Legal Prostitution is a Terrible Idea

Amsterdam's experiment with legalized prostitution has turned into a sordid failure, writes Julie Bindel in the February 2 issue of Britain's Spectator.

The brothel boom is over. A third of Amsterdam’s bordellos have been closed due to the involvement of organised criminals and drug dealers and the increase in trafficking of women. Police now acknowledge that the red-light district has mutated into a global hub for human trafficking and money laundering. The streets have been infiltrated by grooming gangs seeking out young, vulnerable girls and marketing them to men as virgins who will do whatever they are told. Many of those involved in Amsterdam’s regular tourist trade — the museums and canals — fear that their visitors are vanishing along with the city’s reputation.

Friedrich Hayek is credited with the quip, "To say we cannot turn back the clock is to say that human beings cannot learn from experience." The Dutch seem to be learning from theirs.