a-darling-thing reblogged
Great news! Belgium today becomes the first country in the world where sex workers can sign a legal employment contract and gain access to all employment-dependent social security (which includes saving for a pension, paid pregnancy leave, paid sick leave etc.). It gives sex workers more rights and makes them less dependent on the goodwill of their employer because they now have state protection through a legal contract.
Belgian sex workers have gained the right to sick days, maternity pay and pension rights under the first law of its kind in the world. Lawmakers voted in May to give sex workers the same employment protections as any other employee, in an attempt to clamp down on abuse and exploitation. The law, which went into force on Sunday, ensures that sex workers have employment contracts and legal protection. It is intended to end a grey zone created in 2022 when sex work was decriminalised in Belgium but without conferring any protections on sex workers, or labour rights such as unemployment benefit or health insurance. Under the law, sex workers have the right to refuse sexual partners or to perform specific acts and can stop an act at any time. Nor can they be sacked for these refusals.