Maternity Leave and Ongoing Consent: New Rights for Belgium’s Sex Workers

A new law gives some sex workers in Belgium more protection from exploitation and violence and more social benefits than any other similar legislation in the world, rights researchers and advocates say.

Belgium decriminalized sex work in 2022, a first for Europe. Under this new labor law, which passed in May and took effect on Sunday, sex workers can choose to sign a formal employment contract — although they do not have to do so.

“It is the most comprehensive labor law related to sex work that we have seen globally,” Erin Kilbride, a researcher at Human Rights Watch who focuses on women’s rights and L.G.B.T.Q. rights, said.

A labor contract will give sex workers of all genders, as it does other employees, broader access to the country’s robust social security system, including paid maternity leave and sick leave, unemployment aid and the ability to make pension contributions.

The new law also focuses explicitly on protecting people who sell sex on the job by requiring ongoing and specific consent: Sex workers who sign contracts can refuse clients, refuse to do certain acts and interrupt acts — without facing negative consequences from their employer.

They will also have workplace safety regulations, like emergency buttons in rooms where they see clients. They also gain broader protections against unlawful termination or forms of exploitation by an employer. And the law bars anyone who has been convicted of rape, homicide, trafficking and other violent offenses from employing sex workers.