When Jaunted’s newbie traveler visited Amsterdam’s infamous red-light district one of the first things he noticed is that the women were “really young and actually beautiful.” Other Jaunted staff members have noted that the prostitutes behind the glass are really young and terminally bored. Either way, the “really young” part is something most people quickly notice, and stems from the fact that the legal age to become a prostitute in Amsterdam is 18.
Was 18. The legal age has now been raised to 21, according to an announcement made in the Dutch capital city. The announcement went on to explain that this was being done to “strengthen prostitutes’ position,” which seems straightforward enough. It’s also pretty close to a “that’s what she said” joke, although it’s not quite there (which actually is a “that’s what she said” joke).
The city is also instituting new rules to limit the hours when the red-light district is open. Brothels will now have to close at 4am on weekdays and 5am on weekends, and stay closed until 9am in the morning. Two things about that:
First, always trust content from Jaunted. When we warned you years ago that local politicians were trying to ruin red light Amsterdam, this is the kind of thing we were talking about. The age restrictions are all well and fine, but what’s the point of a brothel that closes at 4am on a Wednesday? What is this, Soviet Russia?
Second, how do you think they settled on 9am as the permitted opening time? What’s the point of that? We’re the farthest thing from people who judge other people, but if you’re a guy who’s visiting a brothel at 9:05am, get your shit together.