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Original poster

Red Light District

120 replies

Prawnsma32 · 31/01/2023 11:31

Just out of curiosity, how many of you would NOT mind your partner visiting the Red Light District during a stag party to Amsterdam.

OP posts:
Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:41

Scienceadvisory · 31/01/2023 12:04

Perhaps all those posters who think the red light district is a bit of fun should actually do some reding into what actually happens there. The fact some of you are getting enjoyment from the sex trafficking of women is disgusting.

Yep, it’s fucking repulsive.

MistyFrequencies · 31/01/2023 12:41

I hate the red light district. Nearly cried there looking at all the women in windows waiting to be purchased. So, ideally id hope he would feel the same but in reality i think its inevitable to walk through some part of it in Amsterdam and if he doesnt pay to rape a woman im fine. If he did pay for their services id leave him. As much for devaluing another woman in thay way as for cheating on me.

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:43

The Red Light District is a tourist are with legalised prostitution, but also pretty much everything else that every tourist area in every tourist focussed city has. It’s also slap bang in the middle of things. You can have dinner, go clubbing, and get a pedicure. The majority of visitors to it aren’t ‘gawping at prostitutes’. They’re going about their business.

So, the only real difference between going on a night out in Amsterdam and a night out in Soho or Manhattan is that the prostitution is legal. The prostitutes are still there in all the other cities.

Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:44

To the people who describe it as fun, would you find the idea of walking around a Chinese sweatshop fun too?

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:45

Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:44

To the people who describe it as fun, would you find the idea of walking around a Chinese sweatshop fun too?

Yeah, my comment above was directed at people like you.

Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:46

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:45

Yeah, my comment above was directed at people like you.

Show quote history

Oh ok, so looking at trafficked women is fun, because we can pretend they’re all happy and legally working? So legal sweatshops are just a bit of fun too, right? Or is it only good for lols when it’s women being exploited? Just curious what the rules are.

Neverhand · 31/01/2023 12:46

MistyFrequencies · 31/01/2023 12:41

I hate the red light district. Nearly cried there looking at all the women in windows waiting to be purchased. So, ideally id hope he would feel the same but in reality i think its inevitable to walk through some part of it in Amsterdam and if he doesnt pay to rape a woman im fine. If he did pay for their services id leave him. As much for devaluing another woman in thay way as for cheating on me.

Me too. I've walked through once on purpose. And then when I used to go with work, a couple of times by accident. Couldn't wait to get out. Cannot for the life of me understand the attraction unless you're the sort of low life paying for sex there.

Who need enemies with friends like these. It's the worst of human kind, there, in your face. And going to observe it as a laugh is beyond dark.

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:49

Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:46

Oh ok, so looking at trafficked women is fun, because we can pretend they’re all happy and legally working? So legal sweatshops are just a bit of fun too, right? Or is it only good for lols when it’s women being exploited? Just curious what the rules are.

Show quote history

Please show me how that is in any way related to anything in my comment.

fantasmasgoria1 · 31/01/2023 12:51

If he just walked down the street fair enough but going in any of the places then no. Mind you there isn't much danger he has been on only one stag do that lasted a few days and he hated it! It was before we got together so nothing I needed to worry about. I asked him why and he said he is just not into all this go away with the lads etc

Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:53

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:49

Please show me how that is in any way related to anything in my comment.

Show quote history

Well you seem to be defending people visiting, or are you just defending people who pass through on their way to other destinations, because I doubt that’s the type of person OP is referring to somehow?

You also seem to deny that people go there to gawp at these women, or at least, not in large numbers, which is obviously not true if you’ve ever been there.

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:57

Naunet · 31/01/2023 12:53

Well you seem to be defending people visiting, or are you just defending people who pass through on their way to other destinations, because I doubt that’s the type of person OP is referring to somehow?

You also seem to deny that people go there to gawp at these women, or at least, not in large numbers, which is obviously not true if you’ve ever been there.

Show quote history

It isn’t an ambiguous comment. If you don’t want to read it and engage with what it actually says, that’s entirely up to you.

I’m happy to have a conversation, but if you’d rather be outraged about things that haven’t been said, I’ll leave you to it. I’m sure you’ll find someone else to row with.

ArianahX · 31/01/2023 12:59

I've been to Amsterdam with 2 friends, did wander through part of the red light district because one of my friends wanted to but we were bothered by lots of men & offered drugs we didn't want just on one street so we left, it wasn't great.
I wasn't fussed about going to the red light district anyway as at the time I lived near an actual red lights district in the UK and hated the crime & kerb crawling.
I'd go to Amsterdam again though as there's lots to do and see there, and the locals are friendly.

PizzaNinja · 31/01/2023 12:59

Oh my, this has just reminded me of my first trip to Amsterdam many years ago, when I found myself inadvertently walking past a club that were offering live sex shows in the red light district. A guy outside shouted at us ‘Hey ladies! You want to see big willies? Big cocks heh?!’ 😳 I was taught the importance of manners, so politely shouted back ‘no, thank you!’ as we scuttled off 🤷‍♀️

Naunet · 31/01/2023 13:01

2023a · 31/01/2023 12:57

It isn’t an ambiguous comment. If you don’t want to read it and engage with what it actually says, that’s entirely up to you.

I’m happy to have a conversation, but if you’d rather be outraged about things that haven’t been said, I’ll leave you to it. I’m sure you’ll find someone else to row with.

Show quote history

Ha! Says the person outraged by my comment to the point they had to @ me! I’m comfortable with my position that people visiting to gawp at abused women are fucking sick.

Palmfrond · 31/01/2023 13:03

PousseyNotMoira · 31/01/2023 12:36

How very patronising. Every major city in the world has ‘a deeply unpleasant underbelly which includes human trafficking and the distribution of hard drugs such as heroin’. Every major city has organised crime. Yet we don’t cower in our homes. At least I don’t.

Again, my response to OP:

  • Amsterdam is fun and a lot of the nightlife is centred around the Red Light District.
  • I am in favour of legalised and monitored sex work.
  • I am not worried about my husband hiring a sex worker, so the existence of legalised sex work wherever he happens to be isn’t a major concern.

So, thanks for your input.

Show quote history

I refer you to the OP. It’s about Amsterdam’s red light district. It’s something Amsterdam is known for, unfortunately. It has the reputation of being monitored and regulated, but in reality it is not, and the idea that prostitution could ever be free from organised crime, or at the very least free from exploitation and coercion is a fantasy. It’s 2023, name a place, anywhere, where prostitution is free from exploitation. You might find a few free lance prostitutes that are doing it entirely willingly and not as an expression of trauma or addiction, but they are a tiny, tiny minority.
This thread is about prostitution. The prostitution in Amsterdam is not fluffy. No prostitution is.

TicketBoo23 · 31/01/2023 13:05

*it’s a commonly held belief that the drug and sex trades in the Netherlands are fun and fluffy and wholesome. They’re absolutely not.

Yep, some documentaries have exposed this.

baileys6904 · 31/01/2023 13:07

Go for a walk in the centre of any large town or city and you'll probably pass a prosititue or 15. Loving how one poster is telling us what the OP actually meant which, unless she is the OP, is quite the feat 😁

But no, wouldn't bother me. I trust my partner

1994girl · 31/01/2023 13:09

About 8 years ago my horrid ex had time off in the marines on a 2 week break home. Instead of spending it with me, he went Amsterdam and Prague with his mate. I didn't know what Red Light District was until someone at work at the time said it was there. He definitely cheated on me.

IntentionalError · 31/01/2023 13:09

I have been to Amsterdam loads of times, and I went to the RLD every time. It’s right in the city centre, next to Centraal Station, and lots of hotels, bars, restaurants & coffee shops are also in that area. If DP went there on a stag weekend, there is no way he would partake of any of the services on offer. He’s far too germphobic & squeamish, for a start, and he would be more interested in getting stoned.

Riapia · 31/01/2023 13:19

@Neverhand

Doesn't mean they're all going to sleep with a prostitute but.. some probably will.

When they’ve paid their money sleep will be the last thing on their mind.

PousseyNotMoira · 31/01/2023 13:25

Palmfrond · 31/01/2023 13:03

I refer you to the OP. It’s about Amsterdam’s red light district. It’s something Amsterdam is known for, unfortunately. It has the reputation of being monitored and regulated, but in reality it is not, and the idea that prostitution could ever be free from organised crime, or at the very least free from exploitation and coercion is a fantasy. It’s 2023, name a place, anywhere, where prostitution is free from exploitation. You might find a few free lance prostitutes that are doing it entirely willingly and not as an expression of trauma or addiction, but they are a tiny, tiny minority.
This thread is about prostitution. The prostitution in Amsterdam is not fluffy. No prostitution is.

Show quote history

I refer you to the entirety of my comment to which you responded. I shan’t be repeating myself.

2023a · 31/01/2023 13:27

baileys6904 · 31/01/2023 13:07

Go for a walk in the centre of any large town or city and you'll probably pass a prosititue or 15. Loving how one poster is telling us what the OP actually meant which, unless she is the OP, is quite the feat 😁

But no, wouldn't bother me. I trust my partner

Go for a walk in the centre of any large town or city and you'll probably pass a prosititue or 15.

Yup!

Loving how one poster is telling us what the OP actually meant which, unless she is the OP, is quite the feat

It’s interesting, isn’t it? They’re all psychically connected to the OP.

ChocAuVin · 31/01/2023 13:30

It’s not something I’d mind in the slightest however I am aware enough to know that puts me in a minority, socially/culturally.

Naunet · 31/01/2023 13:32

2023a · 31/01/2023 13:27

Go for a walk in the centre of any large town or city and you'll probably pass a prosititue or 15.

Yup!

Loving how one poster is telling us what the OP actually meant which, unless she is the OP, is quite the feat

It’s interesting, isn’t it? They’re all psychically connected to the OP.

Show quote history

F you’re referring to me yet again, nowhere did I say what OP ‘actually’ meant. The comments people make in the defence of making entertainment out of vulnerable women is really something to behold though.

2023a · 31/01/2023 13:33

Palmfrond · 31/01/2023 13:03

I refer you to the OP. It’s about Amsterdam’s red light district. It’s something Amsterdam is known for, unfortunately. It has the reputation of being monitored and regulated, but in reality it is not, and the idea that prostitution could ever be free from organised crime, or at the very least free from exploitation and coercion is a fantasy. It’s 2023, name a place, anywhere, where prostitution is free from exploitation. You might find a few free lance prostitutes that are doing it entirely willingly and not as an expression of trauma or addiction, but they are a tiny, tiny minority.
This thread is about prostitution. The prostitution in Amsterdam is not fluffy. No prostitution is.

Show quote history

Unless you have an issue visiting every major city (all of which have the exact same issues), objecting to Amsterdam because of its seedy underbelly makes no sense. It’s really that simple.

Where has she said prostitution is free from exploitation? Or that prostitution in Amsterdam is fluffy?

This thread is a fabulous example of confirmation bias. You know the argument you want to have and, regardless of what’s actually said to you, that’s the argument you’re going to have.