was puppy love. But within a few months, I found myself in a sex club. To be later forcefully moved to Antwerp. When I got out of that situation, I started working for myself at de Baan. On and off &#8211; you know. I even didn&#8217;t work for ten years when I had a boyfriend. At some point at de Baan, I again had issues with pimps, but then a local police officer helped me a lot. He was a good one.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">At de Baan are the most people who know me. I don&#8217;t have a large circle of friends, I am not in contact with my family, but I&#8217;ve been in the zone for so long. Right now, I am seeing a social worker who I already know from rehab years ago and from de Baan. So not just my colleagues; also the people from HAP all feel a bit like family.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Tineke<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I had a regular who told me he was going to leave his wife. I forbade it. She gave him three children. I only gave him sex for which he has to pay! So, I told him what he had to do to save his marriage. \u00abBuy her some perfume, buy her some flowers. Not a bunch, just a single one\u00bb. He didn&#8217;t come back for a few months, but when he did, he brought a big bunch of flowers to thank me. They had fallen in love again. That was the last time I saw him, but I didn&#8217;t mind. Yes, it was good to have him as a regular, but it does feel nice to help someone too.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<div class=\"wp-block-media-text has-media-on-the-right is-stacked-on-mobile\"><div class=\"wp-block-media-text__content\">\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I would be a hypocrite to say I don&#8217;t work here for the money. I sent two boxes to my parents this month alone. I sent them cheese, dried sausages, long-lasting products. I used to send them money. But when I visited them, they had saved me 2000 euros. Ever since, I only send them food! Then at least, I am sure they are eating!<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h4 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Bela<\/h4>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">I also send money and long-lasting products to my mom. Also, to my sister, who has a child but no husband. This is only possible because I work here. With other work, I might be able to keep my head above the water, but I wouldn&#8217;t send anything home anymore.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p class=\"wp-block-paragraph\">Before I got a permit in Utrecht, I worked in Nijmegen. And before that, I also worked here at the zone, but you had to watch out for the police. If you worked without a permit or without a residence permit, you would get fined. But, yeah, what are you going to do? You still need to eat. Now I have everything; a permit, a passport, a place to live. I&#8217;m going to miss the money and my clients. And they will miss me. Some even cry when we talk about the closure. This is a place where anything goes, where we make fantasies come true. Not all clients are good; some are even very difficult. But this is a good place to work; it is where I have my &#8216;nice time&#8217;. I always felt that I was free here.<\/p>\n<\/div><figure class=\"wp-block-media-text__media\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" width=\"720\" height=\"720\" src=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-insightde-baanhap-2.jpg\" alt=\"\" class=\"wp-image-349 size-full\" srcset=\"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-insightde-baanhap-2.jpg 720w, https:\/\/redinsight.org\/wp-content\/uploads\/2026\/02\/red-insightde-baanhap-2-480x480.jpg 480w\" sizes=\"(min-width: 0px) and (max-width: 480px) 480px, (min-width: 481px) 720px, 100vw\" \/><\/figure><\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>As of July 1st, 2021, street prostitution will be prohibited in Utrecht. After 37 years, the designated zone for street-based work at the Europalaan will be closed. For years, sex workers at de Baan and social workers from HAP,&nbsp;the zone\u2019s walk-in living room, have fought relentlessly against this closure. Nevertheless, the municipality of Utrecht is [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":347,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"off","_et_pb_old_content":"","_et_gb_content_width":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[31],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-346","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-articles","et-has-post-format-content","et_post_format-et-post-format-standard"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=346"}],"version-history":[{"count":3,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":644,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/346\/revisions\/644"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/347"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=346"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=346"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/redinsight.org\/es\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=346"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}