The Dutch Decriminalization of Sex Work Policy and the Marginalization of Nigerian Female Migrant Sex Workers

The Dutch Government rescinded the law on prohibition of brothel in 2000 as the outcome of the decriminalization policy that had begun in 1997. The law aspired to control and co-ordinate the abuse of voluntary sex work, to ensure the non-participation of minors in the sex market as well as to eradicate sex-work by non-European women in the Netherlands. The net effect is that non-European sex workers even in year 2014 are still refused the legitimate right to work in the sex industry making them susceptibility to trafficking for sexual exploitation as traffickers take advantage of the illegal status of sex workers as well as their inability to access social services and benefits. With a focus on Nigerian migrant female sex workers, this paper examines the effects of the marginalization of Non-E.U nationals from the policy as well as mechanisms that create their vulnerabilities. It underscores the need for the state to create structures of inclusion that would prevent trafficking and respect the professional path chosen by these women by granting them access to offer their services to clients without discrimination, fear and intimidation.