"Businesswomen" -- The Workings of Legalized Prostitution in Amsterdam and Holland

For those who are young and promiscuous, or for those who are just old and horny, you will find legalized prostitution in Holland to be much cheaper than its counterpart in Nevada.

Prostitutes and one-night-stands are not my thing, and I have never been with a prostitute. All my information is second-hand, but still reliable.

First, you can pay as little as 50 guilders for a 15-minute quickie. At the exchange rate of 2 guilders=1US dollar, this means you can get off for about $25-30. I can't imagine being intimate with a woman and then leaving 15 minutes later, but feel free. If you're good in bed or pay extra you will get to stay longer.

There are a few different ways to pay for sex in Amsterdam. First let me tell you how to NOT pay for sex. There are plenty of places to find legal, reasonably safe prostitutes . However, in the back of the train station you will find the "heroin hookers." Prostitution is only legal in establishments and through escort services, but that doesn't stop some women from working on the street. One reason they may be there is that they have a disease and can't work in the brothels. Or they may have another reason, but it must be a good one. Women who work "behind the windows" in legal establishments are not nearly as desperate as the heroin hookers. So if you are approached for sex in the train station, pass it up and find a legitimate prostitute.

Finding legitimate prostitutes is easy: either you pick up the phone and call for an escort, or you go to the right neighborhood and see the girls in the windows. I am referring to the areas, most notably the Red Light District, where you can walk down the street and do some window shopping. You should look for the red or blue neon lights outlining the window - this is almost a sure sign that you are in the right place. Right there, on display in negligees, panties, or bras are some really beautiful women. If the curtain is pulled, then she is in there enterrtaining another customer. When you find an available prostitue who tickles your fancy, you go in and talk to her about what services you want and how much you are going to pay for it.

These women typically pay a flat fee to use the room for the night, lets say around $75-150. Then they must attract as much or little business as possible. Some women may be with 15 guys a night, while others may not be so successful.

Now the Europeans see sex differently, and I can understand how a beautiful girl in Hungary or Poland would be attracted by the money to come to Holland and be a prostitute. Sex is seen as more of a physical function -- the Europeans on average don't tie so much emotion into it like us Americans. For beautiful women in war-ravaged areas like the former Yugoslavian states, perhaps being a hooker is better than being raped a few times by soldiers and then marrying the local guy who will continue to abuse the woman through the marriage while getting as much on the side as possible.

It's all a matter of perspective -- for all the problems they still face, American women have much greater choice and freedom to be in control of their own lives than Russians or Czechs.

Still Europe is not paradise and some of the girls may have come to Amsterdam with different ideas. I suspect there are at least 3 types of hookers. First are the girls who have really open minds and like sex and money. Second are girls who are paying off some debt and will quit when they are done paying, and third are the drug addicts who are desensitized and need money to keep doing drugs.

Among all of them one thing is common -- once you start making money like a prostitute can, it's hard to stop. You get to buy all kinds of sexy clothes, men pay attention to you all day, and the money is much more than can be earned working a regular job. So the lifestyle becomes an addiction, and if the woman starts using cocaine it's that much more of an addiction. If you were stuck in a 6'x12' room all night and had to screw up to 15 guys, do gang bangs, possibly take it up the ass, or whatever else the guy wants to pay for, then you might start doing drugs too.

I think as a conservative American I will never really understand why women become prostitutes. I understand why men go to them, but it still seems like a dirty business to me. Plus, there are plenty of girls to date and have sex with. Or course with a hooker there are no strings attached, and little chance of rejection.

Everyone knows about the Red Light District's girls in the windows and sex shops and cinemas and all that neat stuff. What they don't know is that the "girls in windows" are in other parts of the city, too. Spui is a stop on tram lines 5, 12, and ?. Albert Cuipstraat is the best area, with the best looking girls. Albert Cuipstraat is where the Dutch men go to pay for sex, so the prices are lower and the girls are cleaner.

One friend of mine in Amsterdam tells me that a person from his hometown came to Amsterdam from another country and wanted to be shown where the hookers are. My friend took his guest around until the guest found a girl.

After 15 minutes, the guest came out, belligerent and red-faced. He said the girl was a man! My friend has to wonder why it took 15 mintues to discover that you are fucking a man, and the guest was sufficiently perturbed. It's hard to believe, but apparently the guest had the same thing happen again, though he came out much more quickly the second time.

One has to wonder about the guest's taste in wo-men. At the same time, you must be very careful is you choose to use the girl's services.

Also, definitely stay away from any street prostitutes. There is a reason they are not working in the legitimate establishment is probably medical. While the girls in windows are part of a legal, legitimized business, street prostitution is quite illegal, dangerous, and stupid when there are many fine looking legal choices for those of you who are so inclined.