Faculteit Sociale Wetenschappen

Politieke Wetenschappen

What is at stake with street prostitution at Yser?

Exploring an Open Approach for the Development of a Multi-Dimensional Problem Construction

Proefschrift voorgelegd tot het behalen van de graad van doctor in de sociale wetenschappen aan de Universiteit Antwerpen

te verdedigen door

Kristien Gillis

Promotor: Prof. dr. Petra Meier Antwerpen, 2017 ii

Members of the doctoral committee:

Prof. dr. Petra Meier Prof. dr. Stijn Oosterlynck Prof. dr. Joyce Outshoorn

Members of the doctoral jury:

Prof. dr. Maarten Loopmans Prof. dr. Wouter Van Dooren

Cover design: Nieuwe Mediadienst, Universiteit Antwerpen. The cover picture stems from the Usus/Usures Catalogue, developed by architect collective Rotor. The Usus/Usures project, exploring “wear as a reaction to use in architecture”, was presented in the Belgian Pavilion at the Venice Biennale in 2010. This particular picture was taken in the Yser neighbourhood. The collective explains:

In Belgium, the lower part of a wall is traditionally treated differently than the rest of the wall. As it is more exposed to mud and other liquids as well as to street activities, the wall is often covered by a plinth, generally made of blue limestone which is relatively hard-wearing and is extracted locally. Similarly, a cast iron tube (called a “shoe”) is used for the lower part of the rainwater downpipe, rather than the zinc tube used for the upper part. These devices offer great resistance to various street activities. For even without intending to cause damage, the human body can prove to be particularly corrosive. The traces of wear on the plinth shown in this picture reveal the activity of prostitutes leaning against it, on a strategic corner in the centre of Brussels. The darkest marks show a polishing of the stone’s surface by different parts of the women’s bodies, while the lighter marks are scratches caused by their high heels. An analysis of the different traces of wear on the entire wall reveal the most popular spots, either because they are in full view of the street or because they offer slight protection from the rain. (Rotor, 2010:64)

This picture, both literally and figuratively, symbolizes the footprint of street prostitution in the Yser neighborhood.

Copyright © 2017 Kristien Gillis No part of this book may be reproduced in any form, by print, photoprint, microfilm or any other means, without permission from the author.

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Table of contents

List of pictures ………………………………………………………………………...…… vii

List of frequently used names and abbreviations …………………………………..…... viii

Voorwoord …………………….………………………………………………….….….…... x

Introduction ……………………………………………………….………………..….……. 1

Chapter 1: What’s at stake with prostitution? ………………………………....…….....… 6 1.1 Scholarly research on prostitution: varied but fragmented problem identifications .…...... 7 1.1.1 Varied problem identifications …………………………….……………..……...... 7 1.1.2 … But fragmented problem identifications …………………………………..….... 9 1.2 Dominant representations and policy: problematic in its unidimensionality ….…..….… 17 1.2.1 The oppression/sexual dominance representation ……………………….….……. 18 1.2.2 Pro rights/sex work representation ……………………………………...... ……… 23 1.2.3 Nuisance representation ………………………………………….………..…...… 26 1.3 What’s the problem? Lacking recognition of multidimensionality in problem constructions about prostitution ………………………………………………………... 30

Chapter 2: From a state of the art to a state of the street …………………..…………... 35 2.1 Back to basics: social problems and social problem construction …………..………...... 35 2.2 The difficult recognition of complexity ……………………………………..………….. 37 2.2.1 Cognitive bias …………………………………………………………...…...…... 38 2.2.2 Context ………………………………………………………..………………….. 41 2.3 Uncovering multidimensionality …………………..……………………………………. 47 2.3.1 Public sociology ………………………………………………………...……...… 47 2.3.2 Organic public sociology ……………………………………………...…………. 49

Chapter 3: Research design & methods ……………………………………..…………… 53 3.1 Methodology and methods …………………………………….……………...……….... 54 3.1.1 Methodology …………………………………………………………...……...…. 54 3.1.2 Methods ………………………………………….………….……………………. 55 3.2 Fieldwork ………………………………………………...…………………………...… 58 3.2.1 Entering the field: exploration phase ……………………..……………………… 58 3.2.2 In the field …………………………………………………...………………...…. 62 3.2.3 Leaving the field ………………………………………..………………………... 76 3.3 Analysis and presenting of the data …………………………..………………………… 79 iv

3.3.1 Processing and Transcribing …………………………...……….…………..……. 79 3.3.2 Coding and analyzing ……………………………………….….…………...…… 79 3.3.3 Presenting the data ………………………………….……….….………...……… 82 3.4 Quality concerns …………………………………………………..….……………...…. 85 3.5 A note on self-reflexivity ………………………………………….….……….………... 90

Chapter 4: Case justification and description ……………….……….………….….…… 99 4.1 Type of prostitution and the population in Yser …………………….…..…….…..……. 99 4.2 Type of neighborhood ………………………………………………..………...……… 103 4.3 Prostitution policy and local regulations ……………………………..…..….………… 109 4.4 A concluding note ……………………………………………………..………….…… 113

Chapter 5: M’Yser?! Setting the scene ………………………………..………...……… 115

Chapter 6: Des putes et des poubelles …………………………………….…..………… 132 6.1 What’s at stake? Problem identifications around nuisance ……………..…..……….… 134 6.1.1 What is represented as problematic and by whom? .………………..…..….…… 134 6.1.2 Which actors are represented as involved and in which roles? ...……..………… 141 6.1.3 What solutions are suggested? .…………………………...…………...……...… 146 6.2 Beyond nuisance …………………………………………………………..……...…… 149

Chapter 7: Traffickers, Terrorists, and Maquereau Sandwiches ……….…….……… 150 7.1 What’s at stake? Problem identifications around security ………………..…………… 150 7.1.1 What is represented as problematic and by whom? ……………..…….……...… 150 7.1.2 Which actors are represented as involved and in which roles? ……...….………. 173 7.1.3 What solutions are suggested? ……………………..………………..…..……… 178 7.2 Beyond nuisance and security ……………………………………………..….….….… 183

Chapter 8: Eastern European Tristesse and Latin-American Carnival ……..…..…… 185 8.1 What’s at stake? Problem identifications around labor ……………………..…….…… 185 8.1.1 What is represented as problematic and by whom? .……………….…………… 185 8.1.2 Which actors are represented as involved and in which roles? ..……..….……… 198 8.1.3 What solutions are suggested? .…………………………………….....………… 205 8.2 Beyond nuisance, security and labor and a final note on dialogue …………....….…… 213

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Chapter 9: Synthesis and Conclusion ………………………………………...……….… 220 9.1 Synthesis …………………………………………………………………...... ………... 221 9.1.1 From a unidimensional to a multidimensional problem construction: the usefulness of an open approach in gathering different problem perspectives ……………… 221 9.1.2 Analyzing co-occurrence of problem perceptions and illustrating the relevance of considering multidimensionality: the usefulness of a mobile platform ….….. 223 9.1.3 Detecting blockages to a multidimensional problem construction: information exchange and perspective gathering ...……………..……………… 227 9.2 Contributions ……………………………………………..……………………………. 229 9.2.1 Social contribution ……………………………………………..…...... ………… 229 9.2.2 Scientific contribution ………………..……………………………………….… 233 9.3 Limitations and venues for further research …………………………..…..…………… 237 9.4 A final note ………………………………………………………………………..…… 240

References …………………………………………………………..……..……………… 241

Attachments ………………………………………………………..…………………...… 261 vi

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List of pictures

Picture 1. Location of the Yser neighborhood in the City of Brussels ………...…………….. 1

Picture 2. Pag-Asa campaign picture: Not all victims of human trafficking are prostitutes ... 43

Picture 3. (…) construction works to the former hospital building …………………..….... 107

Pictures 4 & 5. At the same time, across the theatre ……………………………..………... 108

Picture 6. Official flyer announcing the tolerance zone for street prostitutes …….……….. 126

Picture 7. The adapted zoning plan ……………………………………………..…………. 128

Pictures 8 & 9. These pictures were taken in the Yser neighborhood in December 2016 (MD, 2016, December 12)…………………………………………...…...………..….. 129-130

Picture 10. City takes away prostitution benches. (KH, 2014, September 10) ……………. 132

Picture 11. Seen: railing against street prostitutes. (KH, 2015, February 15) ……..……... 133

Picture 12. Front side flyer exhibition Entre 2 clichés (Entre 2 and Mélanie Peduzzi) ..…. 216

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List of frequently used names and abbreviations

Administrative police: part of the local police force from the City of Brussels, responsible for maintaining public order. Also referred to as the police in uniform.

Aimer Jeunes: social organization for family planning.

Alhambra: the Yser neighborhood is also known as the Alhambra neighborhood.

Alias: social organization offering socio-psychological and medical reach out services to male and trans working in prostitution in Brussels.

BRAVVO: prevention service from the City of Brussels, employing the town guards and the Manager de Tranquilité Publique (see below).

Brussels Instituut voor Statistiek: Brussels Institute for Statistics, BISA.

BRUZZ: Flemish-Brussels Media (online, radio, television and print). Both Agenda Magazine , Brussel Deze Week , FM Brussel , TV Brussel and Brusselnieuws were part of the Dutch Media group in Brussels. After 2016, they fused into BRUZZ . In this work, I will refer to BRUZZ when referring to articles published before 2016, since they are gathered in and accessible through the BRUZZ archive.

Comité Alhambra: resident committee based in the Yser neighborhood. I will refer to Comité Alhambra as ‘the neighborhood committee’, ‘the Alhambra committee’ or ‘the committee’.

Entre 2: social organization offering socio-psychological and medical reach out services to people working in prostitution in Brussels and Wallonia.

Espace P: social organization offering socio-psychological and medical reach out services to people working in prostitution in Brussels and Wallonia.

Ghapro: social organization offering medical and socio-psychological reach out services to people working in prostitution in Flanders.

Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg: Royal Flemish Theatre, KVS.

La Ligue des Droits de l’Homme: the French department of the Belgian Human Rights League, LDH. ix

Manager de Tranquilité Publique: civil servant employed by BRAVVO; responsible for following up questions and dossiers from residents addressing quality of life in the City of Brussels. MTP.

Pag-Asa: social organization offering legal and socio-psychological aid to victims of human trafficking.

Participatory Action Research: PAR.

Plan Intégré Communal d’Encadrement de la Prostitution: PICEP. PICEP resulted from the consultation platform installed by the City of Brussels in 2014.

Platforme de concertation intersectorielle sur la prostitution: intersectoral deliberation platform (consultation platform). The platform gathers the mayor, the legal section of the City, police services of the police zone Brussel Hoofdstad Elsene (local administrative police and vice police), social organizations such as Espace P and Entre 2 (which left the platform in the course of the process), the prevention service BRAVVO and the MTP of the City of Brussels. The platform met regularly and developed a zoning plan, Plan Intégré Communal d’Encadrement de la Prostitution (PICEP).

Social Welfare Service: OCMW/CPAS.

Utsopi: organization representing sex workers in Belgium.

Vice police : Judicial police force. Just as the administrative police, vice police is part of the local police force of the City, but different than the administrative police, vice police focuses on second line work (recherche) and more specifically on sexual violence.

Villa Tinto: Villa Tinto is part of the red-light window area Het Schipperskwartier , in Antwerp. The Villa Tinto building encompasses 51 windows, opened by a private developer but in coordination with the City of Antwerp.

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Voorwoord

I am known to stay awake (a beautiful world I am trying to find) A beautiful world I am trying to find (a beautiful world, I am trying to find) I’ve been in search of myself (a beautiful world) a beautiful world Its just too hard for me to find (dreams, dreams) Said its just too hard for me to find (dreams, dreams) I am in the search of something new (a beautiful world I am trying to find) Searchin' me Searching inside of you And thats fo' real Master Teacher by Erykah Badu

Aan de mensen die wonen en werken in of rond de Ijzerwijk; aan de Universiteit Antwerpen, mijn promotor, prof. dr. Petra Meier, commissieleden, prof. dr. Joyce Outshoorn, prof. dr. Stijn Oosterlynck en juryleden prof. dr. Wouter Van Dooren en prof. dr. Maarten Loopmans; aan mijn dierbare familie, vrienden en collega’s: hartelijk dank om me de kans te geven het verhaal van de Ijzerwijk neer te schrijven. Op heel wat verschillende manieren hebben jullie de voorbije zes jaar mee vorm, kleur en leven gegeven. Bedankt voor de uitdagingen, advies, aanmoedigingen, helpende handen, steunende woorden en luisterende oren. 1

Introduction

Picture 1. Location of the Yser neighborhood in the City of Brussels.

In the Northern top corner of the pentagon that forms the capital of Brussels, there is a neighborhood called the Yser/Alhambra neighborhood. Enclosed by the heart of the city on the one side and by what is known as part of the traffic vessel that runs around the capital - the little ring - on the other, it is a busy neighborhood. Apart from the traffic and its close connection to one of the main train stations (the North station), the area is also known for its theatre (the Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg or KVS ), bars and restaurants, a traditional Flemish butcher and street prostitution. Since a little more over a decade, the city installed a variety of measures to deal with complaints about nuisance caused by street prostitution. Most of these measures are the result of lobbying work by a rather active neighborhood committee. Complaining about too much noise during the night, the display of nudity, the litter on the streets and concerns about neighborhood development, the committee states that the presence of street prostitution is problematic. The measures range from mobility plans and road blocks, 2 administrative sanctions for prostitutes or clients, police regulations creating no tolerance zones, extra taxing systems for hotels frequented by prostitutes and their clients and police surveillance cameras.

The surveillance cameras, however, were to a certain extent a miscalculation according to the spokesperson of the neighborhood committee. Although the committee thought such cameras would deter clients to visit prostitutes (since such cameras would be able to capture the moment a man interacts with a prostitute), some of the prostitutes were standing right beneath the camera’s. The cameras were seen as solutions to seemingly opposing problems: they were thought of as deterrents for clients and prostitutes at certain places, yet had the opposite effect by attracting prostitutes in search for more safety. This research is exactly focusing upon this: the different ways in which aspects of prostitution are perceived as problematic and the co- occurrence of such problem perceptions. The question underlying this research is: what is perceived as at stake with street prostitution at Yser?

Although my research question focuses on a particular case, it’s relevance stretches beyond the particular. In the first two chapters of this work, I address how this research addresses both a social as a scientific problem on prostitution problem construction. In the first chapter , I identify how this research serves both a social as a scientific goal by focusing on prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon. I present how current social problem constructions on prostitution are deficient. The way prostitution is presented and approached as a unidimensional issue by mainly activists and policymakers, is a widely shared concern by prostitution scholars. Especially since such unidimensional constructions are powerful in how prostitution is understood and governed in society. The main reason why dominant social problem constructions on prostitution are deficient, is that such problem constructions are limited to singular issues, neglecting or even dismissing other or different problem perceptions. Such unidimensional problem constructions come with exclusionary policies and ignorance of other problematic experiences. Dominant but deficient social problem constructions on prostitution, form the social trigger of this research.

Although scholars (just as certain prostitution organizations or social organizations) want to redefine prostitution as a multidimensional social problem, they do so by adding insights from different perspectives, proving that experiences with prostitution from those in or around prostitution are complex and diverse. Although this is valuable and necessary, the unpacking of multidimensionality on its own, as in the coming together of a variety of problem 3 perceptions from a variety of stakeholders about a variety of dimensions (in short, what multidimensionality means and how it is experienced) remains underexplored. This forms the scientific trigger of the current research.

In the second chapter , I present a research framework that makes it possible to approach prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon and, consequently, that enables the development of a multidimensional problem construction. In order to develop a multidimensional problem construction, I argue that we first need an approach that is able to detect the variety of problem perceptions that emerge. Such an approach would also be able to explain the challenges that occur due to having a variety of problem perceptions co-occurring and the way we deal with that. Such an approach offers a constructive but at the same time realistic insight into what multidimensionality means in a context of interest. This chapter also explains why multidimensionality is difficultly recognized and why our approach should be sensitive enough to also detect problem perceptions that are overshadowed by an interplay between cognitive bias and context. Finally, in this chapter, I argue for an approach related to organic public sociology (open approach) as best suited to develop a multidimensional problem construction. Such an open approach takes multidimensionality from a state of the art, to a state of the (Yser) streets and leads to the more general research question: is an open approach able to develop a multidimensional problem construction about what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser? The open approach allows a broad variety of problem perceptions to emerge bottom-up, by moving as a mobile platform through the neighborhood and discussing what’s at stake with people living and working in or around street prostitution at Yser.

Before applying the open approach on the ground, a third - methodological - chapter and a fourth - case descriptive - chapter, follow. In the methodological chapter, I highlight the applied methods, how the field data were gathered, analyzed and how they will be presented. This chapter offers an extensive look behind the scenes of this research and my role as a researcher therein. In the fourth chapter, I motivate why the Yser case offers an interesting site to apply an open approach to prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon. In this chapter I explain why the combination of (1) street prostitution and its street population in a (2) gentrifying neighborhood (3) under a combination of regulations, make the Yser case a fertile example of complexity to explore whether the open approach is able to develop a multidimensional problem construction. 4

Chapter five to eight are the empirical chapters, the field chapters. Chapter five is an introductory chapter. It offers a short overview of the most relevant regulations and actions that took place before and when I entered Yser. As these actions and regulations can be part of problem perceptions, it is necessary to give a short overview. Then, the pages of this work serve as a platform for the people living and working at Yser to vocalize their problem perceptions. I present three main issues that emerged as problematic when applying an open approach to the question: ‘what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser?’ These three issues in themselves already illustrate the variety of dimensions that are considered problematic or at stake with street prostitution at Yser. However, in each chapter, the reader will encounter that perceptions about the particular issues, vary as well. Chapter six (what’s at stake from a nuisance point of view), chapter seven (what’s at stake from a security point of view) and chapter eight (what’s at stake from a labor point of view) built upon each other. Only by considering them together, the complexity of what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, becomes clear. Apart from grouping similar problem perceptions into separate chapters and discussing them in a systematic, structured way, the focus remains bottom-up. In these chapters, there are no top-down theoretical reflections upon the problem perceptions that emerge.

Final chapter nine offers a synthesis and conclusion on the research. This synthesis zooms out of the mobile platform and evaluates the usefulness of the open approach related to organic public sociology, to develop a multidimensional problem construction. In this chapter, I connect the current findings back to scholarly insights on prostitution and social problem construction. In this chapter, I emphasize that a multidimensional problem construction does indicate that dealing with prostitution is a complex undertaking, as it often boils down to detecting, responding to and accepting of a variety of (possibly conflicting) problem perceptions. I will conclude this chapter by explaining how the open approach was able to expose three layers of complexity that are necessary to take into account when developing a multidimensional problem construction. As such, it offers a contribution to both the scientific and social concerns described in chapter 1, namely by promoting a more constructive understanding and recognition of prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon. This final chapter ends by pointing out the limitations of the current research project and indicates how more elaborated multidimensional problem construction(s) can be developed in future research, both in and outside the Yser neighborhood and beyond the case of prostitution. 5

Before getting started, I would like to clarify that throughout this work, I will refer to people selling sex as prostitutes or people working in prostitution interchangeably. In light of the open approach, the word prostitute is chosen as a neutral term in a field wherein both prostituted person and sex worker are still associated and considered indicative of taking a stance in an ideological debate on prostitution (see chapter one). Using the term prostitute also offers an alternative to refer to somebody who does not explicitly identifies as being a prostituted person or a sex worker . It is important to note, however, that I recognize the importance of continuing to debate the terminology used to refer to people selling sexual services in order to reduce stigmatization (Lister, 2017). 6

Chapter 1. What’s at stake with prostitution?

Scholarly and social understandings of prostitution as a complex phenomenon: problem identification chapter

This chapter addresses the importance of researching the variety of problem perceptions on prostitution. It starts with a short state of the art regarding scholarly research on prostitution. The scope of topics covered by prostitution scholars illustrates that prostitution is a multidimensional phenomenon: there are different dimensions to prostitution and different ways to approach them. As such, the extent of prostitution research reports a broad variety of experiences and problem perceptions from those living or working in or around prostitution, ranging from nuisance to security issues to name a few. I explain that although research is able to illustrate how unidimensional approaches to prostitution are harmful (with research mainly focusing on the harmful consequences for those working in prostitution), multidimensionality in itself, remains underexplored. This section identifies how prostitution research lacks an approach to research prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon.

Although scholarly research focuses on prostitution through particular lenses, describing particular aspects of prostitution or particular stakeholders, there is a large held consensus/recognition that prostitution is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon. However, scholars are concerned about the lack of this multidimensionality in dominant problem constructions on prostitution in society. I address this concern in the second section of this chapter. I present three types of prostitution representations that are powerful in influencing public and political understandings, treatment and policy development of prostitution. I explain how these different representations present prostitution in a unidimensional, simplified fashion and how this is reflected in prostitution policy. This section identifies the social problem that this research responds to by developing a multidimensional problem construction.

This research addresses the social and scientific lack of a multidimensional problem construction on prostitution, in which a co-occurrence of a variety of problem perceptions on prostitution is of central interest. 7

1.1 Scholarly research on prostitution: varied but fragmented problem identifications

1.1.1 Varied problem identifications

Scientific research on prostitution knows a steady growth and expansion in the past 40 years (Crowhurst, 2017). This has led to a body of work that presents a variety of issues and challenges that are at stake with prostitution. That diversity has not always been characteristic for prostitution research. During the first part of the 20th century, prostitution was mainly subject of interest from a medical or criminological point of view, in which prostitution was generally approached as an instance of deviant behavior. Early research on prostitution focused upon the role of prostitution in the spread of venereal diseases. Walter Lentino, for example, analyzed how a system of legalization of prostitution in Italy, co-occurred with a higher annual rate of American soldiers being infected with venereal diseases compared to any other place where U.S. soldiers were stationed (Lentino, 1955). Other medical research reports focused on the issue of mental health of those working in prostitution. Especially when considering prostitution as a deviant phenomenon, research would focus on the causes or the risk factors leading people to work in prostitution. Such research identified bad education, psychosexual abnormalities, personality disorders, feeble mindedness as risk factors (see for example: Treadway, 1920; Thompson, 1945). An example thereof can be found in Miller (1859) who discussed the role of bad education as a risk factor:

Children are born in unchastity. Their parents are the offscourings of the earth: the first words a daughter hears are those of cursing and blasphemy; the only example her childhood sees is that of obscenity and vice; such youth is an apt learner; and at the age of ten or twelve, she may be both a prostitute and a thief – her lapsed state having proved rather a simple progress than a fall. (p. 6)

Early research efforts also stem from a criminological point of view, in which prostitution was approached as a delinquent activity (see for example: Gault, 1914; Radzinowicz, 1937; Sullenger, 1937). In short, a red thread running through early prostitution research is the focus on deviancy. Yet scholarly research on prostitution expanded throughout the decades. Not only did the scientific interest in the phenomenon increase, also the scope of issues, the influx of different approaches and the focus on more diverse forms, contexts and actors, grew (Kempadoo, 2009). Most notably, the majority of scholars researching prostitution, do no 8 longer a priori or explicitly consider those working in prostitution as deviant, promiscuous individuals.

Currently, academic research on (mainly legal) prostitution tends to situate itself in the social, historical, urban - geographical and medical sciences. Reviewing prostitution research, we see that a broad variety of aspects/facets of prostitution are under investigation. A considerable amount of research revolves around the motives and experiences of people working in prostitution. Depending on the research perspective (for example feminist, psychological, historical, socio – economical,…), a variety of problems are identified and presented ranging from researching coercion, deception and other forms of forced prostitution, to problems related to working in an unrecognized, stigmatized profession that is mainly associated with sex trafficking in prostitution policy development. The perspectives in themselves may be more prone to focus on certain problems than on others, but even within a certain type of perspective, variation can exist. For example, there is no one, unified feminist perspective on prostitution. There are a variety of perspectives from a feminist point of view and as such, feminist research can differ in their focus and analysis of motives and experiences. Reviewing the different ways of how motives and experiences are researched, Comte points out that when overlooking the different research results, one can speak of an ‘ extremely varied experience of sex work ’ (Comte, 2014:205).

Not only motives and experiences (see: O’Connell Davidson, 1998; Weitzer, 2009), but also trajectories in and within prostitution (see: O’Neill, 2001; Agustín, 2006; 2007; Kempadoo, Sanghera & Pattanaik, 2012; Andrijasevic, 2013), the governing through legislation and policy developments of prostitution on local, national and international levels (see: Outshoorn, 2004; O’Connell Davidson, 2006; Crowhurst, Outshoorn, & Skilbrei, 2012; Weitzer, 2012; Wagenaar, Altink & Amesberger, 2017), the politics of prostitution (see: Outshoorn, 2004), the spatial organization of prostitution and/or urban dynamics and red- light districts (see: Mathieu, 2011; Rodríguez García, 2016; Hubbard, Collins & Gorman- Murray, 2016), labor dynamics (see: Brewis & Linstead, 2000; Sanders, 2005; Peršak, 2014; Adriaenssens, Geymonat & Oso, 2016; Heumann & Siegmann, 2016; Rodríguez García, van Voss, van Nederveen Meerkerk, 2017), health and security risks related to prostitution (Vanwesenbeeck, 1994; Harcourt et al., 2010; Boels, 2016), scholarly knowledge production on prostitution (see: Vanwesenbeeck, 2001; Comte, 2014; Weitzer, 2009, 2015; Spanger & Skilbrei, 2017) and the representation of prostitution in activism, media and policy representations (see: Outshoorn, 2001; Doezema, 2010; Rodríguez García, 2012), are 9 analyzed through a variety of perspectives. Such perspectives, in turn, can vary between different feminist, economic, human rights, migration, ethical, normative, ideological, socio- geographical, geo-political or medical lenses, to name just a few. The body of work that currently exists represents a broad variety of experiences of a variety of actors working, visiting or living in, with or around prostitution (ranging from those working in prostitution, clients, police and social services, policy makers, activists as people living in red-lights zones). And although there is much room for further exploration (Vanwesenbeeck, 2001; Weitzer, 2005; 2009; Comte, 2014; Crowhurst, 2017), research is increasingly conducted in a variety of contexts, ranging from different forms of prostitution, prostitution taking place under different legislations or prostitution taking place in different countries or cultural contexts. Throughout these different approaches to prostitution, a broad variety of problem perceptions emerge.

1.1.2 … But fragmented problem identifications

Aggregating existing scholarly work on prostitution, a collection of different experiences and challenges emerge. It has developed into a body of work indicative of the multidimensionality of prostitution: one that has different sides to it, involves different stakeholders/people 1 and can be approached in a variety of ways. It follows that unidimensional representations and approaches to prostitution would only address a subset of experiences that need to be contextualized within a broader array of experiences. Crowhurst (2017) explains that:

Knowledge of the complexities of commercial sex continues to grow (…). At the very same time, however, there is a widespread awareness of the limitations of the breadth and depth of empirical research in this same field across the globe, resulting in many of its aspects remaining only partially explored or altogether unknown. (p. 49)

Vermeulen and Peršak (2014) add that much of our scholarly understanding of prostitution still happens through “the perspective of a single research discipline, a single normative framework, or a particular stakeholder” (Vermeulen and Peršak, 2014:315). Since prostitution research tends to focus on describing the problems experienced/perceived by a particular stakeholder (or a particular facet of prostitution), it is not clear what happens when the problems perceived by a variety of stakeholders co-occur in a particular case. As we saw

1 The diverse range of people working in prostitution, third parties, clients, social organizations, police services, policy makers, people living in red-light neighborhoods,… Throughout this work, I use the word stakeholder in a rather loose way, referring to people that might have a certain issue ‘at stake’ in a prostitution context. 10 in the beginning of this chapter, a challenge occurs when the nuisance perception of a resident co-occurs with the security perception of a woman working in street prostitution. This challenge would not emerge as clearly when we would only focus on residents or when we would only focus on street prostitutes.

Vermeulen & Peršak (2014) state that prostitution research would benefit from more interdisciplinary research, in which different dimensions or different approaches to aspects of prostitution are combined. As such, they plea for a broader, more interdisciplinary approach to study prostitution. Such an interdisciplinary approach could, for example, combine a sociological with an economic approach to better understand the demand and supply dynamic. Loopmans & Van Den Broeck (2011) suggests that an urban geography approach to prostitution combined with a political perspective, would be able to gather more insight in different problem perceptions that occur when a city tries to develop prostitution regulations. Vermeulen and Peršak also indicate that even normative or ideological research approaches can contribute and benefit from, for example, an interdisciplinary collaboration with an economic approach 2.

Taken together: despite the recognition of prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon, the unpacking of multidimensionality in itself, as in the coming together of a variety of problem perceptions from a variety of stakeholders about a variety of dimensions remains underexplored. In short, what multidimensionality means and how it is experienced should be researched. In a recently (2017) published book on prostitution research, Crowhurst confirms how exploring the complexity of prostitution remains high on the research agenda. She explains that despite the growing awareness about the complexity of prostitution, mapping it out still remains work in progress. She does so by identifying different challenges researchers face when wanting to embark on this task:

(…) many scholars concede that commercial sex remains a particularly challenging area of study, and one in which research is not easily conducted. This is due to its heterogeneity and changeability, hidden and hard to reach populations, and the still limited research approaches available for exploring this complex landscape – factors

2 They illustrate how an normative – economic approach may lead to insights in how to raise consumer awareness: ‘the added value thereof would be that clients would choose sexual servicing more carefully and responsibly. Such a shift towards “ethical consumerism” could constitute a meaningful attack on the demand side of unreasonably cheap sexual services and the sexual exploitation (and related human trafficking) market.’ (Vermeulen & Persak, 2014:316). 11

that contribute to the persistence of gaps and unknowns in the field (Crowhurst, 2017:48).

Firstly, Crowhurst indicates that researching prostitution an sich, poses challenges for researchers. The stigma attached to prostitution, and in some instances even its criminalization, makes that especially people working in prostitution, remain a hard to reach population. Dewey (2013) explains that these factors contribute to why those in prostitution rather avoid the “ risk of arrest through exposure” (p. 100). As such, gathering insider perspectives to prostitution, remains necessary, especially since they are now “ represented in ways that do not accord with their lived experiences (which) contributes further to their marginalization and stigmatization ” (Nencel, 2017:71) 3. Complicating the matter, is that there is no ‘ one voice’ of those in prostitution, as there are different forms of prostitution, people with different backgrounds, motives and trajectories (the heterogeneity & changeability Crowhurst refers to). This contributes to a variety of experiences with prostitution and a not to be underestimated possible variety of insider knowledge about the phenomenon. Similarly, information about those who buy sexual services, is not easily collected either. Horswill & Weitzer (2016) indicate that only recently, buyers of sexual services are increasingly more researched. However, stigma and criminalization contribute to why buyers of sexual services are a rather hard to reach population. Insider knowledge about the demand side of prostitution then, remains equally as well high on the research agenda. Add to that the experiences of those working with those in prostitution such as social services or police services and those living in a red-light zone, and a broad range of experiences and perceptions that contribute to the complexity of prostitution, occurs. These challenges (the heterogeneity, changeability and hard to reach populations), combined with specific research focuses on the part of prostitution scholars, makes that scholarly knowledge on prostitution tends to be characterized by fragmentation: reporting about a specific dimension, a specific stakeholder or both combined. A broader access to insider perspectives would enable scholars interested in, for example, analyzing the variety of experiences and trajectories of those working in prostitution, to develop more multidimensional analyses.

Secondly, and of particular importance to the current research, is that Crowhurst identifies a limited amount of research approaches able to map out this complexity. Although she does

3 As I will describe in the following section in which I discuss the dominant social representations of prostitution, however, the absence of insider knowledge on prostitution becomes even more apparent when observing the dominant unidimensional representations of prostitution in society. The most dominant voices on prostitution in such representations tend to be people who do not work in prostitution. 12 not particularly specify these approaches, one of these approaches that ought to be able to gather different experiences is suggested by Weitzer (2010). Weitzer describes the need for what he refers to as a hybrid, polymorphous approach to better capture the complexity of prostitution. He explains that in order to understand this particular theme, we would benefit from combining a variety of research lenses/perspectives. Weitzer advocates for researching motives through a combination of (different) feminist, moral, cultural, economic,… perspectives. He suggests that such an approach would be able to illustrate:

(that) a constellation of occupational arrangements, power relations, and worker experiences exists within the arena of paid sexual services and performances. This paradigm is sensitive to complexities and to the structural conditions resulting in the uneven distribution of agency and subordination (…). Together, these studies and supplementary writings help to undermine popular myths about prostitution and challenges those writers who embrace the monolithic oppression paradigm. Victimization, exploitation, choice, job satisfaction, self-esteem, and other dimensions should be treated as variables (not constants) that differ depending on the type of sex work, geographical location, and other structural organizational conditions. (Weitzer, 2010:26)

Crowhurst also refers to such polymorphous or multidimensional studies collecting different experiences of those in prostitution, in which the interplay between sex, intimacy and labor are of central interest (Crowhurst, 2017). Crowhurst refers to the work of for example Shah (2014) who illustrates, by taking into account a variety of experiences of female migrant prostitutes in Mumbai, how prostitution is a livelihood strategy for migrant women. Ethnographic work on prostitution, a methodology suited to map out complexities and diversity in experiences, comes closest in analyzing prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon.

Hannem & Tigchelaar (2016) explore the usefulness of an organic public sociology approach, the same, open approach as I will suggest in the following chapter. However, just as Weitzer, or Shah, they specifically focus on the experiences of those in prostitution (or, more generally, as an approach able to engage an otherwise ‘ less cohesive, marginalized, subaltern ’ groups (p. 634; 637)). Such works illustrate the importance of mapping out the different experiences of those in prostitution and highlight the need for incorporating insider knowledge as it opens up 13 our understanding of where the complexity of prostitution can be situated (in the variety of experiences), especially concerning the supply side of prostitution.

However, the hybrid approach suggested by Weitzer and the open approaches present in ethnographic research on prostitution, mainly explore complexity by focusing on experiences of those in prostitution. Weitzer’s hybrid approach, for example, aims to gather the experiences of those in prostitution and focuses on motives and trajectories in and within prostitution. Ethnographic endeavors such as the work of Shah (2014) or Zheng (2009) focus on the variety of experiences and perceptions of those working in prostitution (focusing on a particular stakeholder) or aim to go in depth about a specific dimension. The ethnographic work of Shah, for example, specifically focuses on “ the political economy of sexual commerce ” (Desai, 2015:386). Shah’s research focuses on a particular stakeholder (migrant sex workers) and a specific research frame (the frame of sexuality). The usefulness of the approach is explored in relation to (gaining access to) a particular stakeholder, those in prostitution and less on exploring the multidimensionality of prostitution as the co-occurrence of problem perceptions both across actors and dimensions. Such in-depth focus on one particular actor, those working in prostitution, is necessary as much is still unknown about the variety of experiences, motives or backgrounds,… of those working in prostitution. Gaining access to this particular population is already quite challenging on its own. However, as Sanders (2006) notes: “ If there is to be any advancement in the sociology of sex work, separate aspects of the industry should not be studied in isolation, and female sex workers should not remain the only focus of investigation ” (p. 465).

Research focusing on the complexity of prostitution by focusing on the perceptions of different stakeholders, without a specific, rather top-down perspective, is scare. There are, however, scholars who mapped out complexity related to prostitution, across different stakeholders, in light of researching the conditions for co-existence in red-light neighborhoods. To a certain extent, the 2008 Seinpost report about prostitution in Brussels did aim to map out different perspectives on prostitution in the city. On demand of the Brussels- Capital region, advice agency Seinpost in collaboration with Van den Hazel and colleagues (2008) developed a report mapping out the different forms of prostitution in Brussels and possible venues for policy development. In this report the authors present a variety of problems revolving around (1) quality of life (for people living in a red-light area), (2) health and well-being and (3) criminality, identified through interviews with social organizations and 14 civil servants. However, the report did not rely on interviews with those working in prostitution or those living in red-light areas.

This research is inspired by the works of Pitcher, Campbell, Hubbard, O’Neill and Scoular (2006) and O’Neill and Campbell (2002) who gathered “a range of community responses to street sex work ” (Pitcher et al., 2006:1). Pitcher and colleagues (2006), researched whether both residents and those working in prostitution could coexist by gathering the perspectives of both residents, women sex workers, agency workers and outreach workers in six residential neighborhoods in England and Wales.

In a similar fashion, O’Neill and Campbell (2002) organized focus groups and an arts project in which both residents, sex workers, statutory and voluntary agencies were able to offer their perspectives on the issues with street prostitution in their community. Importantly, these reports were developed in a bottom-up manner and especially the report of O’Neill & Campbell, (partially) leans on participatory action research (PAR), in which members of the community were trained to gather data and lead focus groups themselves. The aim of both the study from Pitcher and colleagues (2006) and O’Neill and Campbell (2002) was to present factors that could contribute to the coexistence of different stakeholders in red-light neighborhoods. While exploring levels of coexistence in these particular neighborhoods, both reports offer interesting insights in the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions. This research aligns with studies focusing on a variety of problem identifications across stakeholders. It diverges because it takes a step back, and explicitly explores the usefulness of an open approach to construct a multidimensional problem construction.

To a certain extent, the study of O’Neill & Campbell (2002) does suggest an approach to include a variety of voices when presenting the PAR approach. This brings me to the issue of ‘giving voice’ through research. This is a particularly hot topic in prostitution research in which scholars discuss how to involve those in prostitution in debates as currently, they still have too little control over what is written about them (Nencel, 2017). The international sex workers rights community emphasizes that scholars could aid by putting those in prostitution “at the center of all research on their community” (Hannem & Tigchelaar, 2016:637). 15

When researchers are not working in prostitution themselves 4, there are different ways in which researchers try to represent more insider knowledge on prostitution: ranging from interviews to participatory action research. The study of O’Neill & Campbell, for example, focuses on creating research reports with and through those in or around prostitution. By applying participatory action research (PAR), efforts were focused on training community members to conduct focus groups with residents. Those in prostitution were involved through surveys, ethnographic fieldwork and an arts consultation workshop. Although both reports incorporate experiences of those in or around prostitution, the Pitcher and colleagues report does so through a more indirect, traditional, researcher driven approach, whereas the report of O’Neill & Campbell focuses on more directly incorporating voices of those in and around prostitution.

A PAR approach is particularly interesting for engaging and more directly incorporating voices of marginalized or hard to reach groups (O’Neill, Campbell, Hubbard, Pitcher & Scoular, 2008). This is an asset when trying to develop a multidimensional problem construction that also incorporates perspectives of those in prostitution. However, there are a few remarks to take into account when considering it as an open approach to develop a multidimensional problem construction. As Crowhurst (2017) and Sanders (2006) note, PAR contributes to developing a more rich understanding of prostitution because it ‘diverge(s) from the more traditional (efforts) in that they are not underpinned by an imperative to acquire knowledge at all costs with a ‘smash and grab’ mentality ’ (p.49). Although this is an advantage of the approach, it also means that PAR does not necessarily intend to focus on systematically and rigorously incorporating different stakeholders or focus on a variety of dimensions. Nencel (2017) also points out that PAR helps in recognizing those in prostitution as experts of their own lives but she considers that there is a difference between being a researcher or a research subject, as they can differ in:

(…) fields of expertise, experiences, knowledge, skills, and, to a certain degree, expectations. More will be accomplished where this is recognized and respected and where sex workers and researchers work from their differences rather than assuming they can be overcome through sex workers’ involvement. (p.81)

4 Christina Parreira from the University of Nevada has conducted participatory research in a brothel in Nevada. Presenting her ethnographic work at the AAG conference in Chicago in 2015, she identified herself as both researcher and sex worker. 16

Secondly, and of particular importance for the current research: not every context lends itself to participatory action research to develop a multidimensional problem construction. According to Hannem & Tigchelaar (2016) to set up participatory action research, requires a certain level of community feeling/a self-identified community and a strong, established network. I would add that it also requires little communication barriers or an extensive amount of time in which participant researchers are able or willing to reduce both symbolic as practical barriers to give each other voice. This research tries to explore an approach that would be able to explore the perceptions of different stakeholders, regardless of the specificities of a context. It would be an approach that works with those in and around prostitution, trying to “create alternative means of co-ownership ” (Nencel, 2017:81). I return to this point in chapter 2 in which I suggest a different approach than the PAR approach.

In short, in this research, I build upon the efforts of a large strand of prostitution research that indicates that prostitution is a complex, multidimensional phenomenon. However, when it comes to explicitly developing a multidimensional problem construction on prostitution, we face (1) a fragmented set of problem perceptions, spread across different research disciplines and perspectives, that tend to focus on (2) particular stakeholders or dimensions of prostitution and (3) a lack of co-constructing with different stakeholders (instead of about) and (4) a lack of research approaches that are open enough to avoid focusing on the experiences of a particular stakeholder and/or with a particular dimension of prostitution. My research tries to contribute to that last issue. This research explicitly explores whether an open approach, one devoid of a particular and a priori focus on a specific aspect or stakeholder, is useful in researching multidimensionality and more specifically, in understanding and developing a multidimensional problem construction. Such an approach would not only serve, then, a social goal, but also a scientific one.

Although prostitution research is still rather fragmented, most scholars are aware of a broad variety of experiences and the broad set of perspectives in which prostitution as a phenomenon can be identified. Despite this scientific lack, scholars do tend to refrain from presenting prostitution as being about one main problem. Moreover, a large strand of prostitution researchers share the concern that such a multidimensionality is hardly recognized as important in dominant representations on prostitution in society (Doezema, 1999; 2010; Wagenaar & Altink, 2012; Wagenaar & Jahnsen, 2017; Crowhurst, 2017; Weitzer, 2017). These scholars are concerned about the extent in which unidimensional representations are able to influence how prostitution and those working in it, are understood as problematic in 17

(Western) society. Adding to that concern, is the observation that these representations are not only able to influence popular understandings of prostitution, but also the development of policy and prostitution regulations. I explain how and why this is problematic, in the next section.

1.2 Dominant representations and policy: problematic in its unidimensionality

Crowhurst (2017) highlights a clear incongruence between the growing awareness in prostitution research that much is still unknown, and the “ alleged ‘facts’ and ‘certainties’ commonly proclaimed (…) by politicians, policymakers and public administrators supporting their prostitution policy approaches ” (p. 50).

Weitzer (2010) points out the role of “ influential activists, organizations and some academics ” (p.15) in pushing partial, unidimensional problem constructions forward in society. To understand this incongruence, Wagenaar and Altink (2012) explain that the popularity of such straightforward problem claims, are particularly prevalent when an issue “evokes deep, intractable and irreconcilable hostilities” (Crowhurst, 2017:50). Such hostilities obstruct a constructive exchange. How this takes shape for prostitution, is best described by scholars focusing on the representation of prostitution.

Research on the representation of prostitution focuses on the description of prostitution as a problem by activists, lobbyists, media or policymakers (in short: in society). Scholars who identify unidimensional presentations of prostitution in society, mostly situate themselves within a feminist political, (psycho-) sociological tradition. By researching how prostitution is described as problematic in discourses (see for example the work of Doezema, 1999 or 2010; Kantola & Squires, 2004) or strategically presented as such in frames (see for example: Hrzenjak, Jalusic, Sauer & Tertinegg, 2005), scholarly research on how prostitution is represented in society, analyses in more depth why and how unidimensional representations of prostitution are problematic.

For the purpose of the current study, it is important to note that when reviewing scholarly research on both prostitution discourses and frames present in (Western) society, three representations re-occur as pre-dominantly shaping social representations on prostitution: (1) oppression/sexual dominance representation, (2) pro rights/sex work representation and (3) the nuisance representation. The first two representations are more dominant at the 18 national/international level (especially the oppression/sexual dominance representation), the third is more dominant at the local level.

As the difference between discourse or frame is not of central interest for this particular study (and would take us too far), I borrow the term ‘representation’ and more specifically the question “ what is the problem represented to be? ” from Bacchi (2012). This question helps structuring the following broad overview of the three dominant but different ways in which prostitution is presented as a social problem. In this study, I use ‘representation’ in a broad way, to encompass both problem descriptions in frames as discourses 5 that lead to dominant ways in which prostitution is understood as problematic in society. In order to specifically, yet orderly describe how such presentations characterize prostitution as problematic, I borrow a structure developed by Entman (1993) to describe problem descriptions 6: (1) the problem definition, (2) the causes of the problem, (3) the moral judgement of the actors involved and (4) the remedies or solutions that are proposed.

After discussing the remedies or solutions that are proposed, I describe how they are identified in actual prostitution policies or regulations. I offer critical insights by prostitution scholars on how policies based on such unidimensional representations are at best deficient, at worst harmful for those working in prostitution.

1.2.1 The oppression/sexual dominance representation

What is presented as problematic?

The oppression/sexual dominance representation is one of the most popular representations on prostitution. Prostitution, according to this perspective, is a problem an sich: sex for sale is in itself problematic because no person would want to do this voluntarily. Regardless of the type of prostitution - whether it be for example street prostitution or luxury escort services - buying sex is automatically sexual exploitation and thus a form of violence and a form of slavery. It is a multi-traumatic experience for those working in prostitution and according to this paradigm, the incidence of rape, physical assault and STD’s are alarmingly high in prostitution (Farley et al., 2004). Advocates of this perspective consider men as the main perpetrators of this type of sexual exploitation and claim that mainly men recruit women to

5 I choose such a broad, umbrella approach to describing the dominant representations, as there exists conceptual confusion in (amongst others) prostitution literature in the application of the term ‘discourse’ or ‘frame’, as pointed out by Bacchi (2005). 6 Entman (1993) suggested this structure to analyze frames (see also Verloo and Maloutas, 2005). 19 work in the sex industry. Furthermore, men contribute to the further development of this industry by paying and demanding for (specific types of) sexual services (Coy, 2016). Advocates of this perspective consider prostitution as one of the best examples of powerful patriarchal gender relations and the suppression of women by men. Prostitution results from economic and social power differences between men and women (Busch, Bell, Hotaling, & Monto, 2002). Debating, policing and researching prostitution, is thus part of the activist agenda on gender equality and against violence against women (Barry, 1979; 1995; Jeffries, 1997).

In sum, there is a clear moral norm behind this paradigm: the purchasing of sexual services is wrong and an act of oppression and violence. An implicit moral judgment in this specific paradigm revolves around male sexuality that is considered potentially dangerous because it is susceptible to “ dominant representations of gendered sexual mores (…) ” (Coy, Horvath, & Kelly, 2007:25), representations that eroticize female bodies, especially the ones of young girls (Coy, 2016:14). Furthermore, this perspective expands the problem of prostitution by intrinsically linking it with human trafficking: prostitution and international sex trade or sex trafficking, are considered the same. Defenders of abolitionism associate prostitution with human trafficking by stating that the demand for prostitution causes trafficking of women and children (Coy, 2016). This is not a new problem definition: the crossing of borders for sex work has been instigating discussions as early as the nineteenth century under the header of the white slave trade (for an analysis about the historical debate, see Doezema, 2001 or Rodríguez García, 2012). At the end of the 20th century, more specifically when the Iron Curtain fell, heated debates amongst researchers, governmental, inter-governmental and nongovernmental organizations about the relation between prostitution and trafficking re- emerged (for a critical examination, see Agustín, 2007:36).

It is important to point out that abolitionist proponents assume that women who trade sexual services are passive: women working in prostitution are forced or deceived to offer their sexual services for sale. Within this representation, women working in prostitution fall automatically in the category of victims of force, deception and exploitation (Hunter, 1993). This is why abolitionist advocates will refrain from using the term prostitute but rather refer to prostituted women, victims or even survivors of sexual abuse. Whenever women working in prostitution state that they did choose to offer sexual services, without being forced or deceived by somebody else, abolitionist researchers consider such testimonies as a sign of traumatization, brainwashing and fragile mental health (Farley, 2004). Abolitionist 20 proponents focus on how possible problematic social backgrounds can be a mechanism that moves women into prostitution (Ross, Anderson, Heber & Norton, 1990; Kramer & Berg, 2003; Stoltz, Shannon, Kerr, Zhang Montaner & Wood, 2007). Taken together, this perspective approaches the demand side of prostitution as active and the supply side as passive or as the result of force and deception by a third party. Mechanisms and motives of active, conscious (female) supply is not considered relevant in understanding the problems associated with prostitution.

Abolitionists emphasize that the only possible solution to the problems of prostitution is to abolish sex for sale altogether. The advice is straightforward: no government can morally allow prostitution and the only way to answer to the problem called prostitution is zero – tolerance. Clients, pimps and brothel keepers should be punished (criminalized) and prostituted women should be guided out of prostitution. Within this representation, the criminalization of customers and pimps (see for example Dworkin, 1988; Ekberg, 2004) and the development of exit strategies from prostitution (Dalla, 2006) are considered valuable venues.

What policies align with this type of representation?

Nordic prostitution policy models are typical examples of the abolitionist solution to prostitution. These policy models consider those working in prostitution as victims and their clients as criminals. In many of these Nordic prostitution policies, clients are criminalized (Bjonnes, 2012). Sweden is the first country that criminalized the purchase of sexual services. The criminalization of paid sex in Sweden started in 1999 with the sexköpslagen law (Levy & Jakobsson, 2014). The Swedish model, that criminalizes the demand but not the supply of paid sex, is internationally considered a model of good practice 7 and several other countries such as Norway, Iceland and France copied the Swedish answer to prostitution. However, Levy & Jakobsson (2014) identify certain pitfalls of this particularly popular Swedish policy model. A first observation is that there is no clear, observable decrease in the amount of people who are involved in prostitution. When the seksköpslagen was reviewed in 2010, proponents assumed that the evaluation would not question the underlying principles of the law nor that it would lead to an elimination of the law (Levy & Jakobsson, 2014). As such, the evaluation did not critically focus on the underlying assumptions on prostitution. This led

7 Nordic gender policies (and especially Swedish policies) in general are often presented as exemplary and innovative for other European states. 21 reviewers to evaluate the law through a specific lens. For example, although it is positive that part of the evaluation process focused on interviewing prostitutes, they selected only a certain type of prostitute to participate to the evaluation process. Prostitutes who identified themselves as sex workers, male or transgender prostitutes were not interviewed. Considering that within an abolitionist perspective, women who identify themselves as sex workers are considered mentally instable (Farley, 2004), reviewers did not consider their evaluation of the law as trustworthy. Furthermore, since prostitution is mainly seen as a female issue, the reviewers could refrain from further investigating the experiences of male and transgender prostitutes with the new law. Although this was an important moment for evaluating a particular policy model, this evaluation is characterized by a selection bias were only female prostitutes who resembled or identified as prototypical victim were evaluated. This leaves us wondering about those prostitutes who do not respond to this ideal and their experience with this particular model. Levy and Jakobsson (2014) claim that such evaluations are a- symmetrical and thus cannot prove that an abolitionist policy would effectively lead to a decrease in prostitution.

Levy and Jakobsson (2014) illustrate how policies based on unidimensional problem representations are not harmless. They offer a second concrete example of how these type of representations create difficulties, especially for those in prostitution. In the context of the seksköpslagen, for example, they observe that there is a negative effect from the policy on the security of prostitutes. They explain that, because the purchase of sexual services is prohibited, an underground (virtual), illegal circuit emerges. Such underground locations make it difficult for social workers or police to make contact with prostitutes and vice versa. Another consequence of the criminalization of prostitution, is that it leads to an increased competition in supply. This translates to prostitutes offering sexual services at lower rates or prostitutes engaging in riskier sexual encounters to distinguish themselves from other prostitutes. Another risk, particularly for street prostitutes, is that clients are afraid for being caught and demand a quick decision from prostitutes whether or not they trust the client enough to get in his car (Levy, 2014; Dodillet & Östergren, 2011). Lastly, Levy and Jakobsson (2014) point out how the Swedish policy and the associated representations leads to more stigmatization of prostitutes. Yet, the seksköpslagen is said to reach one particular goal: “(the) redefining (of the) normative social construction and understanding of the sex industry ” (Levy & Jakobsson, 2014:12). A more general critique and assumption is that policymakers use the abolitionist perspective to account for the displacement of prostitution 22 from public space without it becoming an immoral displacement from their part (Levy & Jakobsson, 2014). Dodillet and Östergren (2011) also criticize the Swedish model and claim that this policy does not intend to help prostitutes but rather:

(…) that it has to do with a desire to create and uphold a national identity of being the moral consciousness in the world; with notions of “good” and “bad” sexuality; with the whore stigma; with creating new forms of sexual deviancy; with a communitarian, rather than a liberal, political culture, and perhaps above all: a stereotypical and uninformed understanding of prostitution. (p.25)

The authors argue that in order to develop a prostitution policy that is beneficial for those (whether voluntary or not) working in prostitution, policy makers should do a serious effort to collect input and testimonies from prostitutes themselves, instead of relying mainly on the opinion of those outside prostitution. They argue that it should become evident that those working in prostitution, and thus the targets of prostitution policies, are more involved and consulted in the development of such policies (Dodillet & Östergren, 2011).

There has been and still is a noticeable growing influence of the abolitionist perspective on prostitution policy development. European governments, for example, appear to form more easily allies with abolitionist organizations such as the European Women’s Lobby in developing prostitution policies than with sex work activists. Rodríguez García and Gillis (2017), for example, illustrate how abolitionist activists were able to influence local prostitution policies in Brussels, Belgium as early as mid-eighteenth century and how their influence, throughout the centuries only grew bigger at the international level.

Ditmore (2012) also illustrates how especially sex trafficking policy is influenced by abolitionist lobby groups such as the Human Rights Network , a lobby bloc that consists out of non-governmental organizations such as for example the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women , the European Women’s Lobby and the International Abolitionist Federation . Importantly, she points out how such lobby groups go beyond ideological left/right divides and how they develop unexpected alliances with for example the radical right (or on matters of prostitution: with religious institutions for example). Ditmore (2012) refers to Chancer (1998) who described such alliances as strange bedfellow-ness between feminist lobby groups and radical right. Alliances who would not cooperate on matters of for example abortion, but do so on matters of prostitution or pornography. Alexander (1998) also describes the at first sight rather surprising connection between feminist organizations and legislators, judges and 23 right-wing activists on the matter of prostitution. She points out that such cooperation against prostitution can emerge, even when policy makers and feminist organizations might have different motives for why they want to abolish prostitution.

1.2.2 Pro rights/sex work representation

What is presented as problematic?

On the other end of the dominant discussions on prostitution are the advocates of the pro rights/sex work representation . Sex work activists approach prostitution as (at a minimum) a legitimate economic survival mechanism. To emphasize this, they rather refer to sex work than prostitution. Within this perspective, prostitution is not perceived as problematic an sich, but its stigmatization in society and the social context surrounding prostitution, is. According to this perspective, the insufficient labor conditions and socio – legal barriers form the main causes why sex work mainly situates itself within an underground circuit. Because of this underground characteristic of prostitution, one of the consequences is that it becomes more vulnerable to criminality and abuse (Sanders, 2004). The stigmatization, the lacking recognition of prostitution as a legitimate way to earn money and the lacking recognition of the expertise of those working in prostitution on matters of prostitution, lie at the base of the problems surrounding prostitution (Scoular, 2004).

This perspective is often described as liberal and, just as the first perspective, has an underlying normative perspective on sexuality. The difference is that here, sexuality is considered something that one can trade when desired and that society cannot claim sexuality as something that needs to be protected against a market logic from demand and supply. The moral judgment lies more in how societies deal with sexual activities that fall beyond the norm (as something being part of private and not public life, as something that cannot be traded for other benefits). Within this perspective, however, individuals do have the right to use their body as they wish and should have the right to prostitute themselves and earn a living with it (Agustín, 2006). There is less of an explicit moral judgment on male sexuality, in contrast to the first paradigm. In contrast to the first perspective, the position of those working in prostitution is not inherently passive. Individuals can choose to prostitute themselves and as such, personal motives from those working in prostitution becomes a variable of interest. In an effort to connect the act of prostitution to work/labor, this paradigm puts forward the label sex worker . The difference between voluntary action and coercion is crucial in defining whether somebody is a sex worker or not. 24

Another important aspect within the pro rights/sex work perspective, is choice. They differentiate between rational and free choice: when an individual rationally chooses to prostitute herself, then this does not imply that this is a free choice (Chapkis, 1997) but, importantly, it also does not necessarily imply being in the position of a passive victim. Sex work defenders identify more ways of making a decision than solely based on free choice. Making a decision, refers to an active position and thus, while this perspective acknowledges that sex workers do not always perform their job out of free choice, this does not necessarily mean that they are passive victims.

Supporters of this perspective also point out how rational versus free choice is also a relevant distinction for other types of jobs: a person can rationally choose to develop herself as a surgeon because of the monetary benefits but out of free choice would rather become an artist. While debating prostitution, pro rights/sex work advocates try to draw parallels between prostitution and other types of jobs or living situations where people are not necessarily in a situation they wish to be in but do consider it as offering the best option under certain circumstances. When free will begins or ends has to be judged by the sex worker him or herself and cannot be assumed a priori by those outside prostitution, according to this perspective. In light of this problem definition, pro rights/sex work scholars, do not treat prostitution as synonymous with sex trafficking. They distinguish between women, men or transgenders who migrate for work in the sex industry and people who are forced or deceived to migrate to work in the sex industry (Doezema, 1999).

Since this perspective identifies the socio-legal barriers as problematic to prostitution, supporters of the pro rights/sex work perspective, advocate for the regulation and recognition of prostitution as a legitimate form of labor. Sex workers should have the same legal and political rights as other citizens (Miller & Haltiwanger, 2004). On top of that, sex work activists argue that the choices made by individuals when confronted with limited economic chances ought to be recognized and validated as equal (Scoular, 2004). The main recommendation from this perspective is the decriminalization of not only prostitutes but also clients. The development of socio-legal and labor laws that protect those working in prostitution is crucial as well. Importantly, pro rights/sex work proponents still debate how the regulations and legalization of prostitution can or should take form and what type of labor regulation prostitutes themselves would prefer.

25

What policies align with this type of representation?

The influence of the pro rights/sex work representation is especially present in the Netherlands, some Australian states and New Zealand (West, 2000). New Zealand’s current prostitution policy, notably, is an example of a policy that explicitly decriminalizes prostitution. In 2003, the government of New Zealand introduced the Prostitution Reform Act (PRA). Important to note is that in order to develop this policy, the government was receptive to the lobbying work of the local New Zealand Prostitutes’ Collective (NZPC). The NZPC is considered a relevant, trustworthy stakeholder and an important source of information in the development of the prostitution law. This points out a clear contrast with the development and evaluation of the Swedish prostitution law. Since the law is set into place, there is no more sanctioning towards sex work activities (neither those from clients nor those from sex workers) and sex workers in New Zealand “became subject to similar laws applicable to any other occupational group” (Wahab & Abel, 2016:2).

Other policies that do not prohibit prostitution vary in the way they align with the recommendations from the sex work paradigm. Prostitution policies that govern prostitution by regulating it, can range from offering labor laws that should assure social and legal protection for prostitutes, decriminalizing the buying and selling of sex, decriminalizing third- party involvement or allow the issuing of licenses for establishments aligned with prostitution, such as hotels or bars (Skillbrei & Holmström, 2011). However, prostitution policies that aim to govern prostitution through regulation are not necessarily policies that rely on the pro rights/sex work philosophy that I described in the first section. Pates (2012), for example, found that the German tradition of regulating prostitution does not rely on the recommendations of this paradigm but is a way of merely tolerating or better yet controlling a phenomenon they still consider more deviant than ‘normal’. Pitcher and Wijers (2014) illustrate that even the Dutch legalization of brothels rather leads to increased controls on prostitutes than in significant better labor conditions for prostitutes. Neither does this system exclude underground, illegal prostitution circuits. Especially prostitutes that cannot or wish not to register themselves, need to turn to these circuits in order to offer their services. Kilvington et al. (2001) describe how, even for policies that regulate prostitution, we still need more insider information and evaluations from those working in prostitution. Such insider knowledge can help policy makers understand what type of regulation is needed in order to create suitable labor conditions for prostitutes. A possible factor that could, for example explain the low registration rates in the Dutch case, is the existence of social stigma. Even for 26 those prostitutes that position themselves as sex workers, social stigma might prevent them to register themselves as such.

1.2.3 Nuisance representation

What is presented as problematic?

Scholars identify another type of representation that is influential in presenting prostitution as a particular type of problem. This representation is also an example of a unidimensional representation that obscures the multidimensionality of prostitution and successfully influences prostitution policies or regulations. Different than the previously discussed more analytically inspired representations, this representation predominantly takes place at the local level and constructs prostitution as a problem of nuisance. Such debates mainly occur in red- light zones in cities and more specifically in gentrifying areas 8 and are about visible forms of prostitution such as street and window prostitution (prostitution taking place in public space) (Kantola & Squires, 2004; Laing & Cook, 2014).

Nuisance is mostly put forward as a problem by local community activists. They represent prostitution as a phenomenon that brings along disturbances in public space such as noise, dirt and increased traffic. Apart from noise and left-over thrash such as empty cans or used condoms, the visibility of prostitution is presented as disturbing social order. Prostitution, then, is mainly represented as a deviant phenomenon, an irregular form of sexuality, one that does not belong in public space and certainly not in family oriented neighborhoods. O’Neill and colleagues (2008), explain that within such representations, it is deemed problematic that children witness prostitution. A returning issue in nuisance problem constructions, is that visible prostitution is a disorder or even an affront to a community, a sign of decay of a criminal infested neighborhood. As such, its presence is perceived as hindering the safety and development of neighborhoods, especially when they are or develop into middle-class, family-oriented neighborhoods (Hubbard, 2004; 2010).

Contrary to the oppression/sexual dominance representation or the pro rights/sex work representation, this representation considers prostitutes and their clients rather as culprits than as victims. The way morality steps into how prostitution is presented as problematic at the local level, follows but also differs from how it is emphasized in the oppression/sexual dominance representation. In local representations, there remains an emphasis on prostitutes

8 Ana Di Ronco (2014) observes that a nuisance debate is less present in rather deprived urban areas. 27 as immoral others rather than victims. This was more explicit during the nineteenth century than now within a Western context. Due to the strong position of the oppression/sexual dominance representation and especially its emphasis on prostitutes being victims of sex trafficking, the notion of a prostitute as a victim, seeped through at the local level. However, this does not necessarily mean that local policy makers or community activists pity those working in prostitution. Rather, compared to the nineteenth century, prostitutes’ position in such problem constructions shifted from immoral others and deviants to indicators of the presence of deviance and organized crime. Taken together, prostitutes’ position in local problem representations unclearly shifts between the position of victim and threatening Others (Hubbard, 2004:13). Just as in the oppression representation, the pimp figure also emerges in local nuisance problem constructions. In Western Europe, for example, the emphasis currently lies on Eastern-European men involved in criminal trafficking networks.

Just as with the previous two problem representations, this type of representation at the local level, also tends to present prostitution as a particular type of problem without taking into consideration other issues beyond nuisance. Moreover, nuisance debates are mainly referring to the problems experienced by community activists or residents who associate with them. Importantly, however, is that within such representations, also ‘community’ is generalized as one homogenous group. Laing & Cook (2014) indicate that the term community “explicitly and implicitly delineates who and what embodies and belongs in the community and who and what does not” (p. 9). Such representations generalize who are causing the problems (those working in prostitution, their entourage and clients) and who are victims (residents, ‘the community’). Hubbard (1998) explains that such representations tend to differentiate between those working in prostitution and residents by representing prostitutes as non-locals, as to emphasize how they are different from residents, how they are ‘less ’ part of the local community. Such a representation does not take into account that those working in prostitution might equally as well be residents of the same neighborhood they work in. Furthermore, also residents are represented as a homogenous group that is opposed to the presence of prostitution (especially in local media accounts). O’Neill and colleagues (2008), however, indicate that local resident activist groups tend to be formed by a section of a community. Residents who are not opposed to prostitution or who do not perceive prostitution as a problem of nuisance and disturbance, however, are more likely to remain quiet. Just as in the abolitionist and pro rights representation, those presenting the problem, do not only 28 emphasize prostitution as particular type of problem but also generalize in whose name they are identifying problems.

Within dominant nuisance problem constructions, the suggested solutions range from concrete nuisance reducing measures such as local traffic regulations but also the discouragement of prostitution or its active displacement to more abandoned spaces.

What policies align with this type of representation?

Oppression or pro rights problem representations are influential in national or international media accounts or the development of national or international prostitution regulations. The nuisance problem representation is influential in local media accounts or local prostitution regulations. Laing & Cook (2014) indicate that “ sex workers and urban spaces of sex work have been targeted by a wide variety of interventions and policies from those governing the city” (p. 3). The authors perceive a tendency in local prostitution policies to contain sex work and “ to keep it away from other areas ” (p.7). Put more generally, representations of prostitution as a form of nuisance or disturbance of urban space, inform exclusionary policies (Hubbard & Whowell, 2008). Sanders (2004), for example, illustrates how urban prostitution policies in Britain revolve around reducing nuisance and disorder associated with prostitution. The author points out how such urban prostitution policies have a unidimensional focus and are, as such, problematic:

The nuclei of prostitution policy are on the dangers created to others in the community and the impact of punitive policies on the vulnerability levels of sex workers are not taken into consideration. (2004:1714)

Di Ronco (2014) points out how in several European cities, nuisance problem representations influence local policy makers to develop regulations that vary from being nuisance reducing to nuisance penalizing. Examples of such regulations are zoning policies, zero toleration regulations or fining systems. Such local regulatory frameworks can emerge in cities where selling and buying sex is not criminalized but prostitution related behavior, such as kerb- crawling or soliciting in public space, can be criminalized 9 (Di Ronco, 2014:145). Di Ronco explains how such local regulations mainly try to reduce the visible aspect of prostitution.

9 Of course, nuisance debates at the local level are more prevalent in countries where prostitution is tolerated in public space. Countries with policies that strongly align with the oppression/sexual dominance debate have no tolerated visible red-light areas. This does not mean that such countries do not have red-light zones, but it does 29

Hubbard points out that the nuisance problem construction might be beneficial for policymakers looking for a way to effectively illustrate their effectiveness in tackling crime and preserve public order (Hubbard, 2004). He illustrates this by referring to the zero tolerance policies developed in Paris and London. Hubbard mentions that such nuisance based policies, aimed at tackling “ low-level public disorder ” (p.1699) might do little more than just displace and marginalize prostitution in order to revalorize particular spaces in the city, to signal that a particular neighborhood is “ ripe for investment ” and develop into a middle-class, family-oriented neighborhood (Hubbard, 2004:1698).

A mixture of unidimensional problem representations occurs when local policymakers rely on an abolitionist perspective on prostitution whereby prostitution is associated with trafficking and exploitation, when defending nuisance reducing policies. However, scholars such as O’Neill and colleagues, are critical about the extent of abolitionist concern behind such regulations and policies. In evaluating the 2006 Coordinated Prostitution Strategy from the UKs Home Office, they note that:

This policy (…) underlines the hegemonic discourse of prostitution in the UK which imagines sex workers as inevitably subject to violence or abuse (…). At the same time, it acknowledges that street prostitution is unacceptable in civilized societies (…). The implication here is not merely that street sex work is undesirable in and of itself, but that it is antithetical to the cultivation of cohesive communities; interestingly the same policy document suggests that off-street working may be increasingly tolerated (…). (p.78)

Especially that last sentence refers to an out of sight, out of mind reasoning that contradicts preventing and reducing exploitation and trafficking. In short, such policies do not necessarily lead to a decrease in sex trafficking or prostitution, even though policymakers claim they would.

Furthermore, scholars focusing on the effects of nuisance based policies, criticize such policies for not taking into account the effects of such policies on the working conditions of prostitutes. Just as abolitionist based policies, nuisance based policies are not developed nor evaluated with the aid of those who those working in prostitution, those who would be affected by the regulations (see Wagenaar, 2017 or Van Meir, 2017). Despite the lack of mean that such red-light zones are probably more located in underground or deserted places, avoiding being visible. As such, they cannot really cause nuisance. 30 incorporating of prostitutes in the development of local regulations and policies, especially nuisance reducing policies have been publicly resisted or addressed by those working in prostitution for being stigmatizing, excluding and leading to unsafe working conditions. Hubbard (2004) refers to how the English Collective of Prostitutes and the International Sex Workers’ Union publicly went on strike to protest against the Westminster City Councils attempts to displace prostitution from the Soho neighborhood. Le Bail (2017) describes how Chinese women working as prostitutes in the Belleville neighborhood in Paris, symbolically protested against the local exclusionary measures by ostensibly cleaning the streets of Belleville, stating that they do not want nor aim to deteriorate the neighborhood, that their presence does not make Belleville ugly.

Finally, these type of policies may indicate that they are concerned about fighting exploitation and trafficking. Yet, different than policies based on an abolitionist representation of prostitution, these policies tend to not only target clients, but also female and trans prostitutes as possible criminals (Laing & Cook, 2014 referring to Whowell, 2010).

1.3 What’s the problem? Lacking recognition of multidimensionality in problem constructions about prostitution

Scholars analyzing dominant frames and representations present in society, illustrate how each of these representations downgrade prostitution from a multidimensional social issue to a unidimensional problem. Reviewing the literature on the representation of prostitution in society, illustrates how there are dominant different, mutually exclusive or singular representations of how prostitution is problematic. The way prostitution is presented and approached as a unidimensional issue by mainly activists and policymakers, is a widely shared concern by prostitution scholars about field activism, lobbying and policing. Wagenaar and Altink (2012) identify how prostitution politics are mainly morality politics, given the extent to which “ contestation over moral principles (…) on the policymaking process ” of prostitution (2012:32). Nagy & Powell (2016) also point out the large impact of moral contestations on prostitution policy development. These authors explain that prostitution policy making introduces policymakers to a wicked problem. They refer to Head who identifies wicked problems as “ complex, open-ended and intractable (…) where both the nature of the “problem” and the preferred “solution” are strongly contested ” (Head, 2008:101). Their main concern, then, revolves around how such unidimensional constructions are particularly influential in how prostitution is understood in society and consequently, dealt 31 and not dealt with. There are two reasons why the dominant representations are deficient: first, because of the limited range of problems that are discussed and second, due to the way in which the different problems are discussed, mostly by discussing the problems as being mutually exclusive. The current dominant representations are limiting in two ways: both by scope (of problem perceptions) and by form (way in which the problem perceptions are presented). First, we see that what is presented as problematic is limited in all three representations. Although it may seem like the pro rights and abolitionist representation are crucially different, they actually present different variations on a same theme (radically different problem perceptions): the role of agency in prostitution. The scope of the discussion then, is limited to a (feminist) gendered focus on the importance of agency or free will in prostitution (as pointed out by Weitzer, 2006; 2007; Agustín, 2007; Peršak, 2014; Pitcher & Wijers, 2014) or how prostitution causes nuisance.

Second, we see that the way in which especially the pro rights and abolitionist problem perceptions are discussed, is limiting too. When the two representations enter into debate, the problems are presented as mutually exclusive. Or prostitution should be regarded as violence against women or prostitution should be understood as a legitimate economic survival mechanism. The diversity in testimonies from those working in prostitution, is ignored instead of used as an indication of how diverse experiences with prostitution can be, both concerning agency as with other aspects of the phenomenon (Nencel, 2017). Put more simply, the dominant representations and aligned policy approaches focus on certain problems and certain problems only . What’s considered at stake with prostitution will be limited to singular issues, neglecting or even dismissing other problem perceptions, or challenges that emerge by the co- occurrence of different problem perceptions.

Regardless of the underlying ideological perspective, none of the current existing prostitution regulation models seems to be effective in tackling social problems associated with prostitution (apart from promising first signs from the New Zealand policy). Researchers explain this ineffectiveness by referring to how many prostitution regulations are still highly influenced by unidimensional problem constructions (most notably the abolitionist representation at the international and national level and the nuisance representation on the local level). Reviewing the different prostitution models, Crowhurst, Outshoorn en Skillbrei (2012) observe that, irrespective of the type of regime (criminalization or prohibition, regulation and non-regulation), “the prostitution policies examined are fraught with ambiguities, lacunae, and contradictions that are reflected in their implementation (or lack of 32 thereof), thus often furthering the vulnerability of individuals operating in the sex industry” (Crowhurst, Outshoorn, & Skillbrei, 2012:187). Unidimensional policies remain deficient policies in that they are generally not developed or evaluated with the aid of those working in prostitution and are selective when relying on scholarly work on prostitution (see for example Phoenix, 2009). Crowhurst emphasizes that there is an incongruence between the increased awareness of prostitution scholars about knowledge gaps on prostitution, and the straightforwardness of policy makers:

Much still remains unknown about the composition and organization of the sex industry (…). This stands emphatically in contrast to the many alleged ‘facts’ and ‘certainties’ commonly proclaimed with respect to these very aspects by politicians, policymakers and public administrators in supporting their prostitution policy approaches. (…) No matter its complexity, (it) is claimed to be owned and expertly known in its entirety (…) with no need to refer to more informed sources of technical authority or evidenced research. (Crowhurst, 2017:50, referring to Wagenaar & Altink, 2012)

Pitcher and Wijers (2014) state that the current policy models cannot offer a clear nor protective framework for prostitutes since none of the models are developed with the knowledge or fine-tuned with the aid from prostitutes themselves. The authors explain that:

(…) sex workers have considerable knowledge of professional and effective practice in sex work and it is vital they are involved in development of policies affecting them and that their labor rights are facilitated. (Pitcher & Wijers, 2014:12)

Associated with the unidimensional focus within dominant representations and aligned policy models on certain problems, comes a limited focus on who carries responsibility. Dodillet and Östergren (2011), for example, criticize the Swedish model and claim that this model relies on a problem construction that is able to highlight how the Swedish prostitution policy reflects the ‘right’ norms on gender equality. As such, prostitution is seen as a social problem that falls outside their society:

(…) it has to do with a desire to create and uphold a national identity of being the moral consciousness in the world; with notions of “good” and “bad” sexuality; with the whore stigma; with creating new forms of sexual deviance; with a communitarian, rather than a liberal, political culture, and perhaps above all: a stereotypical and uninformed understanding of prostitution. (p.25) 33

Jacobsen and Stenvoll (2010) also point out how policy makers can avoid direct responsibility in the problem definitions of prostitution by appointing a certain ‘villain’ (who is causing the problem). The researchers compared policy representations about Muslim women with those about foreign prostitutes and observe that both groups are often predominantly labelled as victims. By making both groups victims to problems of exploitation of an international sex trafficking network or dominant male culture, media and policy makers place responsibility for the challenges both group face, outside the polity and even outside (Western) society:

Victim discourse, when tied to the transnational proliferation of the sex industry and of (radical) Islam, has depoliticizing effects because it places nonindividual causes of victimization outside of “our” polity and society and casts the state as protector and neutral arbiter of national and global inequalities, marginalization, and social conflict. (p. 270)

In such a problem construction, the villain is located outside ‘ their ’ society. An example of such a villain is the figure of the Eastern European criminal.

Taken together, we see that current implementations of criminalizing and prohibiting, or decriminalizing and regulating prostitution are both evoking resistance from those working in and around prostitution. A resistance that we are unable to capture completely when relying solely on dominant unidimensional prostitution representations (and thus, dominant unidimensional problem constructions).

Unidimensional approaches that are inspired by such representations (and the preceding lobby efforts), come with barriers, exclusionary policies and ignorance of other problematic experiences, mainly for those working in prostitution (and falling outside of the traditional victim or empowered worker categories). The problematic consequences of unidimensional and powerful constructions on prostitution as a social issue, is identified by many different prostitution scholars, relying on interviews with those working in or around prostitution, such as social workers. More recently, there is a broadly carried consensus amongst prostitution scholars that the recognition of prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon, is crucial if we want to avoid further exclusion or stigmatization of especially those working in what can still be considered a risk profession (Crowhurst, 2017; Nencel, 2017).

Although scholars (just as certain prostitution organizations or social organizations) want to redefine prostitution as a social problem, they do so by adding insights from different 34 perspectives, proving that experiences with prostitution from those in prostitution are complex and diverse. Although this is valuable and necessary, the unpacking of multidimensionality on its own, as in the coming together of a variety of problem perceptions from a variety of stakeholders about a variety of dimensions (in short, what multidimensionality means and how it is experienced) remains underexplored. However, although prostitution scholars are convincing in their concern about the unidimensional representations and approaches to prostitution in society, they mainly do so by further exploring the variety of experiences by those working in prostitution and this in a fragmented manner (Vermeulen & Peršak, 2014). This is not necessarily a critique since such in depth exploration is challenging and still far from finished (Crowhurst, 2017). It is, however, a gap that equally as well, needs to be addressed.

Returning to our trigger: to understand what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, we want a research approach that is able to identify the problem perception by, for example, the resident complaining about nuisance, the problem perception of the street prostitute about safe working conditions and the challenges that occur due to how these different problem perceptions emerge together in a same case. An approach that is able to identify these different issues, is an approach that is able to identify the challenges related to prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon. Scholarly research on prostitution illustrates that prostitution is a multidimensional phenomenon, leading to a variety of experiences and problem perceptions. A large strand of prostitution scholars warn that dominant problem constructions on prostitution are unidimensional. This is highly problematic because certain singular, simplified problem identifications are predominantly influencing social and political understandings and treatment of the phenomenon. Although scholars stress that we need a more multidimensional (problem) construction on prostitution, the development of it is still in its infancy. This research wants to suggest an approach that is able to identify what this multidimensionality means on the ground and the challenges related to dealing with a multidimensional phenomenon. 35

Chapter 2. From a state of the art to a state of the street

Research framework chapter

The previous chapter explains that there is a lacking recognition of prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon. In order to develop a multidimensional problem construction, I argue that we need an approach that is able to better capture the multidimensionality of prostitution than previous, more limited attempts. Such an approach would need to be able to explain the challenges that emerge when a variety of problem perceptions co-occur and the way we deal with that. Such an approach would also need to offer a constructive but at the same time realistic insight into what multidimensionality means in a context of interest.

I start by briefly returning to the basics of social problem construction. Next, I explain barriers to an easy recognition of multidimensionality. Cognitive bias and context are two factors that influence what problem perceptions emerge more clearly than others. The interplay between these factors influence how certain problem perceptions develop into dominant social problem constructions (a dominant way in which something is understood as problematic in society). This section explains why multidimensionality is not easily recognized.

This brings us to the last section where I argue that an organic public sociologist approach is best suited to collect the variety of problem perceptions that explain the multidimensionality and the challenges related to it. This takes multidimensionality from a state of the art, to a state of the (Yser) streets.

2.1 Back to basics: social problems and social problem construction

There are two ways to approach social problems. Best (2008) describes these as (1) the objectivist outlook and (2) the subjectivist outlook. The objectivist outlook analyses social problems by referring to “ objective measurable characteristics of conditions ” (p.4). The subjectivist outlook refers to social problems as “people’s subjective sense that something is or isn’t a problem ” (p. 9). The subjectivist outlook analyses social problems by looking at how and why people consider certain conditions as problematic. It researches the process in which something becomes known as a social problem. An example of an objectivist research 36 would be a research measuring how many migrants working in prostitution remain stuck in exploitative pay back systems or how certain new technologies lead to a decrease in prostitutes being murdered by serial killers 10 (Cunningham, 2017). Applied to our question of what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, an objectivist outlook would measure how much noise is caused by street prostitution and their clients, whether the presence of street prostitution leads to more traffic jams in the neighborhood, or would identify the amount of violence against those working in street prostitution to research security issues. Although this kind of research is important, such analyses are not the aim of the current study. In this study I am interested in how prostitution is experienced as problematic and what challenges emerge when different problem perceptions occur together. This research thus applies a subjectivist, constructionist outlook.

A constructionist focus on social problems comes with a certain terminology. Best (2008) explains the basic terms of a constructionist approach. A first term is claim . A social problem is constructed by somebody claiming a condition to be problematic. This is part of the process of claimsmaking in which somebody, the claimsmaker , addresses an issue as problematic to others. Best (2008) indicates that these claims may come in different shapes: from people referring to statistical evidence to people referring to a personal experience. Whether a claim might develop into an ‘accepted’ social problem, depends on the reaction of others. The social problem construction process relies on a claim being heard/reacted upon by others. Apart from claim, claimsmaker and claimsmaking, Best also uses the term troubling conditions , to refer to the conditions that are problematized (Best, 2008:15). The sociology of social problem construction, then, focuses on what is claimed to be problematic, but more in light of understanding the relation between the claimsmaking process and how social problem constructions become recognized as social problems. In short: the sociology of social problems analyses social problems by not looking at the condition in itself as problematic, but by analyzing ‘the reactive pattern’ that this condition evokes (Manning, 1975:1). This means that the sociology of social problems considers problem claims, where they come from and how they are accepted, as sources of information to understand social problems.

The sociology of social problem construction extends beyond analyzing how and why people claim something to be problematic or when such a claimsmaking process is successful

10 Cunningham (2017) found statistical evidence that when sex workers were able to advertise themselves on Craigslist , they were also able to screen their clients. They also found a decrease in sex workers being victims to serial killers during that same period. However, when Craigslist no longer allowed such advertisements and the reviewing system fell apart, the noticed that the decrease disappeared too. 37

(leading to the recognition of the claim as a social problem) but also explores to the consequences of such problem constructions. An example can be found in the labeling theory put forward by Howard Becker (1973) or Erwin Goffman (1963). Labeling theory explores how the label deviance can influence the behavior or identity of those labelled as deviant. This leads to research that offers insight in the impact of social problem constructions. Such research is important for critically examining existing problem constructions.

This research focuses less on specifically gathering and analyzing dominant problem constructions on prostitution. This has already been extensively researched by numerous prostitution scholars (I offer an example by referring to the research of Doezema in the next section). My research suggests an approach that is able to gather the variety of what Best (2008) would refer to as problem claims. More specifically, it explores how their co- occurrence can be captured in a multidimensional problem construction. This regardless of what condition such a claim problematizes or regardless of who is making the claim or who is making it successfully understood by a broader audience as problematic. This means that I am interested in gathering and discussing problem perceptions that co-occur, even those that are not explicitly out there but require asking. These are the problem perceptions that may evoke coping mechanisms, but are more implicit or go unnoticed if not observed or asked about. The terms problem perception and problem claim are used interchangeably.

Before introducing this research approach, I focus on certain elements that influence the social construction process. These elements help to explain how certain problem claims may overshadow other claims or how certain problem perceptions are, when not asked, perceived but not publicly claimed as problematic.

2.2 The difficult recognition of complexity

Developing a successful multidimensional social problem construction on prostitution appears to be difficult. Understanding social problem construction is in itself a complex, multi- disciplinary endeavor. Sociological research has contributed significantly by approaching social problems as constructions (see for example Spector & Kitsuse, 1977; Best, 2013). Political scientists mainly contribute by analyzing the agenda-setting and framing of social problems (see for example Cobb & Elder, 1972; Schneider & Ingram, 2005; Outshoorn, 2005; 2012) and by exploring the impact of problem representations in or through policies (see for example Bacchi, 1999; Hrzenjak, Jalusic, Sauer & Tertinegg, 2005; Verloo, 2007). Both sociological and political science literature on social problem constructions demonstrates how 38 these constructions can be stereotyping, stigmatizing or othering , with one group being presented as homogenous or targeted as problematic. Social psychological literature on the formation of stereotypes (see for example Augoustinos & Walker, 1998; Tajfel & Forgas, 1982), helps to explain how such generalizations develop in social problem constructions. In this section, I mainly rely on sociological and socio – psychological literature to understand dominant unidimensional problem constructions on prostitution. I explain how cognitive bias and context contribute to the development and sustainment of dominant problem constructions.

I focus on both cognitive bias and context based on the characterization of social problem definitions on prostitution by scholars analyzing its representation (see for example the previous chapter or Doezema, 1999; 2013; Jacobsen & Stenvoll, 2010). The problem constructions on prostitution that are most successfully accepted in society are characterized by: (1) unidimensionality, with problem definitions revolving around generalizations, shaped by underlying (2) normative assumptions, that (3) succeed in becoming more dominant than other, more complex problem constructions. To explain unidimensionality and generalizations, I turn to the social psychology concept of cognitive bias. The development of cognitive biases and the dominant influence of unidimensional, normative problem definitions can only be understood by taking into account the context wherein such problem definitions emerge. This research does not focus on analyzing cognitive biases and context, but to explore an approach able to develop a multidimensional problem construction, it is important to take note of the factors that may obstruct such a construction. I will briefly describe the role of cognitive bias and context and illustrate their influence with specific examples on prostitution.

2.2.1 Cognitive bias

Jacobs, Kemeny & Manzi (2003) state that “ defining a problem” is one of the devices we deploy to make sense of a myriad of data and information” (Jacobs, Kemeny & Manzi, 2003:433). This sense making of information has been extensively studied in the field of social psychology and has contributed to the understanding of social (problem) construction more generally (see for example Gergen, 1985).

A first factor that emerges is that, especially when facing complex and rather unknown phenomena, people tend to simplify information. In psychology literature, especially in the field of social-psychology, such simplifications are best described in the literature on 39 stereotyping and stigma. In social psychology, the underlying mechanisms that can lead to stereotyping and othering are explained as the process of social categorization. Categorization is a human tendency to group objects and humans in categories. It is a mechanism that helps us to make quick inferences and safe energy while navigating through a complex world. Social categorization happens for example when humans are categorized into groups based on for example their race, gender or other attributes. When a group of people is differentiated from and (negatively) weighed against the self or an in-group, then othering emerges. Social categorization saves time and energy and helps in reducing complex information. Since human beings are often more characterized by their complexity than their simplicity, social categorization often comes with a cost (Brehm, Kassin, Fein & Mervielde, 2000).

Quick categorizations lead to overestimations of the differences between groups and an underestimation of differences within groups (Stangor & Lange, 1994). A thinking bias that creates such inaccurate judgments is the out-group homogeneity effect. The out-group homogeneity effect is the tendency to assume bigger similarities between members of the out- group than between those of the in-group, generalizing characteristics from groups to individuals and vice versa (Brehm, Kassin, Fein & Mervielde, 2000:138 – 177; Linville & Jones, 1980). This is a mechanism that goes hand in hand with generalizations, stereotyping but also stigmatization and prejudice. In the case of othering, this out-group homogeneity effect, apart from assuming general characteristics for a certain group, results in describing the out-group mainly by their difficulties, deficiencies or pathologies (Parnell and Vanderkloot, 1994 as discussed by Krumer-Nevo, 2002:306). The overgeneralization is a negative one: in-group members who overgeneralize, do so by assuming that what is perceived as different, difficult or even deficient about an out-group member would automatically count for the entire out-group. Krumer-Nevo (2002) observes how the out- group homogeneity effect and othering emerges for example in social work research on women in poverty. She explains how even at the professional level (research, policy makers), this thinking bias takes form by showing how women in poverty are:

Perceived as being different, marginalized, good but weak in the better case (the victim prototype), or strong but dangerous, in the worst (the guilty party prototype) (Rainwater, 1970). (Krumer-Nevo, 2002:306)

Such simplifications and overgeneralizations lie at the base of unidimensional problem constructions on prostitution. They not only cause people to observe this complex 40 phenomenon as such, but also make rather simplified, unidimensional problem claims easier accepted as valid. The out-group homogeneity effect, for example, can be seen in how people in prostitution are generally considered one homogenous group, despite differences in backgrounds, motives and trajectories. Approaching all types of prostitutes through unidimensional labels such as victim , empowered sex worker or criminal illustrates the outgroup homogeneity effect. Another example of such a generalization is how prostitution is not perceived as an umbrella term for a variety of forms or contexts in which one can trade sex for money.

Due to a cognitive bias, contradictory information tends to be overlooked, ignored or considered an exception to a rule. When, for example, testimonies of those in prostitution differ from the established problem constructions, such testimonies are categorized as exceptions or basically, less valid information to identify what’s at stake with prostitution. The abolitionist representation is an example of a representation that relies on overgeneralizations when constructing prostitution as problematic (Weitzer, 2010). As we saw in the previous chapter, this representation mainly presents women working in prostitution as victims and male clients as exploiters. Different generalizations take place in this problem construction: ranging from who is working in prostitution (mainly women), to the position of those in prostitution (victims) and who are the clients (men) 11 .

In short: when facing a multidimensional and thus complex phenomenon, people tend to reduce the complex information into manageable categories. This aids a quick understanding of what is alike and especially, what is different. The generalization and simplification of prostitution might be the product of a cognitive bias. Presenting certain problems in general, unidimensional terms is, in turn, more easily classified, digested and accepted. This is especially the case when such constructions fit broadly accepted in-group norms, such as for example gender norms or norms about sexuality or labor. As such, a simplified classification of prostitution, just as the successful acceptance of general, simplified problem claims, stems from and sustains various generalizations that surround prostitution.

11 Abolitionist advocates would refrain from incorporating women buying sex in the same category as men buying sex since there would be a power difference and a “difference between men and women in the sex class hierarchy” (Jeffreys, 2003:223). 41

2.2.2 Context

Context plays a crucial role in the recognition or acceptance of social problem constructions. Within a socio-psychological account on categorization processes and the development of cognitive bias, Hogg & Smith (2007) define context as “the wider social environment of group memberships, group norms, social identities, intergroup relations and ideologies” (p. 96). Turner, Oakes, Haslam & McGarty (1994) explain why taking into account the role of social context, and more specifically the existence of social groups in such a context, is necessary in understanding categorization processes as not only an individual but also a collective process. Approaching social problem construction from a socio-psychological point of view helps explaining why certain problem definitions are more easily accepted and influential than others.

McGarty & Turner (1992) explain that categories are not only individual, cognitive structures but also refer to existing, implicit social norms (the degree of consensus about judgements) present in a social context. Turner and colleagues explain that the content of cognitive categories not only reflects collectively shared knowledge or theories but is collectively produced and validated by groups as well. Turner and colleagues (1994) point out how categorization processes develop through a reciprocal process between the individual self and the collective self. The authors rely on social identity theory to explain the existence of both an individual and a collective self and its importance in categorization processes. The individual self refers to the individual as a “unique person in terms of his or her individual differences from other (in-group) persons” and the collective self or our social identity as “the individual in terms of his or her shared similarities with members of certain social categories in contrast to other social categories (“us” vs. “them”, in-group vs. out-group, (…))” (p. 454). Group-level processes “ reciprocally mediate self-categorization and cognition ” (p. 454). Turner and colleagues continue by explaining that:

the self functions as the conduit by which collective processes and social relationships mediate the cognitive functioning of the individual. One aspect of this is the idea that the use of categories and their meanings are governed by social norms and therefore anchored in-group memberships. (p. 460)

Cognition and the development of for example cognitive biases, are thus shaped by a social context (Turner et al., 1994). Through group processes and the identification of individuals with an in-group, certain information becomes more readily available and more easily 42 categorized as fitting in-group knowledge, values or norms (Hogg & Smith, 2007). Such information (and thus also problem constructions) has more social influence than information that does not fit the in-group knowledge, values or norms. Information that does not fit in- group knowledge or norms is less easily understood, accessed, categorized or even considered less relevant. The influence of certain information above other information, or certain problem definitions above other definitions in social problem construction for that matter, reflects the existence of a shared social identity, or more simply a psychological group formation (Turner, 2005). Turner indicates that the validity of judgements or claims depends on the extend it fits in-group consensus or norms. Turner and colleagues sum it up by stating that:

The way we think about people and things, the way we categorize them, and the meaning of the categories we employ vary with judgements from others that we accept or reject and that acceptance or rejection, agreement or disagreement, is a function of context-dependent self-categorization. The same information may be accepted or rejected by the same kind of people in different social contexts depending on how they categorize self and others at the time. (p. 461)

Best (1995) distinguishes between insider and outsider claimsmakers in light of social problem construction. Although Best refers to insider claimsmakers as those who “ hold powerful political offices or have strong ties with those who do ” (p.15), I would expand this by enlarging the scope of possible insider claimsmakers to include those that put forward claims that fit in-group norms. The strange bedfellowness between abolitionist activists and governments indicates how abolitionist organizations became influential insider claimsmakers on the topic of prostitution (but not on the topic of abortion, for example). The influence on filtering what is ‘known/accepted’ as problematic is also described by Cefaï :

Nombre de situations qui pourraient être thématisées comme aussi urgentes, aussi dangereuses ou aussi dommageables que les problèmes publics sont passées sous silence par les mass medias ou ignorées par “l’opinion publique” et pars les “pouvoirs publics” (…). (Cefaï, 1996:47) 12

Cefaï explains that there could be a broad variety of problems that could be experienced as serious as another social problem. Within society, certain claimsmakers become more

12 A number of situations that could be presented as urgent, as dangerous or also harmful as public problems ‘pass by in silence’ in the mass media or are ignored by the public opinion and by the authorities. 43 influential in putting their problem claim on the social/political agenda. To illustrate this last quote, let’s take a look at the following campaign picture against human trafficking.

Fig.2. Pag-Asa campaign picture: ‘ Not all victims of human trafficking are prostitutes ’.

This picture shows a woman cleaning the windows of a prostitute. Pag-Asa , a Belgian center offering social and legal aid to victims of trafficking, used this image to point out that there are other types of trafficking that are as problematic, yet are less noticed or advocated for than sex trafficking (see for example Laczko & Gozdziak (2005) who’s global survey report on trafficking research point out that sex trafficking is more researched than other forms of trafficking). This picture is a good example of how certain issues, even though they are 44 related to a phenomenon that is perceived and accepted as a social problem within a society, are not or much less noticed or discussed as a problematic. However, the association between trafficking and prostitution remains strong. In Europe this is especially due to the activism of the European Women’s Lobby , which developed an influential position as insider claimsmaker on women’s issues.

In a Western context, constructions about (female) sexuality and intimacy rely on certain engrained scripts in which an emphasis is placed on monogamy. Selling sex falls out of these ‘normal ’ scripts. Debating prostitution in a Western context, in which certain constructions about sexuality mark what is normal and what is different or deviant, problem constructions that conclude that prostitution is not ‘normal’ but a form of violence are more plausible or rather, more easily fit our ways of categorizing the world.

In this context, certain claimsmakers become more easily categorized as experts than others. Feminist activists that claim prostitution to be deviant align with the cultural norm about sexuality and intimacy, although they may not align on other issues (for example, feminist activists, the church and legislators became strange bedfellows on the issue of prostitution, although they differ in their problem claims vis à vis abortion). Jo Doezema (2005) illustrates this point by looking at how some claims on trafficking become more dominant than other claims. She explains that an underlying reason is the power difference between the claimsmakers. She refers to those who are more influential in putting their problem perception forward in society as ‘discourse masters’ (Doezema, 2005:64). Examining the UN Trafficking Protocol Negotiations in Palermo in 2000, Doezema observes that the resulting Protocol to Suppress, Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children mainly relied on problem identifications by anti-prostitution feminist such as the Coalition Against Trafficking in Women (CATW). The problem identifications by sex work positive organizations, such as the Global Alliance Against Trafficking in Women (GAATW), were overshadowed.

However, one could also perceive another evolution in who is able to find a forum to claim a condition to be problematic. The emergence of pro rights/sex work representations is an illustration thereof. Jenness (1990) explains how prostitutes’ rights organizations Call Off Your Old Tired Ethics (COYOTE), belongs to one of the first organizations able to claim forum. Jenness describes this opening of the forum as: 45

Shielded by a small but vocal movement that views prostitution as legitimate work, prostitutes’ rights organizations such as COYOTE have emerged from the “lunatic fringe” into public attention. (Jenness, 1990:416, referring to Diamant, 1981:16)

That COYOTE, that was founded in San Francisco, was able to come out (Kitsuse, 1980) during the seventies is not surprising. The sixties are characterized as the sexual revolution years and a (perhaps only slightly) more accessible forum developed. Mathieu (2001) describes how in 1975 the prostitutes of Lyon undertook collective action by occupying the Saint-Nizier Church. As such, they enforced a forum to claim the repressive actions by police as highly problematic for those working in prostitution. This does not necessarily mean that finding access to a broader social forum, leads to acceptance. The actions by the prostitutes in Lyon 13 as well as the campaigns by COYOTE were met with resistance, criticism and even active opposition, but the counter claims to the dominant abolitionist problem construction could at least emerge. That both COYOTE and the French prostitutes had to rely on attention grabbing tactics (COYOTE knew that referring to their events as the Hookers Convention and the Hookers Bal would grab attention) to enter the forum illustrates a common technique by less influential claimsmakers or outsider claimsmakers.

People may also choose to refrain from making claims in a public way, despite perceiving certain conditions as problematic. Context may contribute to why certain problem perceptions are not publicly claimed. A context in which certain ideas about sexuality and intimacy are considered the norm by a dominant in-group influences which perceptions would be categorized as deviant. Since prostitution is a stigmatized profession this could explain why those working in prostitution might not only be less considered as experts when making claims (but maybe even considered as victims or deviant individuals), but also why they may refrain from making public claims at all. Sallmann (2010) refers to studies by Corrigan (2004) and Weiner (1996) in which prostitutes explain why merely disclosing oneself as a prostitute holds risks, due to dominant, stigmatizing ideas about prostitution. Therefore taking problem perceptions to a public (in which one is considered an outgroup) and claiming them as such to any audience, involves balancing between addressing certain conditions as problematic, while at the same time avoiding the risk of being further stigmatized.

13 Mathieu (2001) explains that the protest by the prostitutes in Lyon was quickly picked up by prostitutes in several other French cities. 46

A context can change, just as the position of people within a context and the groups they identify themselves with. Turner and colleagues (1994) indicate that this variability in some contexts causes certain stimuli or information to be considered as more relevant than others. In light of problem construction, this can be translated to certain claims being more or less relevant, more heard and accepted or more easily dismissed depending on a context and what is considered as the norm by dominant groups in that context. Comparing the way prostitution has been and currently is constructed as problematic illustrates how, for example, a changing cultural or political environment can lead to different ways in which prostitution is predominantly perceived as problematic. Stanly (2013) describes how during the Meiji era (mid nineteenth century - beginning of the twentieth century), an influx of Anglo-American norms brought along new morals and an emphasis on the importance of monogamy into Japan. It was during this era that the association between geisha and prostitution became increasingly constructed as problematic. According to Stanly (2013): “ Intellectuals of this group took a dim view of geisha, whom they associated with the backward customs of the recent past ” (p. 540).

Another example of how problem construction is a context sensitive process can be found in the way the dominant construction on prostitution shifted from prostitution being constructed as a risk to public health (through the transmission of venereal diseases) and moral decay in the Western world. Now, in the 21th century, prostitution is no longer predominantly constructed as a public health risk but more as a problem of violence against women (moreover, sex workers are sometimes even presented as experts in sexual health).

The difference between the dominant trafficking debate in the early twentieth century and the current dominant trafficking debate also illustrates the impact of a changing social and political context. In the early twentieth century, when more women were migrating from Europe to the United States, ‘white slavery’ trafficking representations emerged more prominently (Doezema, 2005), especially in Western Europe and the United States. The migration of Western women to work in the sex industry abroad was considered threatening by certain catholic and or feminist organizations who were influential in presenting the white slave trade as an important social problem. This resulted in what Doezema refers to as ‘a great public outcry against white slavery (Doezema, 2005:64) that gathered much media attention and coverage and influenced national and international policy development to fight the problem. Times changed and so did the context in which migration, smuggling and trafficking takes place. The position of certain feminist organizations as experts on the issue of 47 prostitution remained. This led to an adapted problem perception and presentation, one in which the outcry against white slavery is replaced by an increased focus on women being trafficked from Africa, Asia or Eastern-Europe to be exploited in the Western sex industry.

2.3 Uncovering multidimensionality

In sum, cognitive bias and context are factors that make the recognition of multidimensionality difficult. Certain problem claims and claimsmakers are more easily accepted by the in-group. This sustains the marginalization and simplification of prostitution as a complex issue. Consequently, multidimensionality comes with certain challenges of its own. Dominant problem claims may find a more public forum and result in specific actions, but they overshadow less explicit problem perceptions that need to be coped with nonetheless. These different problem perceptions come together and make prostitution a hidden, because unrecognized, multidimensional issue. In this next section, I suggest an approach that is able to uncover what this multidimensionality means within a particular context and the challenges that it brings along.

I present an approach that first and foremost gathers “ what’s the problem/what are the problems? ” by handing that question over to the field, to the public. My role as a researcher lies in finding who is part of this public , and my research serves as a broad forum for them to explain how they perceive prostitution as problematic. By allowing a variety of problem perceptions together, regardless of who is claiming something to be problematic, which condition (or dimension) is perceived as problematic, or how successful a claim is, I describe what multidimensionality means for the people of Yser. This approach enables me to construct, together with the people living and working in or around Yser, what’s at stake with street prostitution in their neighborhood, leading to an approach that strongly resembles organic public sociology.

2.3.1 Public sociology

This research relies on how prostitution is experienced as problematic by those to whom it is relevant, namely those who work or live in or around prostitution, those that experience certain dimensions of prostitution as problematic in one way or another. I consider that those best in place to identify what multidimensionality means are the people living or working in or around prostitution. In this case, the public(s) are the people living and working at Yser. The goal is to gain insight into multidimensionality that comes from and is most relevant for 48 the people from Yser. This approach can be situated in an organic public sociologist style of research. Organic public sociology is a variant of public sociology. There are several versions of public sociology. Gans defines the primary variety as:

Any sociological writing or other product created by sociologists that obtains the attention of some of the publics that make up the general public (…). Whatever form the product takes, it must be presented in clear and parsimonious language, with as little technical vocabulary as possible. (…) Ideally, it should be no different from basic or any other kind of sociological research, as long as it is in non-technical English. (Gans, 2015:4)

A public sociologist approach gives meaning to and analyses sociological concepts or ideas with the public and ‘with the public in mind’ when considering to whom research is relevant. At that point, this approach touches upon a sensitive issue concerning how it is considered as a scientific relevant approach within the scientific community. As Nyden, Hossfeld and Nyden (2012) point out, public sociology in general, although hardly a new tradition within sociology, became less accepted as offering valuable academic insight. Sociological research that relies strongly on how a public/community gives meaning to sociological concepts or ideas, that considers communities as their main audience or research that primarily tries to contribute with sociological insights to communities, has been criticized for being un- academic or lacking scientific weight.

Michael Burawoy, however, explains why public sociology does not need to stay in an academic underdog position. He was able to re-introduce the scientific value of public sociology fairly recently in his 2004 American Sociological Association presidential address. Burawoy counters critiques by distinguishing between four types of sociological knowledge: professional, critical, policy and public. Sociological knowledge can benefit from considering these four types of sociological work as complementary. Since Burawoy’s presidential address, public sociology is becoming re-recognized as a valuable scientific approach, although it may contribute more directly to a public than to ‘ the literature ’ (Gans, 2015:11). Burawoy (2005) defines ‘publics’ as “ people who are themselves involved in conversation ” (p.7). For the current study, I will also use the term ‘publics’ to refer to the people of Yser. Imporantly Bucklaschuk (2014) points out that not every group is “ visible, thick, active, and already involved in conversation ” (p. 115), especially marginalized groups. In this research, I consider marginalized groups as publics too and engage in making them, more visible (if, that 49 is, they desire to become more visible or audible 14 ). However, as the people from Yser are a highly diverse set of different groups and possible subgroups, I will refer to different publics when the distinction between groups is informative.

2.3.2 Organic public sociology

Where the primary type of public sociology emphasizes the way sociological research is communicated and accepted by publics, organic public sociology is a variety that emphasizes the interaction between researcher and publics in producing sociological knowledge (Gans, 2015). Organic public sociology can be defined as:

A more collaborative approach to research in which boundaries between researcher and practitioner, scholar and activist, or university and community are more permeable. It is sociology that more explicitly recognizes the value of both university- based knowledge (e.g., outcomes from research done by academic sociologists responding to interests of the discipline) and community-based knowledge (e.g., awareness of community practices and histories). (Nyden, Hossfeld & Nyden, 2012:4)

Burawoy adds that the organic public sociologist approach distinguishes itself from other sociological approaches by not applying a top-down perspective on the data or the field but to rely on a dialogue, “ a process of mutual education ”, between the researcher and those in the field (Burawoy, 2005:7-8). Nyden and collegeas continue that putting such a mutual education central helps a researcher in not applying a top-down sociological analyses:

Entering into unfamiliar communities or organizations with preconceived perspectives and notions created solely by research in the discipline and shaped solely by other sociologists is more likely to produce research that misses the mark than is the research informed by publics. (p. 4)

Nyden and colleagues continue that such an approach is particularly useful in communities where conflict and heated debates are present. Such contexts offer an opportunity for a researcher to immerse himself into the complexities of the outside world (meaning, the world outside of academia). Such a style of sociology, one that is putting the researcher – community exchange central, indicates an open approach. This is exactly why I choose an

14 Bucklaschuk (2014) warns that a public sociologist engaging with marginalized groups, should take into account that there might be consequences to making invisible groups into visible publics. (Hannem & Tigchelaar, 2016). 50 organic public sociologist approach for researching the multidimensionality of prostitution. This is the open approach the current research puts forward as an approach to research the multidimensionality of prostitution (I will use ‘an approach related to public sociology’, interchangeable with ‘an open approach’ throughout this work). This way of looking at multidimensionality from an organic public sociologist stance differs from traditional research approaches within the prostitution literature.

A first difference is that prostitution scholars tend to focus on a particular dimension, a particular stakeholder, or apply a specific lens for researching prostitution (for example, a feminist or Marxist lens). Such specific approaches are also able to point out a diversity of problem perceptions but these are limited to a certain dimension or a certain stakeholder (mostly those working in prostitution). In this research, I do not focus on a particular dimension or a particular stakeholder. Here, the focus is broader: it extends to those living and working in and around prostitution at Yser and the problems they perceive, regardless of the dimensions that are discussed. The emphasis lies on understanding multidimensionality by assembling the different meanings publics give to what’s at stake.

A second, more subtle difference is that I will not use a top-down approach to interpret the variety of problem perceptions. Organic public sociology implicates that the researcher is not the (only) expert. Expertise emerges through the interaction between publics and researcher. Nyden et al. describe this more generally as: “ Our understanding of the world around us takes not only the skill of the sociologists but the knowledge and perspectives of those outside of our field and outside of academia. ” (p.13). Prostitution scholars do emphasize that expertise lies in the hands of those in or around prostitution. However, when it comes to explaining the importance of recognizing multidimensionality, there is a tendency to do so through a specific, expert lens. In this research I rely on the insights of those at Yser to point out the challenges with a multidimensional phenomenon.

This approach is not the same a participatory approach (such as the PAR approach used by O’Neill & Campbell in their 2002 study, see previous chapter). The participatory approach would put the people of Yser at the center of the execution of the research project (the ultimate way of giving voice through research) and thus also in charge of setting the research agenda. This brings me to the issue of giving voice through research. This is a particularly hot topic in prostitution research in which scholars discuss how to involve those in prostitution in debates, because currently they still have too little control over what is written about them 51

(Nencel, 2017). The international sex workers rights community emphasizes that scholars could aid by putting those in prostitution “at the center of all research on their community” (Hannem & Tigchelaar, 2016:637). This research, however, focuses on the collaboration, the co-constructing of ‘what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser?’ between the people at Yser and I, as a researcher. A participatory approach requires the possibility of organizing a collective discussion and aims to develop consensus. This research explores an approach that also relies on collective discussion in order to be able to develop a multidimensional problem construction, but one that does not necessarily require direct interaction between people (as this is not always practically possible or desired, especially in a conflict induced context such as the Yser neighborhood).

This approach also slightly differs from a more traditional, qualitative approach (such as the work of Pitcher et al., as discussed in the previous chapter), due to the bottom-up construction and especially the information that occurs due to the interaction between the people at Yser and I, as a researcher. To a certain extent, this relates to a deliberative technique as discussed by Burchardt (2014). Burchardt presents a deliberative technique as a technique that is able to unravel “ public’s informed, considered and collective view on a normative question ” (p.353). The current approach focuses on developing a multidimensional problem construction through co-construction, instead of top-down information gathering. An important aspect of this approach is that, to develop such a multidimensional construction, it relies on offering publics different perspectives that occur and offering them room for consideration. It shares with a traditional deliberation approach, that it tries to develop “ a debate between diverse groups and interests ” (p. 356) through the injection of information. Such a technique is able to offer an alternative for a participatory approach, when a direct collective discussion is not evident (which might be the case in a variety of prostitution contexts). Nor does this technique rely on working towards consensus, but rather on the identification of differences (Burchardt, 2014). This is an interesting technique for an approach that wants to gather different problem perceptions and develop a multidimensional problem construction.

A traditional deliberative technique relies on injecting outsider, expert information (for example by referring to scientific knowledge, statistics, etcetera). In the current approach, whenever this is possible, information from publics is presented to publics by the researcher, in order to develop a true bottom-up multidimensional problem construction. This slightly differs from a traditional deliberative technique because the information that is injected stems from the publics. The expertise of the researcher, then, lies in being able to detect the different 52 publics, being capable of systematically gathering a variety of problem perceptions and being able to inject them in conversations without deterring people from formulating their own problem perceptions. Since this research explores this approach and its related deliberative technique, it does not prioritize to transform the views of the people at Yser in this particular research (this research is more modest in its aim). It does inform them, when possible, about the diversity of problem perceptions and in this research, looks at how this ‘ intervention ’ (bringing in problem perceptions from different publics when possible) offers insights into “the possibilities of reaching a consensus ” (Burchardt, 2014:358) or takes note about blockages that currently limit the development of a multidimensional problem construction.

Together, this leads to exploring a research approach which its combined characteristics can be described best as a mobile platform . The multidimensional problem construction that results from applying this approach, is the one that emerges when offering the people of Yser a platform to present their problem perceptions. The platform is driven by a researcher who sets out to systematically and rigorously bring the platform to the different publics at Yser, both those who are easy and hard to reach. The task of the researcher (driver) is not limited to merely offering a platform to the different publics but also to expose and inform the different publics about other problem perceptions. This refers to the deliberative related technique, in which I not only collect but also inform, when possible, publics about the different perceptions present in the neighborhood. I do this to aid the co-construction of a multidimensional problem construction, one that is informed and considered. However, this deliberation-related technique will also be informative about where there are blockages to developing a considered and collective problem construction, as it is possible that informing the different publics may not always or not yet lead to an agreement about what’s at stake.

53

Chapter 3. Research design & methods

In chapter 1, I explained that prostitution is identified as a multidimensional phenomenon by scholars, but not recognized as such in dominant social problem constructions and policy development. My research explores this multidimensionality and, more specifically, the challenges that arise when a variety of problem perceptions co-occur in a particular case. I focus on what the multidimensionality of prostitution means for people living or working in or around it and on the challenges this brings along. For this purpose, I suggest an approach related to organic public sociology. In this approach the interaction between the community and the researcher is crucial to develop expertise on a given issue. Consequently, as a researcher I entered the field without any particular top-down approach.

In the light of organic public sociology and the social constructionist emphasis of this research, the best suited methodology was an ethnographic one. In chapter 2, I explained that we need an approach that is sensitive enough to capture the variety of problem perceptions, regardless of the number and types of stakeholders or dimensions involved. This approach had to be an open approach, in which I, as a researcher, created a platform for the people at Yser to unpack what multidimensionality means to them. More specifically, in order to explore the co-occurrence of problem perceptions, I made this a mobile platform, so that I was able to move between the different publics in order to gather and discuss the different problem perceptions. In the first section of this chapter I explain how an ethnographic methodology -with its emphasis on observations, interviews and/or participatory research- offers the best tools to develop such a mobile platform.

In the second section, I elaborate on the fieldwork and the data I collected at every stage from entering the field, being in the field, until leaving the field. This offers readers insight into the challenges, difficulties and limitations and opportunities that emerged throughout the different stages of this research.

Then follow a third and fourth section on how I analysed the data resulting from the fieldwork and how I responded to quality concerns. The last part of this chapter is a reflexive section in which I discuss my own role as a researcher in the field. This is important because the reader 54 should be able to judge whether my position or actions in the field could have influenced the data collection, interpretation and the way the data are presented.

3.1 Methodology and methods

3.1.1 Methodology

I ended the previous chapter by proposing a research approach that aligns with organic public sociology. By using this approach I offered the people living and working at Yser an open platform where they could explain in what ways they might experience (dimensions of) prostitution as problematic. This research is, thus, situated within a qualitative, interpretivist research tradition, in which meaning-giving by social actors is central to the development of sociological knowledge (Mortelmans, 2007). This research approach considers subjective information to be valuable to understand reality. Morgan & Smircich (1980) enlisted the different research assumptions that emerge in the subjective – objective debate on a continuum. Three fundamental questions help researchers to position themselves on this continuum that goes from extreme subjective (reality is the result of human imagination) to extreme objectivity (reality as an external, concrete structure) (Mortelmans, 2007).

The first question is an ontological question : “what is reality ?” In this research, reality, or more specifically the reality of social problems, is seen as being socially constructed 15 . In the current research, I do not assume that there is no reality beyond people’s perception of it, but that, for this research particularly concerning social problems, people have their own vision on reality. Reality then, “ depends on individuals and groups sharing a social construction ” (Mortelmans, p.63).

The second question is an epistemological question : “ how can we gather knowledge about reality? ” Given the social constructionist ontological position, it follows that this knowledge gets constructed throughout the research process. This means that both the people at Yser and I are constructing what multidimensionality means to them. This is done through a continuous interaction between respondents and the researcher, which answers the last methodological question “how can I, as a researcher, gather information about what I think needs to be known?” A qualitative, ethnographic methodology offers the right tools to engage in such a continuous interaction. An ethnographic methodology focuses on getting a detailed insight

15 I do not consider everything to be socially constructed. For example, I do not consider a physical environment to be socially constructed. 55 and description of everyday, social realities. Just as the interactions, the everyday context in which a phenomenon takes place is a source of relevant information for an ethnographer.

3.1.2 Methods

The approach related to organic public sociology implicates that the close collaboration between the people at Yser and myself was of key importance. Through their experiences of and reactions to what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, they gave meaning to what multidimensionality means and in what ways it poses challenges. This resulted in a multidimensional problem construction through a joint effort. However, although the physical distance between the different publics at Yser is rather small, the symbolic distance between them appeared rather large, due to for example language differences, conflict, (socio- economic) background, relation to the neighborhood,… this led to little direct interactions or information exchange between them. It did therefore not seem realistic to expect that the different publics would gather simultaneously around a platform to discuss their problem perceptions. To arrive at this joint effort of developing a multidimensional problem construction, my task as a researcher was to move the platform throughout the neighborhood, visiting the different publics and discussing the variety of problem perceptions with them.

An ethnographic methodology offered research tools that facilitated the continuous interaction between respondents and myself, as a researcher. I relied on four tools: (1) observations, (2) interviews, (3) participatory observation and (4) analysing qualitative data sources. Before offering an in-depth description of how I used these tools during the fieldwork in the next section, I start here by giving a general overview of the methods and their usefulness for this research.

● Observations. Observing is a specific way of looking. As a scientific method, it is a conscious, deliberate way of looking. During fieldwork, observing evolves from descriptive observations to focused and selective observations. What or who is observed depends on the research project but mostly revolves around people and the setting that is part of the ethnographic research: what does this setting look like? Who is present and how do they act, react and interact? What events occur? The detection of regularities and habits can also be subject to observation. The observations are systematically noted down in an objective, factual manner in observation schemes. Such schemes help to provide the necessary contextual information and thick descriptions. It is important that one varies observation perspectives, both in time and place, to get the broadest view as possible (Mortelmans, 2007). 56

For the current research, observations were crucial to detect who the different publics were and how or to what extent they were in contact with each other. Furthermore, observations contributed to the research process because they allowed to identify actions, reactions or interactions that could be discussed during interviews or informal conversations.

● Interviews. In an ethnographic approach, interviews can vary from traditional, formal interviews to more informal conversations. These formal and informal types of interviewing can vary from structured (following a fixed set of questions prepared in advance), semi- structured or unstructured. Nearly every interview is, however, to a certain extent prepared, at a minimum by knowing what type of information one would like to gather as a researcher. Central to interviewing is that the researcher tries to address the research interests. This also means that not every conversation that takes place is an interview. Some conversations are just conversations, about the weather for example. These conversations can be informative in themselves, sometimes they are functional (to gain trust, to keep in touch, …) and at other moments they are just a break during the fieldwork, a welcome relief. Regardless of the type of conversation, from every interaction, notes are taken.

Interviews served both as a tool to discover different publics and as a tool to collect problem perceptions and letting publics voice their problem perceptions. During interviews, I used a deliberative related technique (Burchardt, 2014), which enabled me to discuss different problem perceptions. However, please note that discussing other problem perceptions was not a starting point for conversations. I made sure to let people identify what they thought was problematic first. When there was room for presenting other problem perceptions, I presented them throughout the interview but I was careful not to introduce other perceptions from the onset of the conversation. In practice, this meant that, whenever the conversation would allow it, I informed people about problem perceptions from other people living or working at Yser. This technique helped to let publics reflect upon the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions.

● Document analysis. The analysis of qualitative data sources can range from analyzing media reports, fora, flyers, reports of meetings to letters between the resident committee and politicians. It is the task of the researcher to identify which documents are available, accessible and relevant to the research. Mortelmans (2007) explains that a researcher can use documents in different ways: as a source of information or to bring certain facts to attention. In this research, I relied on the reports and letters published on the website of the 57 neighborhood committee and media reports on the Yser neighborhood as input to interviews and to provide context. Furthermore, media reports or information found on forums was also analyzed for problem claims.

Like the observations and the interviews, the analysis of qualitative data sources was necessary to detect publics and to use during (in)formal conversations or interviews. Especially local media sources informed me about dominant problem constructions on street prostitution in the neighborhood and which persons were explicitly voicing their problem perceptions to a larger audience.

● Participatory observation is an umbrella term for a variety of observation types where the researcher participates in the social setting while observing (Dewalt, Dewalt & Wayland, 1998). How one perceives a form of observation as participatory differs. Mortelmans (2007) describes four roles that a researcher can play: (1) complete participant, (2) participant as observer, (3) observer as participant or (4) complete observer. In this research, the description of the ‘ observer as participant ’ is most relevant. Mortelmans describes this role as:

The researcher does not really participate in the setting but is introduced by informants or contacts. The researcher is identified as outsider in the setting. This means that the information that the researcher can gather, will be of a public nature and is available to every outsider. (p. 289)

Just as with observations, participatory observations are systematically noted down in field notes. Participatory observations mainly contributed to gaining access to hard to reach publics or to use as information during conversations 16 .

As this research explores an approach that allows to develop a multidimensional problem construction, it required an approach that was open to different problem perceptions, across publics and dimensions. Interviews, (participatory) observations and the analysis of qualitative data sources aided in detecting diversity, in moving the platform into different directions (to involve different publics or to open up to different topics or questions during the interviews). Interviews were of key importance to introduce publics to the platform, in which they were able to present what they thought to be at stake regarding street prostitution at Yser. Furthermore, the approach focused on the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions. Therefore, it relied on a deliberative related technique, in which I, as a researcher, enabled all

16 Unless indicated that certain information could not be used. 58 publics, regardless of their background, involvement or position/status in the neighborhood, to voice their own problem perceptions and, if they were open to it, to react upon or discuss the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions. Together, these four methods (and deliberative technique) were both the GPS and the fuel of this mobile platform. More concretely, they allowed to explore an open approach to develop a multidimensional problem construction, stemming from publics, in this case the people from Yser.

As a researcher, then, my role was to present this platform to the different publics and making it accessible for people to share their voice on it. To enable people to voice any type of problem they might perceive, it was important that I remained vigilant about not steering the platform myself to a certain topic prior to the conversation. An important aspect of the current approach is that the researcher does not impose a specific perspective, a singular focus on a particular topic or a normative framework into the conversations and therefore it requires practicing the skill of openness and curiosity to different perspectives. Therefore, it was important to inform people about my role as a researcher and my specific interest in the diversity of perspectives. A reflexive exercise, in which I evaluate my role and possible influence during data collection, interpretation and presentation, was crucial for maintaining such an open approach (see final section of this chapter).

3.2 Fieldwork

3.2.1 Entering the field: exploration phase

Timing

The first phase of the research project stretched from 2011 – 2013. The emphasis during these years lay on developing insight into a state of the art on prostitution research 17 and, to a lesser extent, an exploration of the Belgian prostitution scene. Throughout this literature phase, in which I predominantly focused on reading relevant literature, I tried to connect what I was reading to media reports about prostitution in Belgium and more specifically in Brussels. As a Brussels resident, local news about prostitution issues (gathered from media but also from family or friends) was readily available. This way the implicit comparison between the literature and the field developed early on in the research project. During this phase, I read various articles published by BRUZZ reporting on the complaints of a local resident

17 Which, as I described in chapter 1, is an endeavor that stretches over different topics and fields. 59 committee, Comité Alhambra (the Alhambra Comittee ), about how street prostitution is a nuisance problem. At that time, I was also processing scholarly research on the association between prostitution and trafficking, victimhood or risks of prostitution. A contrast between the literature, the dominant debates and the realities as understood and discussed in the Yser neighborhood (at face value, an issue of nuisance), appeared.

In the course of the first three years, the exploration narrowed itself from reading and contacting more broadly, to mapping out stakeholders specifically involved in the Yser neighborhood in Brussels. This narrowing was steered by the amount of conflict that continuously kept emerging in testimonies about the Yser neighborhood in local media. In short: in order to understand scholarly research on prostitution, I tried to connect it to cases of prostitution in Belgium. The comparison with the Yser neighborhood emerged more and more as indicative of a complex issue. By mid-2013, the decision to focus the fieldwork on the Yser neighborhood was made (see chapter four for an elaborate case selection justification).

Access

During this phase, access to the field was limited to public, open events and formal requests for interviews with three social organizations ( Espace P , Pag-Asa & Ghapro ).

Initial meetings with social organization Espace P and social organization Pag-Asa revealed that my research focus was not clear enough. The first encounter with Espace P was useful and not useful at the same time. It was not useful because I was not able to express myself and my research aim clearly, both literally and figuratively. Literal difficulties were mainly tied to language issues. At that point, my level of conversational French was not sufficient to be able to follow the conversation and to express nuance. Figurative difficulties were mainly tied to my lack of coherence in expressing my research interest and the language used to talk about prostitution on the ground. It was useful, on the other hand, because the interview provided an ideal clarification about how I needed to prepare and train myself to conduct interviews in the field. As such, the entrance in the field was one of trial and error but mostly a highly informative phase in how to prepare myself when doing fieldwork. During this exploration, I also contacted the social organization Pag-Asa . This organization is concerned with the legal and social aid to victims of trafficking. After the interview, I quickly classified this organization as not directly involved in the Yser neighborhood, but I did enter their volunteering team. This turned out to be the best decision I made upon entering the field, although at the time the connection was not yet clear. Joining the volunteering team was 60 beneficial because I was able to closely observe the interactions between the social workers and the people living in the shelter house. I aquired interaction skills and cultivated curiosity by being part of their team. In short: an early exploration of the field, going from broad to narrow, was an important step in this research. Hurdles revealed themselves more quickly and it gave me time to prepare and work towards building trust. During this first entry phase, I focused on gaining access to social organizations.

Methods: observing and informal interviews

During this phase, I mainly relied on document analysis, unstructured conversations, interviews and broad, descriptive observations. There was no fixed sequencing of methods. However, document analysis (local news reports, online searches for websites or social media of social organizations involved in reaching out to those working in prostitution, or gathering information from the website or social media 18 page from the local neighborhood committee), did lead to contacting social organizations and the Alhambra committee . I contacted Ghapro , Espace P and Pag-Asa with a request for an informal interview on prostitution in Belgium. I contacted the Alhambra Committee for more information about a public meeting advertised on their Facebook page. Observations during this public meeting revolved around mapping out who was present (and who was not) and what issues were addressed.

Data

From 2011 – 2013, I conducted three general, explorative interviews. The first interview held with social organization Ghapro and took place in 2012. Ghapro is an organization that offers medical aid and assistance to those working in prostitution. Ghapro is located in Antwerp. The second interview was held with social organization Espace P . Espace P is a social organization that offers social assistance and support to those working in prostitution. Espace P is located in Brussels. The last interview was with Pag-Asa in 2013. Questions during interviews were broad and revolved around gaining insight into the role and position of social organizations vis-à-vis prostitution in Belgium. I consider these interviews as a means to get to know the social work landscape around prostitution in Belgium. These interviews are not used in the empirical chapters, given their rather explorative, general focus.

I also attended an open neighborhood meeting at La Tentation in Brussels in spring 2013. The information I gathered there was useful to develop a research focus on the Yser neighborhood

18 In both instances, social media refers to Facebook Pages. 61 and the issues at play. At this meeting, different stakeholders were present, such as a representative of the mayor (at the time Freddy Thielemans , his representative then, Yvan Mayeur , later succeeded him as mayor), police forces and residents. I took notes during this meeting about who attended and what problem perceptions they were formulating or reacting to (for example, nuisance problem perceptions from residents and security problem perceptions by police forces). During a later phase, I was able to rely on these problem perceptions during follow-up in-depth interviews.

Both the interviews and the neighborhood meeting steered my focus towards the Yser neighborhood. Furthermore, the information gathered was useful for later interviews and observations during the official fieldwork phase. During this meeting, I gained more insight in the complexity of the issue at hand (the nuisance complaints, the issue of security, the lack of trust in then Mayor Thielemans in dealing with the different complaints, to name just a few topics that were addressed). From that point onwards, I started to map out the visible and present stakeholders of the Yser neighborhood. As such, the information that I gathered during this explorative phase is not part of the data analyses but nonetheless remains an important first source of information, offering the first contours about what is considered problematic and by whom.

62

Name 19 Data

Social organizations

Asbl/vzw Ghapro Attended Event: Academic Celebration 10 years Ghapro

Informal, explorative interview with the general coordinator

Asbl/vzw Espace P Formal, explorative interview with social worker

Asbl/vzw Pag-Asa Formal, explorative interview with director and employee from the juridical department

Community organization

Comité(e) Alhambra Attended event: Open meeting Alhambra committee La Tentation

3.2.2 In the field

Timing

From 2014 until 2016, I spent increasingly more time in the Yser neighborhood. I divide this period into two blocks: (1) the entering and mapping out of the Yser neighborhood phase (2014 – 2015) and (2) the intensive, immersion phase (January 2016 – October 2016). During the two phases, I did observations and I conducted interviews, but with a different intensity. There are two reasons why I spread this research over two years. First, I decided to take time to build trust and recognition. This seemed important, especially given the sensitive context and conflicts that were present in the neighborhood. With hindsight, this was an important decision because gaining trust did take a lot of time. A second reason was a practical one. Since my position at the University of Antwerp is that of teaching assistant, I was not able to stay in the field uninterruptedly for several months. During certain months, I had to divide my time between the neighborhood in Brussels and the University in Antwerp .

19 In the attachments, I provide a list wherein I offer an overview of the different (social) organizations and, where possible, a short explanation about their function in the Yser neighborhood. 63

Upon entering the Yser neighborhood (2014 – 2015), I focused on mapping out the physical contours of the neighborhood, the most accessible places to observe without disturbing, collecting local media reports and getting an insight into who was present at Yser. I visited the neighborhood regularly and at different times but not yet intensively. From January 2015, I started interviewing residents.

During the second period (January 2016 – October 2016), the intensive field phase set in. This phase was marked by more frequent stays in the field and repeated contacts (ranging from formal interviews to informal conversations) with the different people involved at Yser. A more natural contact pattern emerged, although there were still certain barriers, which I will discuss in the following sections. The prostitution activity in the neighborhood generally starts around nine/nine thirty in the morning and ends around seven o’clock in the morning, from Monday until Sunday (practically 24/7). This means that observing could take place the entire day. To observe the different atmospheres, actions and interactions, I divided my presence in the neighborhood. I generally spend four days at Yser 20 , spread over the workweek and the weekend. I alternated being present in the neighborhood between morning, midday, afternoon and evening. An observation period could be spread over the day. For example, one of the observation patterns was visiting the neighborhood for three hours in the morning and returning for four hours in the afternoon. The pattern varied, mostly due to when I had an appointment with somebody for an interview.

I limited observations during the night. I spend three nights observing from apartments in the neighborhood, after residents insisted that I should experience the nuisance in the neighborhood during the nightly hours. Although my role as a researcher was not to fact- check problem perceptions, my role did entail to cultivate trust and access. At that point, one of the residents voiced his concern about whether or not I was able to understand their situation (I return to this in the note on reflexivity). Therefore, I decided to accept the invitations to spend nights in the neighborhood. The insufficient time spent at night is a serious limitation of the current research. I did not succeed in gaining access to and consequently gather or discuss problem perceptions of those working at night. Developing a way to stay in the neighborhood and more specifically the street during the night time is suggested for further research.

20 Since I was still an assistant at the political science department, I was expected to be present in Antwerp from time to time. This would lead to an average of 4 days a week during the academic year. 64

Having a flexible schedule was an important aspect of the fieldwork. Since people living and/or working at Yser vary in how and when they are present in the neighborhood, I had to adapt my schedule to their schedules. This led to fieldwork that had no strict visiting pattern. Furthermore, I balanced the time I was present in different locations. My time present at Yser was also bound by the places from where I could observe. When weather conditions would allow it, I remained an entire morning, afternoon or evening in the neighborhood. If not, I stayed in the bars of the neighborhood. Observing in the streets also meant being in the workspace of the prostitutes and I took this into consideration when observing and conversing in the neighborhood. I tried not to disturb prostitute – client interactions with my presence nor cause annoyance (feeling observed).

In short: I spend two years focusing on the Yser neighborhood. The first phase was characterized by exploring the neighborhood more generally and conducting the first official interviews. The second phase was characterized by immersion. My intensive stay in the field was spread over nine months. During these nine months, I spent generally 4 days a week in the neighborhood. The hours present in the field varied, depending on who was present that day and on more general circumstances, ranging from weather conditions to intensive interviews or conversations. During both phases, I also spent a considerable amount of time on contacting and making appointments with people working in or around the neighborhood. I spent full working days on the neighborhood (contacting and making appointments, processing information) or in the neighborhood.

Location

Chapter 4 offers an in-depth case description and justification. For now, please note that around the end of phase 1 (entering the field) and the beginning of phase 2 (in the field, exploratory part), the Yser neighborhood was officially selected as an interesting case to explore an approach to develop a multidimensional problem construction. The observations and formal or informal conversations/interviews during this phase were all tied to discussing street prostitution at Yser.

I varied the locations from where I observed. I had fixed places such as bars (semi-public space), benches (public space) or one of the corners where the prostitutes wait for their clients. I also conducted night observations in private spaces (living rooms of residents) and was consciously observing while walking through the neighborhood. The locations for observation were carefully selected since as an observer, I intended not to disturb the situation 65 nor would it have been beneficial that people felt observed or watched. Therefore, I positioned myself in places where other people were sitting or waiting such as the benches behind the theatre building. Walking through the neighborhood was also an important way of observing and taking in different atmospheres.

In the first phases of the research, I did not identify myself as a researcher in the area. Throughout the process, I did identify myself as a researcher and at that point observations may have mixed with conversations on the street where people, present in (semi) public space knew that I was taking notes. However, even in that instance, I tried to position myself as subtly as possible. Considering the specific context in which I not only observed public space but also took notes on who was entering or leaving the neighborhood as well, it was important to be aware that the observer can be observed too. Another important point is that an observer might not be aware, at first instance, of the associations made between certain places and people. Combining (1) being observed and (2) being associated with certain places can have consequences for how respondents might perceive you. 21 Thus, the method of observation might change and develop throughout the fieldwork. 22 Another aspect to take into account when observing, is to pay attention to how well a place physically lends itself for observation and whether or not the observer would stand out. Subtlety is an important aspect of observing, since, as in other methods, the phenomenon of socially desirable behavior can emerge when participants become aware of being ‘judged’. Another aspect that comes into play within this particular context of prostitution, is privacy and to a certain extent also security. As an observer, I did not intend to invade the privacy of prostitutes and their clients and I took this into account when selecting the bars from where I observed.23

Formal interviews took place wherever and whenever this was most practical for the respondents. This could be in bars in the neighborhood or in the city center, in people’s homes or on the benches behind the Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg (KVS, Royal Flemish Theatre , KVS .

21 For example: I observed from the relatively neutrally perceived bar called Black Beard to avoid being merely associated with a bar that is highly associated with white, Flemish, middle class people and gentrification of the neighborhood. This adaption occurred after receiving advice by social organizations who pointed out sensitive connotations attached to particular bars. 22 An observer also learns to observe by observing, by not having noticed things and then having this pointed out by others. Discussing fieldwork with social workers or residents helped to broaden my vision. 23 Certain bars were advised against by certain social workers but not by others. Also sometimes, as a researcher you may become aware that, although you are not dismissed you’re not welcome in a bar. Other bars that were labelled as prostitution bars did not have a problem with me arriving there and talking to their clients. However, this might also be situational, since such conversations mostly happened during the summer time, when the terraces were out. 66

Access

The combination of an exploration phase and an immersion phase was crucial to create the right amount of time to gain access to different people involved in the Yser neighborhood. Gaining access differed from stakeholder to stakeholder and varied from fluent to no access. During the first phase of the fieldwork, I contacted what I thought would be key figures such as social organizations working in the neighborhood, the president of the Alhambra committee, the Manager de la Tranquilité Publique 24 (the MTP) and police services.

The president of the Alhambra committee was very helpful in connecting me to other residents by sending me their names and e-mail addresses. This permitted me to talk to a variety of members or sympathizers of the resident committee. I also reached residents through the snowball technique and by word of mouth. In my own social circle my research interest became known and thus friends would recommend friends or people they knew who live or work in the neighborhood. This led to a rather easy access to mainly white, Flemish speaking middle class residents.

I was able to interview the different social organizations, but this does not necessarily mean ‘ I got in ’. It was during the conversations and by remaining in contact that I felt an increased access to Entre 2 , the social organization that at the time was situated in the neighborhood.

I used flyers (see further on) and, applying the snowball technique, after every interview I asked my respondents whether they knew somebody who might be interesting for me to talk to. Some respondents were key figures and helped me connect to people that I did not know or were more difficult to get in touch with. In order to do a research within a neighborhood and on a theme such as prostitution, key figures and/or gate keepers are necessary for the researcher to be able to not only broaden the network of respondents but also to be perceived as more trustworthy or to develop a certain ‘lingo’ and to be aware of sensibilities (I will discuss a specific example in the empirical section). Other interviews were more informal and took place during my observations in the field or when the interviewee requested not to be recorded. In addition, there were informal conversations or even small talk. Whenever informal conversations and interviews took place, I tried to write them out immediately or, if that was not possible, afterwards (depending on the context in which the conversation took

24 The MTP holds a civil servant function in the city of Brussels and is embedded in BRAVVO . Vzw/Asbl BRAVVO is a prevention service of the city of Brussels. It’s a service for ‘ bruxellois ’ (presumably people living and working in the city of Brussels, although not specified) with the aim of ameliorating their well-being in neighborhoods and to strengthen connections between residents. 67 place). Although most of my respondents were residents, the total set of respondents was heterogeneous in role or position vis à vis the Yser area (for example, I interviewed residents, street prostitutes, shop owners, police services,…).

In an attempt to make my research more representative for the population living and working in the Yser area, I developed flyers (see attachments) explaining that I was interested in the ideas and opinions of the people that work or live at Yser and how people could contact me if they were interested in sharing their experiences, ideas or perceptions with me. Although I distributed and posted the flyers in a broad variety of languages 25 , mainly Flemish speaking residents responded to these flyers.

Within this particular setting the prostitutes at Yser, appeared difficult to be reached as a group, or rather as groups, since the population of people working on the streets is better described as a combination of subgroups which are not necessarily in contact with each other. Sanders (2006) describes the challenges that occur when trying to gain access to those working in prostitution. She explains that the legal framework in which prostitution takes place, the stigma surrounding prostitution, the form of prostitution and the gender of the researcher are all factors that can contribute to why prostitution is a closed, difficult to access environment. She explains that “ rarely, it has been reported that a researcher has introduced herself or himself to sex workers without a third party mediating the initial introductions ” (2006: 454). In this research, the job to introduce myself to those working on the streets fell on me. Due to time constraints, social organizations (third parties), were initially careful to serve as gatekeepers so as to not risk their own established trust relations in the neighborhood (see also Melrose, 2002). Sanders explains that relying on such gatekeepers helps to establish credibility. I tried to work around that by handing out flyers with my contact information and a short explanation about what I was doing in the neighborhood. I also explained why I wanted to incorporate their voice in the work (because it was underrepresented in the discussions on the neighborhood) and that I would assure their anonymity. When talking to the people working in street prostitution, I was careful not to impose myself. Whenever I noticed that somebody was reluctant to talk to me, I did not push it any further, keeping in mind that there might be certain labor, security and privacy concerns for those working on the streets when I was approaching them.

25 The flyers were translated from Dutch into French, English, Romanian, Bulgarian, Spanish and Arabic. 68

The flyers were printed in different languages, ranging from Bulgarian to Spanish 26 . It is not clear to what extent these flyers helped gaining access but it did help to introduce myself. Sanders indicates that being a woman might pose an additional hurdle to gain access, because one could be seen as competition. In my case this did not seem to have posed barriers. Why my sex did not become an explicit issue, is a matter of guess work (maybe because my hair was short at that point, maybe because of other visual markers such as carrying around a backpack, which nobody does working in the streets, maybe because I moved around a lot, have a rather young and more androgynous look…). Generally, the levels of access would go from: (1) being ignored, (2) being acknowledge by a hello or nodding, (3) being able to talk shortly about the research, receiving a few, limited responses mostly indicating that there was no problem except for a lack of work or (4) having both formal and informal in depth conversations. The second and third interactions happened most frequently. However, by meeting X (a woman working in street prostitution) after having being introduced by the entourage 27 of a certain bar in the neighborhood, I was able to gain access to one particular subgroup working at Yser.

The legal framework did not pose direct challenges in this particular research, although one of the key figures did (albeit jokingly) warn me that I was “ risking a fine for just standing and talking with them” . This happened when one of the new regulations was implemented according to which a fine could be imposed on street prostitutes and their suspected clients if present in a no tolerance zone (I will speak in more detail about these regulations in the first empirical chapter).

The most apparent barrier to gaining access to street prostitutes, as well as to shop or bar owners, was that I was only able to contact them when they were working. As one of my key figures explained, the people working on the streets already have a certain task to fulfill when they are at Yser. She added that one of the reasons why many of the prostitutes working there were not so easily engaging in activism against the regulations (on their own end) or even interviews, was not only due to privacy concerns, but also because of the lack of spare time after a work day at Yser (field notes, informal conversation X). In my experience this turned out to be true but not in all cases. The key figure, giving me this information, for example, introduced me (where possible) to her circle of people, her subgroup of prostitutes working at

26 When handing out the flyers, I assumed that everybody would be able to read, which turned out not to be the case in a few instances, where some of the street prostitutes explained that they could not read. I have, however, no data on the degree of illiteracy in the neighborhood. 27 I use the word entourage because it is not always clear who is who or has what function in the neighborhood. 69

Yser. I was not able to gain access to other subgroups, especially when the language barrier literally kept us from finding a common language. Not all prostitutes were able to speak Dutch, French or English and I am not able to speak Romanian, Bulgarian nor sufficient German or Spanish. I decided not to work with a translator during my fieldwork to avoid an extra trust barrier 28 .

However, I was able to gain access to a few individuals. I did notice that time was money and that interviews were short and in-between clients. I accepted this was logical and adapted my interviews to this context. In short: apart from individual contacts and informal conversations, I gained more access to one particular group. When joining a Entre 2 social worker on her field visit at Yser, I noticed that they also had more access to this particular group of people. We discussed this and she explained that indeed, this group and specifically the key figure X, was approachable and accepting of their presence. She also explained that their organization’s access to the prostitutes might also be limited to a handing out of condoms and the like. While at certain moments they might be able to develop a conversation and connect to a certain prostitute, the next time around they might be ignored. It appeared that even for social organizations, gaining access was a continuous negotiating effort. This also explains their vigilance about the trust relationships they established (or establish) and why they took their time to get to know my research and me before taking me along in the neighborhood.

In order to get access, I relied on a mixture of patience and action. Patience was crucial in gaining access to the different groups at Yser. Due to privacy concerns and to the tensions in the neighborhood, gaining trust was a matter of patience, of being clear about who I was and what I was doing in the neighborhood. I chose to present my research as a research consisting of gathering the different ideas and perceptions on the neighborhood and street prostitution. I emphasized that all opinions were welcome, that their anonymity was assured and that, before publication, participants would be able to read the document. Explaining that I was not a journalist was also important, especially when trying to gain access to the social workers, shop owners and street prostitutes. Residents were in general less concerned about, for example, anonymity and gaining trust was easier.

28 A translator is not a priori an extra barrier to develop trust but using one would need to be well prepared and within a well-defined context. Since I was only able to conduct interviews on the street and since such interviews happened within a flexible timeframe (timings could change, depending on whether a prostitute had a client or not), I refrained from using a translator. 70

Methods: observing, formal and informal interviews, first participatory observation

The emphasis during the immersion part of the fieldwork phase lay on conversations. These conversations ranged from small talk to in-depth interviews and ranged from discussing events in the neighborhood to explicitly discussing problems related to street prostitution at Yser. When possible, I suggested to do a formal interview with a recorder. The possibility presented itself mainly with social organizations, residents, police forces and civil servants. Whenever this course of action was not possible, I relied on taking notes during the conversation or writing it down shortly after. Once I had conducted a broader range of interviews in comparison to the first, exploratory part of the fieldwork, it became easier for me to introduce and let participants react upon problem perceptions stemming from other conversations (while always safeguarding the privacy and anonymity of the other respondents). Thus it became easier to implement a deliberative related technique, as I had more information to introduce during conversations. This facilitated moving the mobile platform around and gaining insight into the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions.

In this phase, the observations went from rather descriptive observations to more focused selective observations (see Spradley, 1980 and Mortelmans, 2007). My research did not entail fact-checking problem perceptions (as the problem perceptions in themselves are of interest), but observations served to gather input for interviews or to discover other possible stakeholders. Mortelmans explains that this type of observation revolves around noticing contrast .

For example, at some point, after hearing that some people found it problematic to raise their children in a red-light neighborhood, I noticed that there were little to no children playing in the streets at Yser. However, during the summer break, I did notice a group of 5 children playing around the little city garden situated about 10 metres from a bar associated with prostitution. I considered this as a possible indication that either the children escaped from their homes without their parents’ consent or that their parents were less concerned about the presence of street prostitution for the safety of their children (to put it very simply). The observation revolved around contrast. The children and I started talking but since there was no parent nearby, this was a small-talk conversation. I explained to them that I would leave a flyer in the mailboxes in their apartment building for their parents. Unfortunately, I received no response on the flyers. However, I did use this information to discuss raising children in a red-light neighborhood during an interview with other parents. They indicated that they did 71 not perceive this as a problem, but rather as an opportunity to raise children with a certain awareness about the world and its complexities (interview resident couple 11, discussed in chapter 8). Observing contrast offered input for conversations and could lead to discussing the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions.

Lastly, I relied on participatory observations. In the course of the immersion phase, the level of access and trust to Entre 2 became more established. They invited me to join them on one of their outreach afternoons. The first time, I was told that they would introduce me as an intern. We did not go to the Yser neighborhood but to one of the red-light zones near the South station. The second time I was invited to join them on an outreach tour, the participatory observation took place after my fieldwork was completed. This time, we did go to the Yser neighborhood and at that point, it was not necessary anymore to introduce me as an intern, as I already had introduced myself several months earlier as a researcher. Both participatory observations offered interesting (context) information about the concerns of those working the streets at that point in time. However, during these outreach moments, I joined the social workers on their outreach job and as such, I did not refer to my research.

Data

Below, I enlist the different data sources and the type of data I was able to collect. This table lists a broad variety of actors and types of information.

Whenever a respondent indicated that certain information was off-the-record, I refrained from using it. This happened during three conversations (two formal and one informal). During the two formal ones, it did not lead to a significant loss of information. During the informal conversation, however, using the information would have offered valuable insights. Despite its value, I hold the privacy of my respondents above my research project and therefore it remains off the record.

During the fieldwork, I tried to go as broadly as possible and considered every organization as a possible source of information. This led me to take a few sidesteps. For example, I once had dinner with organization Het Vaart . Although it was an interesting afternoon as such, the conversations did not evolve in the direction of the neighborhood or street prostitution. I did not use these encounters as data, but in my opinion they were still part of doing fieldwork since discovering the neighborhood goes beyond the research question at hand. 72

In another instance, I did not use the information of an interview because I was unable to get a grip on the conversation while interviewing. This occurred once during this phase. The conversation developed into a conversation about terrorism and Muslims and the respondent made remarks that can be classified as straightforward racism. I was uncomfortable during this conversation and despite a few efforts, I was unable to redirect it to the presence of street prostitution. The interview was transcribed but I noticed that the sections about prostitution were enforced or directed by me. In yet another instance I contacted the clients forum hookers.nl with the question whether they would allow me to start a forum topic. However, despite their interest in participating in research, the contact person declined my request, as it had generally not been appreciated by forum members in the past.

Who Data

Social organizations

Asbl/vzw Ghapro Attended Event: Academic Celebration 10 years Ghapro

Informal, explorative interview with the general coordinator (fieldnotes)

Asbl/vzw Espace P Formal, explorative interview (40 minutes)

Formal interview (1h, 2 minutes)

E-mail correspondence about decision of Council of State in the annulation of the local regulation

All conversations and correspondence were done with one outreach worker from the organization

Asbl/vzw Pag-Asa Formal, explorative interview with director and employee from the juridical department (fieldnotes)

Volunteering from 2013 – now, main contact with social workers and people staying in the shelter

Asbl/vzw Entre 2 2 formal interviews (1h 18 minutes, 1h 10 minutes)

Several informal conversations when encountering each other in the field (or in the surrounding neighborhoods)

73

Sporadic e-mail correspondence, mainly about new developments in the local regulation

2 field visits (participatory observations)

Every conversation, information exchange through e-mail or field visit was with outreach workers

Asbl/vzw Alias Formal interview with outreach worker (1h, 3 minutes)

Asbl/vzw Aimer jeunes Formal interview with social assistants (1h, 10 minutes)

Asbl/vzw La Ligue des Formal interview with the president of the organization (discussing the droits de l’ Homme (LDH) involvement of the LDH in battling the local police regulation) (41 minutes)

Community Organizations

Comité(e) Alhambra Attended event: Open meeting Alhambra committee

Formal interview president Alhambra committee (50 minutes)

Correspondence through e-mail with president committee

Formal interview

Asbl/vzw Het Vaart Participatory observation: joining dinner and a game afternoon with elders who frequent Het Vaart on a regular basis

Police Services

Local, administrative Formal interview (1h, 11 minutes) police

Local, vice police Formal interview with the head of the local vice department (2h, 19 minutes)

City representatives

Manager de Tranquilité Explorative formal interview with MTP (during exploration part of the Publique (to which I will fieldwork phase) refer as the MTP) & Formal interview with MTP (during the immersion part of the fieldwork phase) BRAVVO (41 minutes)

Formal interview with the coordinating head of the city guards ( gardiens de la paix)

74

People working in prostitution

3 formal interviews with women (mainly) working during daytime: X & XX (40 minutes) T & M (fieldnotes)

Emphasis on informal conversations

People associated with those working in prostitution/entourage (but do not own bar or hotel)

1 formal interview with Z (8 minutes)

Several informal conversations

Bars

Jimmy’s Informal conversation bar tender

‘t Genot Formal interview bar tender (12 minutes)

Black Beard Informal conversations with bar tenders and clients

Fifth Avenue Informal conversation with bar tenders and clients

Café Taverne 54 Informal conversations with bouncer and clients

Hotel owner

(anonymous) 2 informal conversations (both off-the-record)

Shop or snack bar owners

Frituur Ijzerplein 1 formal interview with owner snack bar (11 minutes)

Gatsby Several informal conversations

Residents

25 Formal interviews (between 46 minutes and 1h, 24 minutes)

People working in neighborhood (but do not own a shop or bar)

3 Formal interviews

Other

BRUZZ Radio interview and writing opinion piece, leading to e-mail correspondence with residents 75

Hookers.nl e-mail correspondence with key account manager about possibility of opening forum topic on the Yser neighborhood (request declined)

Observatorium voor Joining study day about prostitution in Brussels in light of year report, Preventie & Veiligheid Brussels. Informal explorative conversations with police services, UTSOPI members and the MTP

A note on ethical concerns during fieldwork .

It was difficult in practice to work with formal consent documents during fieldwork. There are two reasons why I decided to rely on oral informed consents instead of written informed consent. Firstly, I became aware of the reluctance of those working in prostitution to signing official documents, as this might be traced back to them and hamper their anonymity and privacy (see also Shaver, 2005 and Zheng, 2013 29 ). Secondly, since informal conversations are an important part of ethnographic fieldwork, I decided that it would be unpractical to have all people systematically sign documents in which they agree to participate in this research. I also decided that if I would not offer such documents to people I spoke to informally, I would also not offer them for formal interviews.

However, every participant was consistently informed about my specific role, the research and the voluntary nature of participation and this throughout the research process (informed consent is dynamic, not a once-and-for all agreement, see Zheng, 2013) . Furthermore, it was important to emphasize that anonymity was assured and that their information and statements would not be misused. This way my informants and interviewees could rest assured that all information would be processed anonymously and that they would be able to see the final document before publication. However, some participants explicitly said that I could use their name if I wanted to. I decided not to do so but, when relevant, refer to their function such as ‘president of the Alhambra committee’. Informed consent in this research also refers to the information the participants received about the aim of this research. To ensure an ethical approach, I also decided to make my research purpose and my position as a researcher clear whenever I held a formal or informal conversation. I did this by consistently introducing myself as “ Kristien Gillis, researcher at the University of Antwerp who is writing about the different ideas and opinions in the Yser area”. Thus, participants were always informed about

29 Zheng (2013) also indicates that since prostitutes tend to work under pseudonyms, officially signing and approving a formal informed consent document would be difficult. 76 my position and goal. I noticed that it was important to keep emphasizing that I was not a journalist. Mainly those in prostitution, especially when there were language differences, were vigilant about whether or not I was a journalist. Social organizations also indicated a certain vigilance about journalists reporting about the neighborhood, as in the past this had led to sensationalized accounts on prostitution.

I offered a transparent description of what I was interested in, especially once I had noticed that it did not affect the variety of problem definitions that emerged. On the contrary, I noticed that people, once they knew that I was interested in how they problematized what they problematized, where even more prone to explain why they said what they said. During informal interviews, I asked whether I could use the information. Concerning informed consent, there were only two instances where I was presented as an intern or volunteer rather than as a researcher (the fieldtrip with the social worker and my volunteering job at Pag-Asa ). I made sure that only what I learned as a researcher in this domain would be used when relevant. No formal or informal conversation, nor information deriving from small talk is presented in this thesis if participants did not know that I was talking with them in the position of a researcher writing about the Yser area. There is only one exception to this, namely when I discuss a conflict that emerged while I was doing a night shift at Pag-Asa . I will discuss this in the next section in which I reflect upon my position as a researcher. Lastly but importantly, I was also vigilant not to 'force' conversations and be aware about body language when people would rather not talk to me or did not want to talk on tape. Some interactions were limited to just a nod of recognition, other interactions only occurred when somebody declined participating in the study (although such declines could be informative as well).

3.2.3 Leaving the field

Timing

According to planning, I officially left the field in October 2016. I was transparent about my planning in my communication to the people from Yser. I informed them how long I would stay in the field and when I would officially leave. I also emphasized that they would still be able to contact me when they wanted to share more information or whenever they would have questions or concerns. Furthermore, I explained what I would be doing next (finishing up the project behind my desk) and that I would inform them when the project was completed. 77

Taking time to inform people was important. It gave them the opportunity to voice questions or concerns, and it gave me the opportunity to thank them for their time and energy 30 .

I left for a writing stay in Porto (where I, by coincidence, lived in a Portuguese street prostitution neighborhood). Leaving for Porto offered both a physical and symbolic barrier to my intensive stay in the Yser neighborhood. In retrospect, this was a necessary endpoint as I only had one year left to finish the analyses and writing part of this work. Just as Watt (2010) describes, one needs time to ‘digest’ fieldwork, as it often is an intensive and even emotional experience for researchers. Of course, this research could have benefited from more fieldwork, where I might have focused on gaining access to and gaining trust from for example clients, prostitutes working at night and/or working illegally, trans prostitutes or a more diverse range of residents. Nevertheless, I think the time I spent in the field has been fruitful to explore an open approach that allows to develop a multidimensional problem construction. In the circumstances, I considered that I was able to leave the field and develop an argument on the usefulness of an open approach related to organic public sociology, on the data gathered. Furthermore, the fact that I was not able to find access to certain publics, can be used as information about the current approach and the challenges to developing a multidimensional problem construction.

Still, when returning to Belgium around mid-November 2016, I did (and still do) return to the neighborhood for updates, informal conversations and two interviews. From February, onwards, I no longer collected data. This takes me to the next point.

Access

At this point, more access was established with certain groups in the neighborhood. I was able to develop a more established network towards the end of the fieldwork. This illustrates how gaining trust and access take time. Doing in-depth fieldwork requires patience and time. A follow-up research could make use of such a network to gain access to less accessible groups.

There are certain types of actors I did not reach. Accordingly, the current fieldwork should not be considered as the final word on what’s at stake in this neighborhood. Moreover, this research should mostly be seen as a beginning, indicating the importance of a further mapping out. I did identify more actors that might influence or add to the complexity of what is going

30 As Shaver (2005) notes: ‘ This ritualized leave-taking (…) legitimates the withdrawal anxieties experienced by researchers, who in spite of attachments that develop on both sides, generally find it a more difficult process than the participants do. ’ (p. 304). I found that to be true. 78 on at Yser. However, to reach every actor was beyond the possibility of this research project. The type of actors whose problem perceptions might have contributed to a more elaborate multidimensional problem construction are: prostitutes working in networks and during the night, prostitutes who I was unable to reach due to language barriers or security or privacy concerns, trans prostitutes, clients, a further exploration of bar and hotel owners associated with prostitution, a further exploration of residents from different backgrounds, federal police services and policy makers. No access to these groups was due to security concerns, privacy concerns or time limitations. Due to time limitations, I did not succeed in building trust and gaining access to certain groups. As a consequence, I was not able to approach certain publics with the open approach and therefore I may have missed other relevant problem perceptions that would impact the multidimensional problem construction. I might add that an open approach related to organic public sociology, focusing on a complex phenomenon, was shown to be a time-consuming approach.

Methods: observing, formal and informal interviews, second participatory observation

Although my fieldwork was already finished, I did visit the neighborhood again. I explained that my fieldwork was finished but that I was curious about updates on the current situation at Yser. I engaged in one participatory observation, two formal interviews and several informal conversations.

I was able to participate in one of the weekly field visits with a social worker from Entre 2 . During their field visits, Entre 2 visits the people working in prostitution to offer them condoms and tampons and an opportunity to address issues or concerns. Since this field visit took place shortly after a police raid in a prostitution related bar, the conversations were a source of information to the role of police actions in the neighborhood (addressed in chapter 7 on security).

I conducted two formal interviews: one with Entre 2 and one with an artist ‘in residence’ (meaning: an entrepreneur/artist who developed a project in former Tropicana bar ). Lastly, there was e-mail correspondence with both Entre 2 and Espace P and several informal conversations with my key informant who works as a prostitute at Yser. Apart from the interview with the artist in residence (which revolved mainly around the art project), conversations with Entre 2 , Espace P and my key informant served as updates about the local police regulation. 79

3.3 Analysis and presenting of the data

3.3.1 Processing and Transcribing

Fieldwork leads to a broad variety of information and impressions that come in many shapes and forms. To bring order into this data and to keep track of the research process, fieldwork goes hand in hand with paperwork . In order to secure a systematic and objective analysis but also to record what was said or done in the neighborhood, it was important to put as much as possible of the information in writing. For observations and informal conversations I used notebooks. From informal conversations extensive notes were made after the conversation, at a different location. For formal interviews I relied on recording devices and the InqScribe © program to write out the interview line by line. I employed a student to transcribe a small amount of the Dutch interviews in the beginning of the research project. I transcribed the interviews in French or English myself and in a later phase all the remaining Dutch interviews as well. Despite the meticulous work of the student, I decided to transcribe the majority of the interviews myself because it offered the possibility to have a first analytical encounter with the data.

To develop oversight, I processed and coded the information step by step. This processing of information took place during the fieldwork phase. During this phase, apart from making field notes, I also regularly made sketches to understand the variety of information that came my way. I relied on a diary or even conversations to organize my own thoughts. Fieldwork can be an intensive period. Taking notes helps to get a grip or at least, helps to find out what information needs to be clarified. Furthermore, keeping track of what was emerging from the data was necessary to fine-tune or broaden conversations. Therefore, I also started transcribing and carefully coding interviews during the field phase. Such coding offered useful information for other interviews and conversations. Especially to discuss different problem perceptions with different actors. This helped me to discern whether actors were aware of the variety of problem perceptions in the neighborhood and how they reacted to different problem perceptions. This means that my data gathering and analysis cannot be strictly separated from each other.

3.3.2 Coding and analyzing

The focus in this research, in which I explore an open approach related to organic public sociology, lies on what multidimensionality means on the ground. Therefore, I gathered (a) 80 the variety of problem perceptions that occurred and (b) where possible, the different reactions or coping mechanisms to the problem perceptions. I applied an open approach to the data collection and for the data analyses, I remained vigilant in order not to focus solely on one particular public or one particular dimension. In order to avoid a top-down perspective to the data analyses, I relied on an inductive approach in which the emphasis lies on letting the data speak for itself .

To structure the information in order to analyse what multidimensionality means in the case at hand and what challenges it poses, I relied on a coding of the different problem perceptions that allowed to compare them and to discuss the challenges that arise due to their co- occurrence. Furthermore, I systematically noted the different actions or reactions that occurred in the neighborhood, especially when they were the subject of problem constructions. I coded the data manually and grouped the data into themes and categories. Categories are “ the basic ideas, perspectives or events that are identified by our analysis ” (Light, 2010:176). For each interview, informal conversation or document (article or reaction on a forum), I coded what was indicated by someone as problematic. This resulted in a variety of problem perceptions per interview (and thus per stakeholder).

During coding, certain dimensions re-occurred as the subject of problem perceptions. For example: actors could have very different or even opposite problem perceptions, but the perceptions might revolve around the same dimension of prostitution. As such, I could group problem perceptions (the categories) into themes: “broader unifying links that run through or underpin data ” (Light, 2010:176). The categories are the problem perceptions and the themes are the dimensions that people perceived or reacted to as problematic. After analysing several interviews or documents, I decided to develop a theme grid in which I grouped the problem perceptions. To avoid making the data fit the grid, I used a category ‘other/to explore’ for problem perceptions that did not follow a specific theme or problem perceptions that were unclear to me at that point. Not every problem perception clearly fitted into one category. When in doubt, I placed problem perceptions under multiple categories. It also occurred that I could not categorize a problem perception or that problem perceptions addressed other issues that were not related to prostitution (for example: problem perceptions about terrorism). Another important issue is that I could identify certain stakeholders, but not gather their problem perceptions. This means that the current analysis is based on the problem perceptions that were available to me. I will address this issue when talking about the limitations of the current research. 81

The problem categories that I present in this research are those that re-occurred during the coding of the data. Three large categories emerged, grouping problem perceptions about (1) nuisance, (2) security and (3) labor.

To convince the reader of the objective analysis that results in such themes and categories, I supported the empirical chapters with thick descriptions and quotes that are grouped under these categories and themes. I also relied on re-occurring terms and wordings of the publics when naming problem categories. When a respondent used a different wording but addressed a same sort of category, I also offered an extensive quote and context. Again, this helped the reader to decide, when reading the empirical findings, whether this is about a different problem category or not. I remained attentive from using scholarly lingo on prostitution to classify problem perceptions as being about established concepts or categories. The importance of this exercise lies in showing the interpretations of the people at Yser, not my top-down interpretation as a researcher. However, I did not enter the field without a priori knowledge about how prostitution can be problematized. Nonetheless, while coding the data, I was vigilant about questions that could be too directive or indirectly ‘ forced upon’ (a talking for someone, without confirmation). Whenever I detected such a conversation in the transcripts, I did not use it in the analysis. I also scanned the analysed data for ‘ seeing problem perceptions where there are none ’. An example of this is an interview in which a resident did not have a specific opinion about prostitution in general or street prostitution in his neighborhood. While coding this interview, I noticed that I kept on asking questions, while he indicated to have a ‘live and let live’ attitude. As I continued to question him, he sometimes embarked on a thinking exercise in which he tried to empathize with why people would find something problematic, yet he frequently returned to pointing out that “ in the end, he never really thought about it that much ” (interview with resident 10). Now, the fact that he was not problematizing street prostitution at Yser is valuable information. Not valuable are the responses he gave when he was embarking upon the thinking exercises I was pushing him into unconsciously. Therefore, I did not code the ‘thinking exercises’ but I did note that street prostitution is not considered problematic by every resident.

In order to offer the reader the possibility to judge whether such problems did slip through in the final text, I relied on elaborate quotes that offer the possibility to contextualize certain problem perceptions. When a respondent was in doubt or not sure about a problem perception, I did not exclude their interpretation from the quotes that I use in the empirical section. 82

3.3.3 Presenting the data

I presented the data in a way that best mimics how the open approach was able to unpack ‘what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser?’ throughout the fieldwork. Each chapter addresses one problem category: nuisance, security and labor, the three categories that resulted out of the data analysis. These categories and the problem perceptions they present, encompass what multidimensionality means for the people at Yser. I started by discussing the nuisance issue, since this was the first and most explicit problem claim about the neighborhood. Before entering the field, nuisance problem perceptions were voiced in local media reports ( BRUZZ ). This is also the problem category that has led to very concrete actions in the neighborhood which formed the subject of other problem perceptions. As I embarked on the fieldwork with the open approach, the resident committee and their nuisance problem perception introduced me to a first type of public (residents), and to a first issue. This chapter therefore could be seen as a first impression of the neighborhood.

Each of the following chapters (security, 7 and labor, 8), adds another layer to what’s at stake at Yser. As security issues were most frequently raised to contest the nuisance based measures in the neighborhood, they are discussed as a response to the nuisance chapter. This chapter (7) illustrates how nuisance and security problem perceptions cannot be discussed in isolation. Finally, as revealed during the fieldwork, an underlying problem perception revolved around whether or not prostitution is an acceptable form of labor. This last empirical chapter (8) illustrates how practical stances (mainly for those working in prostitution) as well as normative stances (mainly for residents) also impact on how the different publics weigh problems of nuisance or security. In each chapter, I also offered the variety of problem perceptions, as people would hold different perceptions or emphasize different aspects about how nuisance, security or labor are problematic. Throughout the chapters, the different publics at Yser re-appeared, since most people at Yser did reflect on different problem perceptions. However, in each chapter, certain actors emerged more prominently than others. This reflects how certain actors emphasized certain problems more than others during the interviews.

The decision to group problem perceptions around a similar dimension in separate chapters may seem contradictory to making the case for exploring multidimensionality. Grouping problem perceptions around a particular dimension, however, made it possible to present the variety of perceptions within a certain dimension. Given the variety of problem perceptions 83 both within and between dimensions, and the variety of publics, the current structure offered the best trade-off between readability and presenting complexity, without getting lost in it. It is also important to show that the current approach makes it possible to present a multidimensional problem construction in a comprehensible manner. However, to understand how street prostitution at Yser can be constructed as a multidimensional issue, it is crucial to consider the sum (this work) to be more than its constitutive parts (its empirical chapters). This means that to understand multidimensionality, it is important to see the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions within a chapter (different perspectives upon a similar dimension of prostitution) but especially, across chapters (perspectives about different dimensions).

To illustrate the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions, a fixed structure to present the variety of problem perceptions, worked best. As the challenges related to a co-occurrence of problem perceptions may lie in specific aspects of problem perceptions, it was important to discuss the problem perceptions in more depth. I found that a structure inspired by a structure used in the MAGEEQ approach to analysing policy frames (Verloo, 2004) 31 , also enabled presenting the content of (the majority of) problem perceptions that were vocalized. The different problem perceptions reflect the variety of ways in which people experience certain dimensions of prostitution as problematic. To structure the information present in most problem perceptions but also to compare the differences/nuances between problem perceptions, I discuss (a) what is represented as problematic and by whom? (b) which actors are presented as involved and in which roles? (who is causing the problem, who is subject to/victim of the problem, who is responsible for (solving) the problem) and (c) what is suggested as a solution to the problem. I selected these three questions as they captured explicit information from the majority of the problem perceptions, although there were occasions where some problem perceptions could only be described by a part of the questions (for example: someone could state a problem and whom they considered to be affected by that particular problem, without proposing a solution). This structure offers the most extensive insight in how multidimensionality is experienced in the Yser neighborhood. Applying a fixed structure was also important to force myself not to use only certain parts of problem perceptions (when more information was available) and encouraged me to represent

31 My research does not analyze policy frames and therefore I refrain from offering an in-depth discussion of the MAGEEQ project. However, The Greek Review of Social Research (2005) developed a special issue on framing of gender equality as a policy problem. This special issue offers an interesting insight into the relevance and usefulness of the MAGEEQ methodology for analyzing policy frames. 84 information as thick as possible. A downside to presenting the different problem perceptions as extensively as this, is that it leads to repetition. However, this was a conscious decision, as it illustrates not only differences but also where overlap between problem perceptions occur. It resembles most closely how people discussed different problems.

Throughout the empirical sections, the people of Yser are talking. This means that my voice, as a researcher, serves to present what was said and done at Yser in a structured manner. I want to point out that these chapters do not offer an ultimate, direct representation of their ‘voices’. Participatory Action Research (PAR) is a methodology that is better able to directly represent the voice of participants, as it is an approach that empowers participants to become part of conducting and presenting research (O’Neill et al., 2008). However, in the current context, which was characterized by conflict, language differences and a heterogeneity in both residents as those working in prostitution, this was not feasible.

More indirectly than in a PAR approach, I would argue that the current research was able to represent the voices of the people at Yser who wanted to or could share their perceptions with me. The approach related to organic sociology focuses specifically on developing insights in a bottom-up manner. For the current research, this specifically meant that I, as a researcher, did not use a fixed (normative) framework when talking to the people of Yser. Rather, I relied on their input to steer the platform to other people or other topics. However, it is important to be aware that I, as a researcher, did interpret the data, if only by grouping or structuring it. By relying on thick descriptions and offering as much insight as possible into every problem perception gathered (through the fixed structure), by being transparent about the data collection, processing and representation, and finally, by being transparent about my role as a researcher, I enable the reader to judge to what extent the empirical sections are able to represent the voices of the people of Yser.

I refrain from using theoretical insights during the three empirical chapters. These chapters are focusing on how people at Yser give meaning to what multidimensionality means. However, what is happening at Yser, is not happening in a vacuum and it is useful to link what is happening in this case with scholarly insights on prostitution on the one hand and social problem construction, on the other hand. I will do this in the last chapter, in which I offer a synthesis and conclusion. This synthesis will zoom out from the fieldwork and focus more generally on the usefulness of an open approach to develop a multidimensional problem construction. 85

I translated quotes or fragments of articles or correspondence between different actors from Dutch or French to English.

3.4 Quality concerns

An important aspect of any type of research lies in its scientific trustworthiness and quality. Throughout the case selection, data collection, analysis and representation, I was vigilant about assuring high standards of quality and trustworthiness. An in-depth methodology chapter serves to offer as much transparency as possible about the data collection, analysis and decisions related to its representation. It offers a necessary, extensive look behind the scenes.

Qualitative research traditionally has to offer such transparency as our translation of traditional, positivist quality markers such as generalizability, reliability and validity (Mortelmans, 2007) are not always recognized as equally valid quality markers. The majority of qualitative research is conducted out of the conviction that much information is lost by considering reality as fixed. Qualitative research considers the reality in which the phenomena that are researched take place, to be constructed and evolving (Mortelmans, 2007) and that exactly these constructions are informative when researching certain social mechanisms or dynamics. This means that qualitative research differs in how it understands ‘reliability’ from traditional positivist researchers. For the latter, reliability refers to results that would be consistent and stable throughout time. Without going into depth about how qualitative research and especially single case studies, have been and remain under critical examination as trustworthy, reliable and qualitative types of research 32 . Flyvbjerg (2006) addresses how misunderstandings contribute to suspicion about the scientific value of qualitative research and more specifically single case studies. I discuss two of these misunderstandings as they relate most to quality concerns about generalizability, validity and more specifically, the ‘contamination ’ of the subjective input or interpretation of the researcher.

Misunderstanding: One cannot generalize from a single case, therefore this type of study cannot contribute to scientific development (Flyvbjerg, 2006:224)

Generalizability refers to how broadly the results of a research are applicable to other members of the target audience that were not part of the research sample, to other situations

32 For an extensive overview of the debate and an extensive overview on why qualitative research is as important to scientific knowledge production as quantitative research, I refer to Bent Flyvbjergs ‘ Making Social Science Matter – Why Social Inquiry fails and how it can succeed again .’ (Flyvbjerg, 2001) 86 and to other locations (Mortelmans, 2007). Flyvbjerg (2006) explains that a misunderstanding about single case studies (such as the current study), is that “ one cannot generalize on the basis of a single case and that the case study cannot contribute to scientific development” (p. 228). However, Flyvbjerg counters this critique by being critical about the emphasis laid on the importance of generalization as being the “main source of scientific progress” (p.226). Generalization can be important, but one should not exclude “ the force of an example ” (p.228) to knowledge production, according to Flyvbjerg. However, Lewis and Ritchie (2003) point out how qualitative findings could be generalized through a process of inference. Inferential generalizability relies on thick descriptions: the richness of description a researcher offers when presenting data (events, statements, interactions,….). As such, other researchers can decide on what aspects or characteristics this case can or cannot be compared to other, alike cases 33 .

For this research, this brings me to making two remarks about how the current single case study can contribute to knowledge production on prostitution, both through generalization as by the force of example. First remark: the current case offers a valuable and rich case to explore whether an open approach lends itself to developing a multidimensional problem construction on prostitution. This case offers a prototypical example at two levels: firstly, it is a prototypical example of complexity, given the multi-publics and multi-dimensions at play. If the open approach makes it possible to develop a multidimensional problem construction in this complex case, its usefulness may be generalized to other cases. Secondly, it is also a prototypical example of a particular type of prostitution. Street prostitution in a gentrifying neighborhood combined with prostitution policies and regulations that focus on control and containment and local regulation tendencies to hide or exclude prostitution from public space, is not exceptional (Laing & Cook, 2014; an in-depth description and case justification follows in chapter 4). The usefulness of the approach in this case, could be insightful for exploring multidimensionality in other cases of prostitution. The multidimensional problem construction and especially the importance of considering the co-occurrence of nuisance, security and labor problem perceptions that results from this case, could be insightful for similar cases of street prostitution.

33 For example, during a writing stay in Porto, I was living in a street prostitution area. By discussing and trying to compare the Yser case to the Porto case with professor Alexandra Oliveira, the importance of describing a case as precisely as possible became clear. 87

The second remark about the generalizability of the current case revolves around how street prostitution remains a particular form of prostitution within the broader prostitution scene. It is important to stress that the specific problem construction that results from exploring the open approach at Yser, may be informative for similar cases, but not for less visible forms of prostitution, prostitution taking place under different regulatory regimes or different normative contexts. Such cases will also be characterized by complexity and diversity in problem perceptions, but the specific content of the problem perceptions or what problem perceptions co-occur, may be different. Generalizability is a critical issue within prostitution research. Scholars such as Shaver (2005) explain that researchers have to remain vigilant about making generalized statements about those in prostitution, as it is a ‘ mistaken notion that sex workers represent a homogeneous population’ (p.314). For prostitution literature, then, I would mainly argue that the current case may serve as a forceful example of the importance of applying an open approach to develop a multidimensional problem construction.

Misunderstanding: A case study contains a verification bias (Flyvbjerg, 2006:234)

Sandelowski (1993) explains that a research is valid when the research method measures what it aims to measure. To examine validity is to evaluate whether the interpretations of the data correspond to the information gathered in the research and whether the interpretations are credible in the sense that my translation of the data match the socially constructed reality of those researched (Mortelmans, 2007). Flyvbjerg (2006) explains that another misunderstanding of qualitative research in general, is that qualitative methods would “allow more room for the researcher’s subjectivity and arbitrary judgment than other methods (and as such) are less rigorous than are quantitative (…) methods” (p. 234). The verification bias refers to how qualitative researchers would approach the field with a tendency to confirm their a priori notions. Flyvbjerg continues that such a critique is important as it keeps researchers aware about their own involvement during the research process. However, he also notes that this critique illustrates a lack of insight into the rigor qualitative research requires. A rigor that is as strict as the rigor that is expected from quantitative research.

For the current research, self-reflection and audit trails are tools to control the credibility of the research. An audit trail refers to how transparent a researcher is concerning the steps taken during the research process. The previous section serves as such an audit trail as I offer an as extensive an insight as possible into how I selected the current case (see chapter 4), collected, 88 analyzed and represented the results. There are reports and transcriptions of the fieldwork: observations and interviews are accessible and ready to be audited.

Mortelmans (2007) refers to Guba and Lincoln (1989) who propose other tools or markers such as the depth of data collection and triangulation to help promoting the validity of qualitative research. I tried to reach as much depth as possible by moving the mobile platform to as many publics as possible. To reach depth, one needs time: time to get acquainted with the population, the issues or even the language 34 people in the field use. The depth of this interview can be judged by the time and effort made to observe and talk with an as broad a population as possible. Furthermore, I try to point out the limitations of my observations and interviews so that the reader can see where more depth could still be reached. Concerning time: my focus on the Yser area stretches over several years. To be precise: I spend four years collecting information about the Yser area. Within these four years, I observed and interviewed people more intensively for one year and a half, until the end of summer 2016. However, when an opportunity presented itself, observations and especially interviews were collected before and after this more intensive year and a half. The depth of the span of people interviewed is described in the previous section. Interviews with residents, social organizations and civil servants were formal and were all in depth interviews around 45 - 50 minutes in which I tried to discuss as large a span of relevant topics as possible that were relevant during that interview. Information from prostitutes are more informal (informal interviews and conversations). I want to emphasize that more information is still needed and more in-depth work is necessary with this part of the research population.

Another mechanism to ensure a valid research, is triangulation. There are a variety of ways to conduct triangulation but the validity of this work lies in data triangulation. Data triangulation means collecting different types of information through different types of data sources. Mortelmans (2007) explains that by combining observations, interviews and for example collecting documents about the research topic, one increases the validity of a research because

34 Both literally and symbolically. Literally: although I understand and speak French, the confidence and ease to interview in French developed throughout the research, leading to more in-depth conversations after some practice. Furthermore, I also needed to get acquainted with certain abbreviations, slang or even the way certain names are used. For example: after some months in the field, I discovered it was best to use Yser instead of ‘Alhambra’ when approaching people who are not part of the Alhambra committee. Another important example is that social workers explained that referring to the prostitutes as “ les filles ” was not necessarily bad or considered as condescending since the women themselves thought of ‘les femmes’ as, somehow, ‘too polite, too distant or better yet making them feel ‘too old’. This was an important discovery for me who learned from more academic texts that using girls instead of women is deemed as a mistake made within discourses on prostitution were ‘girls’ is used to make prostitutes seem more fragile. 89 one is better able to bring in a variety of perspectives on a certain matter. In this research, I observed, interviewed and collected relevant paper sources about the Yser area (such as news reports or the report from the Observatory for Security, 2015). By using different data sources, one can compare information and collect more information about the relevant context. In the current research, this allowed to determine how the different problem definitions are presented within media, on the ground, in different types of conversations or debates. However, the research does not aim to judge a problem definition for being true or not, therefore the different data sources are not necessarily used to ‘ fact check ’ problem constructions but to understand to what extent or in what form they emerge within the everyday context of Yser. For example: by collecting local media reports on the Yser area, one can determine which problem constructions are reflected within media, which voices are heard or presented rather than other ones.

Finally, self-reflection is a useful tool, both for the researcher and the reader. It facilitates the detection of a verification bias or, more generally, the impact of the researcher on data collection, interpretation and representation. Returning to the core discussion (or rather suspicion), when it comes to the scientific quality of qualitative research the concern is that it would be too subjective. Throughout decades of debate, scholars did not reach a conclusion about whether or not subjectivity can even be avoided within any type of research. As such, I will steer clear of this debate and even acknowledge that subjectivity is part of the current research. Proclaiming that I, as a researcher, would be devoid of subjective appraisal, would be in contrast with the mechanisms I described in the previous chapter on social categorization. As such, this research has to be criticized and discussed for subjectivity, mainly by those from the prostitution sector itself, since that would only add to a much needed social debate about knowledge gathering about it.

In short, the research report is also a social construction of the social constructions found and explicated in the data. (…) how the analyst uses the method and which questions he or she brings to the data shape the results” (…) “The researcher’s perspective consists of more than philosophical stance, school of thought, and methodological strategies. It also consists of experiences, values and priorities. (Charmaz, 1990:1165)

This requires more in depth-discussion in the following section. 90

3.5 A note on self-reflexivity

At the forefront of questioning scientific objectivity, feminist ethnographers and postmodern researchers more generally, emphasize the importance of reflecting and reporting on one’s position (Gilbert, 1994). As a researcher, one participates in the social construction of reality. However, to assure rigor, quality, validity and high standards of ethics while constructing scientific knowledge, a reflexive exercise is crucial (Dewey & Zheng, 2013). The close rapprochement of a researcher could affect the data collection and analysis. Ethnographic researchers, researchers who spend a considerable amount of time amongst often unfamiliar groups, communities or neighborhoods, become to a certain extent part of their research. By embedding oneself in a particular context, one floats between being a neutral, distant observer and an involved, engaged participant. This leads to a balancing exercise that can be intensive because it requires self-examination and self-monitoring.

A researcher is not the equivalent of a neutral microscope. Especially when entering the field and getting in close contact with communities, one brings oneself along. As Dewalt, Dewalt and Wayland (1998) point out: “ We need to be aware about who we are, understand our biases as much as we can, and to understand and interpret our interactions with the people we study.” (Dewalt, Dewalt & Wayland, 1998:290). Just due to one’s appearance, by entering as a researcher, the use of certain words or body language: during intensive fieldwork, such characteristics might play their part in how people respond to you. But this also works the other way around. Due to one’s education, habits, professional experience, scientific background, or lack of knowledge or experience with certain groups… one enters the field with certain preconceived ideas, ways of approaching and ways of looking at certain issues. Recognizing this and reflecting on one’s position during the research process in relation to the people in the field, helps one to adapt or to take precautions where necessary and possible.

Part of this chapter that looks behind the scenes of this research, is a look inward (Krumer- Nevo & Sidi, 2012). I describe how being a white, young (late twenties), female and middle- class researcher/academic might have impacted the fieldwork. I discuss my position and the development thereof to offer an as transparent as possible view on my position during this research process. Central to positionality descriptions is the focus on power relations between the researcher and the researched (the location of myself in relation to participants). I describe how I remained vigilant not to enforce interactions that were influenced by asymmetrical, potentially exploitative or intimidating relations between the participants and myself. 91

Co-constructing a multidimensional problem construction: the position of a researcher

Kaspar & Landolt (2016) summarize insights on power dynamics by explaining that a researcher can be in a more powerful position due to the unidirectional input of information from respondents to researcher. Being a researcher might be perceived as a form of power: I could be seen as the one that would develop a scientific work concerning the neighborhood that might be published. Although respondents gave me their perspective and information, they did not know how I would present it, how the bigger picture would look.

I like to refer to one particular instance in which the co-construction, central to this work, came under pressure by my coming across as an ‘expert’, somebody who could offer a top- down perspective on street prostitution at Yser, during an interview with the local radio station of BRUZZ . I did my best to bring in nuance and give a general overview on the different problem perceptions in the neighborhood. Still, the interview did provoke one of my respondents. In an e-mail, he explained that the situation at Yser was getting worse and that bringing in different perspectives, might convey that some residents were making too much ado about nothing. Although I tried to refer to the diversity of perspectives at Yser, it was difficult to explain that my opinion was not above but part of a multidimensional problem construction that emerged through a joint effort with the people from Yser. In retrospect, during that phase of the research (mid-fieldwork), the interview was most definitely ill-timed. From that point on, I refrained from writing opinion pieces or giving interviews. I considered such public statements were obstructing the assurance I wanted to give people about the open perspective of this research and how every problem perception about what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, was needed to develop a multidimensional problem construction.

Another way in which I tried to lower possible thresholds between the people from Yser and me as a researcher, was that I tried to keep in touch as much as possible and to offer them a possibility to discuss questions or concerns regarding the research. In general: I tried to be as clear as possible about what I was looking for and how I would approach the research (talking with as many respondents as possible, not judging problem perceptions for being more or less true,…). This was important, as I noticed that some respondents did ask me what my position on prostitution was and what I thought the city should do.

This presented me with a dilemma: either I would avoid answering the questions so as to not risk being perceived as a subjective, biased researcher or I would answer the question honestly and return to the aim of the current study, which would only thrive on having a 92 variety of perspectives. I chose the last option, albeit cautiously. I explained my general position on prostitution: an exceptional form of labor which is in need of a legal framework that is developed through the input of those working in prostitution and that would lead to more rights and protection for those in prostitution. I explained why I thought this would be more beneficial and why this position did not indicate that I found residents’ opinions less valuable, since one does not preclude the other.

Another respondent was explicit in his concern, asking whether I, presumably a leftist person, would cherry-pick the results. This was an uncomfortable conversation, one that did not catch me by surprise since the entire interview was rather uncomfortable and one I could not get a grip on. Although questioning researchers and research should be possible, it can also be a way of exerting power (by publics) especially within a public sociologists context in which there is a strong emphasis on the meaning-giving by publics and their judgement about the final research results.

However, Kasper & Landolt (2016) also point out that the power of a researcher in a field context should not be overestimated either. Since respondents remain in charge of what information they are willing to share, whether they allow a researcher access, whether they grant a researcher a certain level of trustworthiness, the power relation can become bidirectional.

Being a young, female, middle-class researcher in a street prostitution context

I find it difficult to judge to what extent respondents’ reactions to me might have been influenced by a (perceived) difference in social position. Moreover, there were different types of respondents in the neighborhood, which led to a complex set of different field relations. To a certain extent, one could reason that power dynamics might have been more at play between prostitutes and me, where my being a middle-class woman might have been perceived as a position of power. As Kasper & Landolt (2016) and Dyck (2002) point out: “often researchers know little about how their informants position them” (Kasper & Landolt, 2016:109). As such, I refrain from making such claims myself, as this can only be judged by my participants. What I can offer, however, is how I tried to limit certain ‘social position cues’ (as far as that would be possible, of course).

I tried to compensate for a possible influence of social position cues by being neutral in the way I dressed, for one, by not imposing myself and remaining respectful in how and when I 93 approached respondents. As said before, I kept an honest and open conversation about my work as a researcher. I was aware about being an space invader (term borrowed from Puwar, 2004) when entering the field. At first, I was intimidated to approach the different groups of women to present myself and my research. However, so as not to have such feelings influence the data collection, I relied on patience, time, having honest conversations with social workers from Pag-Asa , about my doubts and about my experiences in the field.

This also meant that I expressed my doubts and insecurities as a researcher when there was room for that during fieldwork. This led certain key figures in the neighborhood to, in a very subtle way, taking care of me. This could be through helping me with getting over certain barriers to approach people (explaining me how to approach, for example), but also by them asking me about how the work was going and by subtle acts such as warning me that my little yellow backpack was open and that I should close it. Although these acts can be interpreted in a variety of ways, reflecting back on experiencing it as a form of care, I think this also illustrates how I, as a young, female, middle class researcher, might have felt incapable at certain points.

Being a female researcher in a street prostitution area could have posed challenges. To a certain extent, it did. Since I had no contact person that could serve as a back-up during night time, I limited my presence in bars to no later than midnight. That posed a limitation to the current study because as a result, I only have testimonies about street prostitutes who work during the day (and who also explain why they refrain from working at night). Further research that gathers also problem perceptions from people working during the night is necessary.

Another way in which being female might have impacted the data collection lies in how it affected finding access to those working the streets. From interviews, it became clear that male residents had more small talk opportunities with women or trans people working the streets. As a female researcher, it was rather obvious that I was not a potential client, so at first there was no eye contact, no sign of recognition. However, this was not a permanent obstacle and by handing out flyers, actively seeking contact and especially by explicitly greeting people, recognition sank in.

Since I am a young, female and due to certain personal characteristics, the association with naivety or a ‘not knowing about the hardships of the real world’ was never far away. A particular example was when a bar owner 94

asked whether I was still a virgin. However, I was prepared that such conversations could occur and as such, it did not prevent me from entering or keeping a conversation going for as long as necessary to gather information. The assumption of naivety might also have helped during such conversations, since it may have led to less distrust or to being perceived as non- threatening. In general, I did pay attention to coming across as non-threatening and not a burden, in order to gain and regain access to the different groups.

A more impactful example of this assumed naiveté or not knowing or understanding, happened when I was doing a night shift as a volunteer at Pag-Asa ’s shelter house. At that time, I worked for nearly two years at their shelter where people from different backgrounds (both men and women, from a variety of nationalities and ages) would stay during the investigation and legal process into their status as victims of trafficking. As a volunteer, I would participate in the night shift, which started around 7 pm and lasted until the morning. The task was straightforward: spending the evening with the residents, making sure that everybody was ‘in’ before midnight and being available by phone in case of new entries. Upon my arrival, one of the social workers explained that there was a new resident in the house, a woman who worked in prostitution. She explained that the woman already had received warnings (after receiving a fixed amount of warnings, a resident is dismissed from the shelter). The woman did not come home for dinner time. She did call, explaining that she was at a bar at Yser, that she wanted me to order a taxi to bring her home. I explained that I could not do that, which got us off on the wrong footing. She came home close to midnight, in what seemed to be under the influence of cocaine (although I want to emphasize that this was my impression, based on the hyperactive behaviour, the switching between subjects and the constant sniffing and touching her nose). All the other residents were already in and upstairs, except for a few men who were observing Ramadan. These men had been allowed to go out for dinner at a later hour of the night. The woman was nervous, telling me that one of the Muslim men had been harassing the women at the shelter.

She loudly insisted that I should not let them in anymore. I tried to calm her down, telling her that the other people were already sleeping but I quickly felt that she would steer the conversation in different directions, with different emotions attached to it. She was quick to answer and especially particularly ad rem and sharp. I felt that I could not calm her down and I had no idea how the situation or her mood might develop. This made me impatient and nervous as well. When she started telling me that I could not understand her life, that I was just a kid, knowing nothing about life’s trials and tribulations, I felt ridiculous and especially 95 small. The night went on and she kept on going back and forth between her room and the living room, every time with a different emotion but increasingly stressing that I could not let one man in. I called one of the social workers (one of the team members is always available by phone during nightshifts for urgencies) to check whether I should inform the men to spend the night elsewhere but she explained that was not possible. The men finally came home. The situation escalated quickly and at a certain point she ran into the kitchen where she took one of the bigger knifes and pointed it towards the men. I was paralyzed for a moment, got scared and ran to the phone to call the social worker who called the police. In the meantime, the men were able to grab the knife from her. Before the police arrived, she yelled at me that she was trying to save me, that I ran away, that I was anything but brave. The night developed into the early morning, police arrived and so did one of the social workers. The woman received her final warning and was ordered to leave the shelter.

I did not sleep and went home around 7 in the morning, feeling guilty, silly and above all inadequate. Recounting this story, now three years later, still brings to mind how quickly and intelligently she put me in my place, emphasizing that I had little understanding of her way of life. The entire experience made me question whether I was the right person to go and interview people working at Yser, it made me question whether they would all perceive me as too naïve, not capable of understanding their livelihoods. Fortunately, Pag-Asa responded quickly to the incident by letting me talk to their own psychologist. He explained to me that such a resistance can occur and in different terms, he pointed towards how the volunteer – victim relation in a shelter is also one that is infused with power, or can be perceived as an imbalanced power relationship. Being younger, having the possibility to volunteer,… all these elements can be interpreted as a power imbalance. This information was very useful, especially because the psychologist explained what might have gone wrong and why I might have been perceived as naïve or inadequate by the woman. It was an honest explanation, one that was not reassuring but clear and straightforward about a difference that is there, whether I like it or not, whether in hiding it or not.

Not knowing whether or not the woman was still working at Yser, I stayed at home and away from the field for a week. I was afraid that when I would visit the neighborhood, she might point fingers at me. When the first impressions had calmed down and I had been able to talk it through with the people from Pag-Asa , friends and family (and when the first jokes had been made), I returned to Yser. Upon leaving the metro station, I saw a woman who had the same posture, looks and voice as the woman from that particular night. Until this day, I am not sure 96 whether it was my own hypervigilance or whether it was actually her. I stayed, observed from a bar. I never saw her again after that and after some time, I also stopped looking for her in the neighborhood. I accepted that I could be observed as an outsider and by being aware about that, I felt how power in this type of research can work in different directions.

Being a middle-class researcher in a red-light but gentrifying neighborhood

At Yser, there is a regular influx of different actors. Although it is a red-light neighborhood, it is also a residential neighborhood, the entrance to the city when you want to reach the centre from the North station by foot, a theatre neighborhood, and so on. There are also bars that target a different audience than prostitutes and their clients. This means that at first sight you may not be seen as a space invader (Puwar, 2004), but rather part of an increasingly growing group of white, middle-class people. During the first phases of the research, my appearance did not differ from other people in the neighborhood: nor by skin-color, gender or way of dressing. I emphasize that this was during the first phase of the fieldwork, because at that point I was mainly walking through the neighborhood by day or observing from the Flamingo bar, one of the bars that was not considered a ‘ prostitution bar ’ (bars frequented by prostitutes and/or their clients). Especially since at that point, I was not directly approaching and interacting with the people working in the streets. I was not yet aware about how I, resembling a large part of residents or people visiting bars such as Flamingo or the local theatre, might be a space invader to those working in prostitution.

Being frequently present in a bar like Flamingo , emphasizes one’s social class (middle-class) and as such, highlights a difference with those working on the streets. The Flamingo bar was one of the first bars that were specifically presented by residents as a bar that would change the neighborhood and attract other people than prostitutes and their clients. The bar offered a bubble for people to visit or stay in the neighborhood after watching a theatre play. Since the bar had large windows, I was one of the many white, middle-class observers, nipping from an expensive tea, looking at what was going on in the streets.

After discussing ways to dive into the field, instead of observing it from the side-line with a social worker from Pag-Asa , she explained that I should not underestimate how people working on the street may have noticed my presence none the less. She explained that part of somebody working as a street prostitute, is watching who is entering the environment: to detect clients, colleagues, police personnel, … or sometimes observing as a way of coping with boredom. Who was watching whom, and especially, from where, became a difference. 97

Although I would always bring my white, middle class self with me, at least I could change whether or not I was mainly associated with the Flamingo watchers, who look at the people working on the streets from within the bar. In short: I had to dare to be more of a space invader than a side line observer.

When entering the intensive field phase shortly after, I was conscious from where to observe and to present myself sooner. Where I observed from the Flamingo bar in the beginning of the fieldwork, later on I changed more regularly to the Black Beard , a bar that has a more neutral position in the neighborhood or I stayed more on the streets.

Being a prostitution researcher in a multi-public context

Kasper & Landolt emphasize that the position of a researcher is not necessarily fixed: “positionalities are re-articulated and re-negotiated again and again throughout the entire research encounter” (p. 109). That there is a constant re-negotiating of one’s position became especially clear in my position as prostitution scholar, both towards myself and between respondents and me. Before I entered the field, I had already digested a substantial amount of prostitution research. Being aware of the dominant debates on prostitution, and their focus on the exclusion and marginalization of those in prostitution, may also have influenced my vision on the neighborhood. It allowed me to be more focused on, or more sympathetic to, the concerns of those working in the streets.

However, I was also aware that it is easy to fall prey to one’s own position on prostitution. Pity, for example, can come in many forms and disguises, just like political correctness. An important source of guidance in this was the head of the social workers at Pag-Asa . My volunteering work at Pag-Asa may lead the reader to suspect that since I worked there as a volunteer, my perspective on prostitution might already be skewed in favour of those in prostitution. My main experience at Pag-Asa , however, was that one should be careful with the label of victim or any type of label for that matter, as it can be deceiving. My volunteering position learned me to stay clear from labels when trying to understand problems. In essence, the volunteering work only confirmed the usefulness of allowing a variety of problem perceptions in order to understand what can be at stake.

The focus on multidimensionality in itself proved useful throughout the research process, while I kept actively seeking as large and diverse a population of respondents as possible (gathering rich data). It not only forced me look for that variety, but also increasingly gave me 98 different perspectives on what’s at stake at Yser, through the eyes of residents, prostitutes, social workers,…

I find the position of an organic public sociologist an interesting and informative position in researching prostitution. Where prostitution scholars tend to criticize perspectives on prostitution as too normative, too ideological driven, I felt less comfortable in engaging in that debate as well. It would be a lie to say that I have no position on sex as work, one of the main issues that appears to divide researchers and activists. Nor would it be candid to say that I am completely neutral to the position of those working in prostitution in local debates. If anything, my stance on prostitution is that those working in prostitution are experts on the matter and I hope to contribute by offering a forum in which their voice can be heard.

I became more aware that dealing with the multidimensional character of prostitution, is not evident either. Throughout the fieldwork, my positionality evolved and I found an open position to be more productive, constructive and more informative about (dealing with) problems related to prostitution. This is a rather pragmatic position, which allows me to keep my personal opinion on prostitution. At the same time, this rather open approach to prostitution, encourages me to actively engage in mapping out problem perceptions from different stakeholders. In short, an understanding towards the different stakeholders developed.

Combining this note on self-reflexivity with both an in-depth description of the fieldwork and the decisions made during the entire research process, serves to offer an extensive look behind the scenes of the current research, making this research as transparent as possible.

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Chapter 4. Case justification and description

The choice for researching the Yser neighborhood developed early on in the research process. While getting acquainted with scholarly research on prostitution, I was triggered by local news reports on the Yser neighborhood which made clear that the area is dealing with conflicts related to prostitution.

Although Yser is not the only red-light area in Brussels, let alone Belgium, nor the only area that has evoked conflicts, there are sound reasons to select exactly this case to explore an open approach for developing a multidimensional problem construction. Firstly, it offers fertile ground to explore whether an organic public sociologist approach is suitable to capture a variety of problem perceptions and gain insight into multidimensionality. A broad variety of problem perceptions are brought along by the (1) type of prostitution and street population, (2) the type of neighborhood and its gentrification dynamic and (3) the different regulations and policies. Together, they form three broad layers to the complexity characterizing street prostitution at Yser. Secondly, the complexity of this case is not exceptional (see for example: Laing & Cook, 2014). This means that the insights about multidimensionality that result from applying an open approach to the current case, can be both indicative of (a) multidimensionality in similar cases and (b) the importance of researching multidimensionality of prostitution in a broader sense.

4.1 Type of prostitution and the population in Yser

Visibility

A first layer that contributes to the complexity of the Yser neighborhood stems from the type of prostitution present in the area. Street prostitution is a visible form of prostitution, one in which soliciting and first contacts with clients mostly take place on the street or, to a certain extent, on terraces and inside bars. It distinguishes itself from other forms of prostitution, for example private prostitution, internet prostitution or escort services, due to its visibility in public space. This brings along the emergence of a variety of people who problematize certain aspects of street prostitution, which occurs less frequently for less visible forms of 100 prostitution. The Seinpost report (2008) about prostitution in Brussels Capital Region confirms that in Brussels mainly visible forms of prostitution evoke local conflicts 35 .

Although both window and street prostitution are visible types of prostitution, street prostitution differs from window prostitution in the way they position themselves: those working behind windows position themselves towards the public space, street prostitutes position themselves in the public space or bars. Where those working in a brothel have facilities, those working in the streets generally have to rely on bars or rendezvous hotels to change clothes or to use the toilet. When it comes to performance, street prostitutes’ options vary from rendezvous hotels in close proximity, clients cars, studios or apartments, public places or more deserted places. Although both window and street prostitution rank among the cheapest forms of prostitution (Seinpost, 2008), one could say that street prostitution is the most basic form of prostitution, especially concerning work logistics 36 . At Yser, rendezvous hotels like Studio Europe , Studio 2000 and sometimes bar/hotel Fifth Avenue , offer venues for prostitutes to seal the deal - exchange intimacy or sex for money – with their clients. These hotels are embedded in the neighborhood, except for Fifth Avenue , a bar situated at the border of the Yser neighborhood. Other bars, like the former Tropicana , Jimmy’s , the Black Beard , Bar Alina or Café Taverne 54 are bars that those working in prostitution rely on to use the toilet, drink a coffee or warm up during cold or rainy days. During daytime, I observed that the street prostitutes tend to wait for clients in the streets rather than in bars (with the exception of the terrace of bar Jimmy’s ).

Street prostitution might feel more ' tangible ' than other visually present forms of prostitution such as window prostitution where there is still a door and a window between the location where people solicit for clients (or vice versa) than on the streets. Street prostitutes dynamically inhabit public space: they have certain preferred spots to contact clients, but they move around throughout the day or night. This means that the physical barrier between street prostitutes and people who are not part of the red-light scene but instead visit, live or work in

35 Prostitution taking place in private houses or massage salons can also be the subject of conflict, but to a lesser extent compared to window or street prostitution. The main complaints noted by the Seinpost report revolved around a lack of parking space for people living near such private houses or massage salons. Other complaints revolved around security concerns (Seinpost, 2008). 36 Generally speaking, street prostitution is often subject to pity and victimization. This is partly due to popular depictions of street prostitutes as marginal, junkies or women at the bottom of the prostitution hierarchy, although it remains a subject for further research whether these elements are the only elements that differentiates the motives, trajectories and labor experiences from those working on the street from those working in brothels, massage parlors, escort services, and so on. 101 the neighborhood, becomes small. Prostitution no longer is - at least literally speaking - a far from the bed show . Since prostitution takes place nearly 24/7 (at Yser with the exception of a few hours in the morning) and since it also creates a certain nightlife atmosphere, street prostitution is a form of prostitution that is most often discussed in the context of public order and vice. The public display of sex for sale, be it window or street prostitution, but also the presence of strip bars, can become subject of local debates on vice and public order.

Street presence

The complexity of street prostitution is not only related to its visibility in the public space, but also to the diversity of people working in the streets: people who differ in terms of their trajectories, backgrounds and relation to the neighborhood (whether or not they also live in the Yser neighborhood).

I distinguish between three elements that in the current case characterize the population of street prostitutes as heterogeneous. Firstly, political developments such as the Fall of the Iron Curtain as well as the accession of Eastern European countries to the European Union and migratory dynamics that ensued, have changed the ‘face’ of prostitution throughout the years. The Seinpost report (2008) indicates that there are people of 33 different nationalities working in prostitution in Brussels, ranging from Belgians, Moroccans, people from sub Saharan Africa and a large number of people from Eastern Europe. At Yser, people working in street prostitution are a mixture of both legal and illegal migrants and a certain (but limited) number of non-migrants. Gathering official numbers about the socio-demographic characteristics of those working in street prostitution (or prostitution more general) is not an easy task. Since prostitution, and especially street prostitution, does not fall under a specific labor law, due to stigma related issues and the underground and dynamic character of the phenomenon, there is a lack of systematic monitoring (Adriaenssens, Hendrickx, Heylen & Machiels, 2015). Consequently, I have no precise, reliable data on the population of people working in prostitution at Yser. The head of the local vice brigade, however, indicates that there are a total of around 200 people working in street prostitution in both the Yser and the Louisa area.

Secondly, the Yser neighborhood is not a homogenous heterosexual, female prostitution zone. Both female and trans prostitutes make up the population of people working at Yser. Due to repressive measures from the police zone Schaarbeek/Sint-Joost/Evere (the police zone that also overlooks the window prostitution area), trans workers working on the Koning Albert 2- 102

Laan , moved into the Yser neighborhood during the late nineties 37 . As a consequence, prostitution activity in the Yser neighborhood increased and it became more diverse. Weitzer (2017) notes that the diversity between female or trans prostitution is important, as there are notable differences in working experiences (although more research is needed to map out similarities and differences).

Thirdly, the population of people working in street prostitution is characterized by mobility. Although there are people who have been working at Yser for several years on a frequent, everyday basis, there are also people who only work sporadically in the neighborhood: ranging from working occasionally for a few days at Yser to working there every day for a year or several years. In short, one can distinguish between those who work on a regular and those who work on an occasional basis in the Yser area. Furthermore, the people working at Yser also change throughout the day. Some people work around office hours, while other people tend to arrive in the neighborhood during the evening and leave around dawn. The population of street prostitutes consists of people who live and stay (who have their fixed work place) in the Yser area, other street prostitutes live outside the neighborhood but work in the Yser area.

Apart from the heterogeneous population of people working in the streets, the phenomenon also brings along other actors. Firstly, street prostitution comes with certain entourage, most visibly ranging from prostitution-related bars to rendezvous hotels but also people whose relation to those working in prostitution is less clear (third parties or pimps but also friends, boyfriends/spouses). Street prostitution also attracts a certain audience into the neighborhood. That audience ranges from clients, to tourists and voyeurs 38 . Weitzer (2013) explains that because Brussels hosts a variety of international organizations, it attracts more foreign clients than other red-light districts in Belgium (although this is not exclusive to street prostitution). However, Weitzer also states that it is mainly “ local men and, to a lesser extent, dedicated male sex tourists ” who visit Brussel’s red-light districts (Weitzer, 2013:7) 39 .

37 E-mail correspondence with the vice police and Espace P (2017, August 16). Espace P explains that both Equatorial trans workers and (mainly) Albanian people working on the Albert Twee Laan were removed due to complaints from companies (such as Belgians biggest telecommunication company Proximus ). 38 With voyeurs, I refer to people/tourists who move through the neighborhood to watch those working in prostitution, but are not clients. 39 Unlike, for example, De Walletjes in Amsterdam, The Netherlands that situates itself in the touristic area and became a mayor tourist attraction (Aalbers & Deinema, 2012). 103

The presence of street prostitution also leads to the presence of social organizations, who visit the streets during their outreach activities, as well as police services. The three main organizations that offer outreach services in the Yser neighborhood, are vzw Entre 2 , vzw Espace P and vzw Alias. These three organizations receive governmental support, mainly through the Commission communautaire française or COCOF . Although these organizations vary in the extent to which they aim for the recognition of prostitution as a form of labor, none of them can be classified as subscribing to abolitionist goals. The core business of the three organizations is to offer medical and socio-psychological and juridical support for those working in prostitution. They add to the people present in the Yser neighborhood.

4.2 Type of neighborhood

A second layer that adds to the complexity of the current case is that, although the neighborhood has been a red-light area since as early as the nineteenth century (Huberty & Keunings, 1987), it is becoming increasingly gentrified. This means that in addition to the sheer variety of people that have to share the same space, their variety is also characterized by a difference in available means and resources, expectations about the development of the neighborhood and the place of prostitution in that development.

There are several red-light areas in Brussels. However, street prostitution at Yser appears to evoke more conflict than street prostitution occurring in the Louisa or Sint Gillis area (Seinpost, 2008) or the relatively recent street prostitution activity around the Terkamerenabdij in Elsene (first official observations emerged in 2013). The Seinpost report notes that, apart from the presence of an active resident committee that documents incidents in the neighborhood, an underlying gentrification dynamic may contribute to why this area appears to be more conflictual than the other areas.

Location

This research takes place in Brussels, the capital of Belgium. Brussels is the biggest and one of the most diverse cities in Belgium. At the same time, the capital of Belgium is also the capital of Europe, hosting many European and international organizations such as the European Commission and NATO . The Yser area lies in the northern corner of the city centers’ pentagon-shaped heart and consists of the Lakensestraat , the Arduinkaai , the Handelskaai , the Antwerpselaan , the Emile Jacqmainlaan and the Zwaluwstraat . The 104 pentagon outline is also called de kleine ring (little circular road), it is a traffic artery running around the capital, which forms the border between the Yser area and the municipality of Schaarbeek. Across the traffic vein lies the North station, one of the three main stations in Brussels. Around this little ring there are different administrative offices. Just across the street of the Yser Square, for example, the building of the Flemish administration is situated. A bit further out the buildings of the federal administration are located. In combination with the train station, the subway and the traffic ring, on weekdays this leads to a lot of traffic and people passing by the borders of the Yser area.

The streets that compose the Yser or Alhambra neighborhood are part of the Begijnhof – Diksmuide area and border the North area. It is unclear whether the neighborhood is officially recognized as a neighborhood: for example, the neighborhood falls under the supervision of two different district police officers, and when looking for official statistics on the neighborhood a large part is defined as the Begijnhof – Diksmuide neighborhood. People may differ in how and to what extent they experience the area they live in as being a neighborhood (Coulton, Korbin, Chan & Su, 2001). The concept of neighborhood, thus, is not necessarily fixed. The notion of the Yser area as a neighborhood, however, is increasingly advocated for by the local resident committee called the Alhambra committee . This committee refers to the neighborhood as the Alhambra neighborhood, referring to the theatre that used to be situated on the Emile Jacqmain Laan , but currently no longer exists. In this research, I consider the streets between the Handelskaai , North Area and Emile Jacqmain Laan as the Yser neighborhood. This encompasses the entire Alhambra neighborhood as identified by the resident committee.

Gentrification

The Yser area used to be part of the inner docks area of Brussels. This brought along many little factories and warehouses, but less residential development. Street prostitution present at that time was left more or less undisturbed (Seinpost, 2008). The characteristics of the neighborhood did offer an environment prone to gentrification dynamics. Gentrification refers to the process of neighborhood change (Hwang & Sampson, 2014). More specifically, Smith defines gentrification as: 105

The process by which central urban neighborhoods that have undergone disinvestments and economic decline experience a reversal, reinvestment, and the in-migration of a relatively well-off middle- and upper middle-class population. (Smith, 1998:728)

Hwang and Sampson explain that bohemian-like settings or even ‘ “gritty like areas”, often on the edge of “ghetto” neighborhoods ’ (2014: 729) attract gentrifying residents. The red-light characteristic could be perceived as a sign of a neighborhood harboring socially disadvantaged people, or a neighborhood in which a marginal phenomenon is able to be present in public space (Sampson & Raudenbush, 2004). The inner docks of the city were characterized by pollution, minimal hygienic conditions and a source of traffic jams, and they were increasingly in a state of decline. Between 1854 and 1911 a new harbor was developed in the North of the city and the inner docks got closed down and filled up (Demey, 2008). The legacy of these docks can currently be found in the empty quay 40 behind the Koninklijke Vlaamse Schouwburg (the Royal Flemish Theatre – KVS ) or in names of the streets at Yser which refer to the goods that were transported into the neighborhood when the docks were still in use.

Although the inner docks were no longer used and filled up during the first part of the previous century (leading to a movement of traders to the new harbor area in the North, see Demey, 2008), the transition from an area filled with factories and storehouses into a more residential neighborhood is a relatively recent one at Yser. During the first decade of the 21th century, the Brussels Capital Region focused on revitalizing the neighborhood through neighborhood contracts. A neighborhood contract is a program that ought to give an impulse to a neighborhood through urban and socio-economic projects. The Yser area was part of the neighborhood contract De Kaaien (the docks) 41 . Between 2006 and 2010, this neighborhood contract led to the reconstruction of several streets as well as the Yser square and promised the construction of 89 new (amongst them social) houses (Vileyn, 2007, January 31).

Currently the Yser area, with its combination of middle class residents, street prostitution and arrival of urban investors, offers a prototypical example of an area in the middle of gentrification. At this point in time, there are gentrification dynamics in the Yser area but it is not entirely gentrified yet. It is difficult to fixate when gentrification exactly took off in this

40 This used to be the Hooidok (hay dock), now one street along the former dock is called the Hooikaai , the other side is named the Arduinkaai . The current KVS building was originally a stackhouse, later on an armory before it housed the Royal Flemish Theatre by the end of the nineteenth century (see Demey, 2008). 41 https://www.brussel.be/oude-wijkcontracten 106 neighborhood, as it is a gradual process. During my fieldwork, however, both the economic decline and the upgrade, the diversity of bars and shops, renovated buildings and deteriorated buildings were standing next to each other. While I’m writing this, the discussion about whether this area is deteriorating or gentrifying is still ongoing.

For the current study it is important to take into account that the neighborhood became increasingly more residential. The official statistics offered by the neighborhood monitoring of the Brussels Instituut voor Statistiek (Brussels Institute of Statistics and Analysis or BISA ) illustrate that the Begijnhof – Diksmuide area is currently a densely populated neighborhood, with an above median number of residents per square kilometer (17271,27/km²) neighborhood. The population that shares a space with those working in prostitution tends to be a rather young population (with the average resident being aged between 34 and 37), with an above the median number of people with different nationalities. The median income lies slightly below the median income in the Brussels region. According to BISA this neighborhood is highly populated with singles and the volatility of its residents is high, meaning that both moving in and out of the neighborhood occurs regularly. It shares these characteristics with the other neighborhoods in Brussels.

However, as for many neighborhoods in Brussels, a neighborhood feel can change rather quickly between different neighborhoods but also within neighborhoods, with some streets appearing more diverse than others or some parts of the neighborhood looking more prosperous than others. In the Yser neighborhood, there has been a notable “ improvement of the urban environmental conditions” and this “in in the past two/three decades” (Di Ronco, 2014:156;146). Di Ronco refers to the Yser neighborhood as being subject to revitalization and urban re-planning. She refers to this as a typical process during which cities try to transform neighborhoods into “consumer playgrounds for the urban middle class” (Di Ronco referring to Hayward, 2004:82). Such re-organizations influence gentrification, which highlights the ‘ needs and living standards of the wealthier ’. To establish such standards, gentrifying neighborhoods know a tradition of adopting no tolerance policies towards behavior that is deemed unfit, uncivil and anti-social (2014:146).

Hwang & Samspon (2014) distinguish between visible and less visible changes within a gentrification process. Visible changes may be the arrival of certain bars, shops or certain more advantaged residents. Less visible changes are political and economic mechanisms through which project developers or city capital investments contribute to how a 107 neighborhood changes (Hwang & Sampson, 2014:727). At Yser, project developers were and are investing in the area. In 2012, for example, apartment buildings were built by project developer Brussels Projects . The project is named 'Manhattan View', and on their website the project developers are explicit in their target audience for the apartments: Eurocrats, lobbyists and international business people: "With all forms of public transport at walking distance, the Eurocrat or international businessman can go quickly to and from work" 42 . During my fieldwork, two significantly large construction sites emerged as well: the former hospital behind the Royal Flemish Theatre was dismantled and is now rebuilt as luxury apartments. Another example is the work of project developer I LOVE LIFE who is currently building apartments in the Yser area (the constructions were taking place in the last summer of my fieldwork in 2016). On their website they refer to the Yser area as

One of the most quickly developing areas in the city (…) this new area where increasingly more hip and trendy activities take place. (...) This neighborhood is the extension of the hip, trendy Dansaert neighborhood that is situated close by. 43

Picture 3. During 2016, the construction works to the former hospital building behind the theatre started. The hospital will turn into a building with luxury apartments.

42 http://www.brusselsprojects.be/nl/project/manhattan-view 43 http://www.ilovelife.be/nl/project/i-love-citylife-theatre On the website of the project developer, they use only pictures of the Dansaert area to illustrate how nice and trendy this part of the city is. 108

Pictures 4 & 5. At the same time, across the theatre.

Due to the Royal Flemish Theatre and its geographical location in the city, a diverse set of people have passed through this neighborhood. Now, with the presence of certain bars, the increased influx of a middle class, the presence of art galleries and so forth, the diversity of people who do not only pass through but also visit this area has increased.

During the past ten years a conflict emerged on the status of the area. In April 1999 the local resident committee developed due to increased discontentment with street prostitution in the neighborhood. Throughout the years, their goal evolved from addressing this discontentment to more explicitly aiming to develop the neighborhood into a residential area instead of a street prostitution zone. Initiatives and statements about cleaning up the area present us with stakeholders who want to change the face of the Yser neighborhood. Cleaning up refers to something or someone being perceived as polluting a certain area, to stand in the way of its development. In the Yser area, prostitutes and prostitution bars are increasingly presented as signs of marginality. The Alhambra committee successfully re-branded the Yser area as the Alhambra neighborhood, which is the term currently used when local media report on the neighborhood.

The gentrifying dynamic, combined with the presence of an active local resident committee, contributes to why street prostitution in the Yser neighborhood appears to evoke more conflicts and additional regulations than street prostitution in Sint Gillis or in the Louisa 109 neighborhood (which is considered an upper-class neighborhood) (Seinpost, 2008; Loopmans & Van Den Broeck, 2011).

4.3 Prostitution policy and local regulations

A final layer to the interesting complexity of the current case is that street prostitution at Yser falls under a variety of rules and regulations that are not necessarily clear or complementary. The development of regulations on prostitution in Belgium stretches across different governmental layers, ranging from the international to the national and local level (Seinpost, 2008:1). The position of those working in prostitution, in policies or regulations on the local, national or international level, is not always aligned either. This leads to those working in prostitution being subject to laws that approach them as victims (mainly at the international level) as well as laws that position them as perpetrators of public order (mainly at the local level).

On the international level , prostitution is mainly approached for its association with human trafficking. Outshoorn (2005) illustrates how this association emerged during the end of the nineteenth century and culminated into an abolitionist inspired United Nations Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons in 1949. This convention was abolitionist in the sense that it called on states to suppress both trafficking and prostitution. Throughout the centuries, this association remained present in international conventions, protocols or (non- binding) resolutions. An example is the non-binding Honeyball Resolution voted in 2014, in which the European Parliament associates the fight against human trafficking with reducing the demand for prostitution. The resolution advises EU countries to criminalize clients, to strengthen their anti-trafficking policies, to offer exit strategies for those in prostitution, and to combat violence against women (European Parliament, 2014, February 26). In Belgium, the Honeyball resolution did not lead to adaptions to the national legislation on prostitution (as it was non-binding, this was possible).

What is important, however, is that at the international level prostitution is approached from a humanitarian perspective. An example can be found in the United Nations Protocol to Suppress, Prevent and Punish Trafficking in Persons, Especially Women and Children signed in 2000. In short, this Protocol considers - amongst others - the prostitution of others, sexual exploitation and forced labor and services as a form of exploitation (the Palermo Protocol). Doezema (2002) explains that although this Protocol could have been able to protect the 110 human rights of (migrant) women working in prostitution (Doezema, 2002), most of the anti- trafficking measures that followed from it were of a repressive nature. Given the openness to interpretation of the formulation of the Protocol (Outshoorn, 2004), it tended to be translated by states parties into national regulations leading to increased surveillance of those working in prostitution, restrictions on the migration for women, and the deportation of migrant sex workers (Doezema, 2002). Belgium ratified the Palermo Protocol in 2004.

National level . Although prostitution in itself is legal -one may exchange sex for money or other benefits-, the exploitation is not (exploitation also refers to the managing of prostitution). What adds to the complications around working in prostitution is that certain activities related to prostitution are criminalized. Boels (2014) explains that apart from the exploitation of prostitution, also prompting sexual acts in public space and the advertising of sexual services are criminalized by law. Furthermore, although prostitution is legal, there is no specific regulation available. This has consequences for the official status of those working in prostitution. Boels continues that those in prostitution could ‘work on a self-employed basis’ but nonetheless, “ have to declare their activities under other terms such as “other personal services” or “escort services and the like” ” (p.75). This means that prostitution is approached as a legal informal economy (Boels 2014 referring to Sanders, 2008).

Turning to the federal governmental agreement for the legislature 2011 – 2014, it becomes clear that prostitution in itself is not a subject of debate on the federal policy agenda. The governmental agreement does, however, mention the necessity of battling human trafficking through - amongst others - a strong interdepartmental coordination, the punishment and prosecution of perpetrators and the protection of victims (Brussel Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, 2015:247). The National Security Plan of 2012 - 2015 also mentions the battle against human trafficking 44 . It is necessary to mention the Federal Agreement in order to understand the different tasks of police services present in the Yser area. The Security Plan explains that:

The local police will rather focus on phenomena of less organized crime and act here within a conceptual, coordinating and active manner, while federal police will take on the more organized forms and/or facts performed by organized or mobile criminal groups. (Federaal regeerakkoord, 2011, December 1:133)

44 The National Security Plan (2012-2015) refers more specifically to “ human trade (sexual exploitation and economical exploitation) and human smuggle ” (Federaal regeerakkoord, 2011, December 1:133) 111

Within the juridical context, prostitution is discussed within criminal law.45 Concerning prostitution policy, the current case offers a rather prototypical example of how prostitution is governed in Western societies, both at the national as at the local level. Wagenaar (2017) compared prostitution policies from 21 European countries over the past 150 years, including Belgian prostitution policies. He notes that a common thread through the different national prostitution policies since the middle of the 19 th century, is a pre-occupation with controlling the phenomenon by imposing “strict controls on sex workers and to a lesser extent their work sites.” (p. 43).

Local level . Prostitution is relatively more present on the agenda of local policymakers who deal with the actual practicalities and issues of prostitution within an everyday context. The visibility of street prostitution also evokes more control than other, more hidden forms of prostitution (Seinpost, 2008). However, the law of 1948, which states that prostitution but not the exploitation is legal, restricts to what extend local policymakers can regulate prostitution (Boels, 2014). In essence, their intervention is limited to protecting public order and decency (Loopmans & Van Den Broeck, 2011).

Loopmans, Van den Hazel & van Oijen (2008) explain that although prostitution needs an integral approach on a variety of policy levels, this is currently not the case. Regulations at both the local, national and international level are not aligned. At the local level, administrators, although often the first to be confronted with problems, are left to their own devices (Loopmans et al., 2008). This complexity is not unique to the case of Belgium, as Loopmans and colleagues identified similar patterns in Brussels, Glasgow 46 , Antwerp, Rotterdam, Zürich and Stockholm.

Yet, the Seinpost report notes that “ more than anywhere else, prostitution in Brussels and the political response to the phenomenon are complex (…)” (2008:1). The authors point out that the fragmented regulations and governmental institutions contribute to this complexity. In Brussels, regulating entails taking into account the Federal government, Brussels Capital Region, the Communities, the nineteen municipalities of Brussels (prostitution in Brussels is spread over different municipalities) and the 6 police zones associated with these municipalities. In Brussels, public/visible forms of prostitution take place in five

45 More specifically in chapter 6 (Bederf van de jeugd en de prostitutie), artikels 379, 380, 380bis, 380ter (Brussel Hoofdstedelijk gewest, 2015:248). 46 Although Glasgow would be exemplary for having a rather integrative street prostitution policy (Loopmans et al., 2008). 112 municipalities: Brussels-City (I will refer to this as the City throughout the next chapters), Sint-Joost , Schaarbeek , Elsene and Sint-Gillis . Such visible forms of prostitution range from street prostitution (the Yser area in Brussels-City , Elsene and decreasingly in Sint-Gillis ), window prostitution ( Sint-Joost and Schaarbeek ) to gay prostitution in parks ( Stad Brussel and Elsene )47 48 . The presence of different police zones is of particular importance for this case. The neighborhood (part of the police zone ‘ Stad Brussel & Elsene’ – Stad Brussel - Elsene ) is situated close to the window prostitution area (part of police zone ‘ Schaarbeek, Sint-Joost-ten-Node & Evere ’). Especially street prostitution on the Koning Albert 2 - Laan , which forms an overlapping border between the two police zones, leads to tense situations. The police zone Schaarbeek, Sint-Joost-ten-Node & Evere indicates that they overlook window prostitution and are concerned about an influx of those working in street prostitution (GDC, 2013, October 3).

In light of the absence of a straightforward and explicit national legislation, prostitution regulations in Brussels are examples of a de facto legalization of visible forms of prostitution (street and window) and a laissez-faire approach to non-visible forms (private houses, online, escort services) (Vermeulen, Moens, & De Busser, 2007; Rodríguez García & Gillis, 2017). The de facto regulation of street prostitution takes place through local police regulations where the main aim is to preserve public order. These regulations are neither stable in formulation nor in implementation (Loopmans, 2013). The local police regulation and its adaptions for the Yser area are briefly discussed in the first empirical chapter of this work. However, it is important to note that the city of Brussels indicates focusing on three aspects when policing prostitution. First, in the general policy program 2012 – 2018, it is mentioned that the city will continue to fight against the trafficking of women and pimping, and will continue to support the organizations that follow up on the victims. Second, the program mentions the follow up of the regulations for the Yser area and preventing the spread of prostitution to other residential areas of the city. Finally, they encourage a dialogue between the nineteen municipalities to develop a comprehensive approach to street prostitution and the possibility of developing a tolerance zone for prostitution (Brussel Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, 2015).

47 One can argue if prostitution hidden in parks is a visible form of prostitution since it is less displayed than, for example, street prostitution in the Yser area or at the Avenue Louise . 48 Despite this research focusing on street prostitution in one particular area, it is important to emphasize that prostitution is Brussels is certainly not confined to these public and visible forms of prostitution since there are also escort services, bar prostitution and prostitution in private houses. 113

The presence of a variety of policies and/or regulations at different governmental levels creates a context in which what is legal and what is illegal is open to interpretation and adaptation. As such, this leads to a confusing context in which punishment and arrests of prostitutes or their clients occur 49 , but also a context in which prostitution is considered synonymous with human trafficking. It is a context in which prostitution is mainly described in the policy program as a phenomenon to be tolerated and controlled. In practice, most local regulations develop rather impulsively under the impetus of municipal authorities (David & Loopmans, 2017).

4.4 A concluding note

Street prostitution in the Yser neighborhood offers a complex case that is ideal when exploring an approach able to develop a multidimensional problem construction.

The selection of the current case falls in a longstanding tradition of relying on a case of street prostitution when conducting prostitution research (Vanwesenbeeck, 2001). The multidimensional definition that results of exploring an open approach at Yser (this particular form of prostitution, under this particular regulation and in this particular neighborhood) should not be easily generalized to other forms of prostitution, under other types of regulations or non-gentrifying neighborhoods. Although there could be overlaps in the problem perceptions from this case, other forms of prostitution under different types of regulations or in different settings will lead to additional or different problem perceptions (for example: both those working and those working for escort services might have problem perceptions about security, but the exact content of these perceptions could differ). This research relies on a case study to explore the usefulness of an open approach in developing a multidimensional problem construction (and thus not an all-encompassing study on the multidimensionality of prostitution). In the previous chapter the limits and possibilities of such a case study were discussed. This short note explicitly warns of drawing too quick generalizations of the multidimensionality that results from this case study to un-similar cases. Current understandings of prostitution are already subject to too many generalizations. Such generalizations overshadow its multidimensionality and the broad variety of experiences

49 As Weitzer (2013) points out, more research needs to be done on contexts in which prostitution is not subject to criminal law. In such a context, the problem definitions on prostitution will be different, as the challenges connected to it within a society. 114 present in and around prostitution. As Vanwesenbeeck (2001) explains: “Future researchers should, in my opinion, make serious work of adequate differentiation.” (2001:280).

I would also argue that this research contributes to future differentiation, by exploring the usefulness of an open approach. In short, the main aim of the current study is to research the usefulness of an approach related to organic public sociology in developing a multidimensional problem construction on prostitution. Therefore, it needs to be tested on a prototypical complex case, one that involves a variety of publics that may address a variety of dimensions of prostitution, which can be found in the case of street prostitution at Yser.

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Chapter 5. M’Yser?! Setting the scene

Introductory chapter

A summer night in Brussels. I observe the Yser square from the top floor of an apartment building. No one can see me but I can see nearly everybody passing by the square. The streets below are filled with noise and movement. The European soccer competition is in full swing and Italy just won a match. The good weather and soccer are a traditional recipe for full terraces in and around Brussels. While a group of people drink their beers at the terrace of the Black Beard , a bar at the Yser square, a group of five young looking men hang around the street prostitutes in the Koopliedenstraat . The guys shout and laugh about things I cannot understand. It looks playful until other young men enter the street and a loud discussion between the groups develops. The prostitutes do not get involved. I observe them looking at the less playful and more violent scene. Some of them laugh, others look the other way.

Despite the noise, chaos and general vividness on that particular evening, it is a non-verbal, rather quietly executed action that catches my attention. A man and woman arrive at the apartment building on the other side of the street from where I am observing. It is an apartment building where prostitutes often lean against the wall or sit on the little step before the door. It is a strategically well picked street for the working women: one can overlook the entire Yser square yet still quickly disappear into the nearest hotel with a client. The woman passes by the prostitutes with her key to open the door, and although the prostitutes step aside to make way, there is no eye contact between them. The interaction is limited to just that: making way. The man follows the woman; I assume they are a couple that lives there. Before he enters, however, he steps back, reaches to the outside corner of the entrance where the cans of coca cola lie around one of the prostitutes just has bought from the shop down the street for her colleagues. Just like his partner, he does not make eye contact. He passes by the prostitutes, who, yet again, make way for him, this time looking at him to see what he is going to do. He takes the coca cola cans, turns around, does not look at the women and throws the cans in the bin on the other side of the street. The cans were half full.

While watching the scene from up high, I can hear the women say something in a language I don’t understand. They let the man act, let him go to his apartment without stopping him to 116 protest or explain that he took away their cans. They react to each other in what seems to be surprise about what just happened. This particular scene was only a snippet of five minutes in an evening in which there was more to be observed. Yet why does this particular scene, happening close to the end of my fieldwork, stand out for me as a researcher in this neighborhood? Firstly, it reflects one of the most explicitly reported complaints about the presence of street prostitution in the Yser streets: the litter, the left-over bottles of energy drinks or used condoms. These are the types of complaints that lie at the base of most local media reports on the neighborhood: how much of a nuisance street prostitution causes for its residents, what is done to counter this nuisance, and how counteractions fail. I will first untangle these different elements in the current chapter, where we will see who perceives a problem, what the problem of nuisance is thought to be and by whom (or whom not). Secondly, the absence of interaction between the residents and the street prostitutes illustrates a tension, a certain living apart and yet together.

The title of this chapter refers to a wordplay I heard when visiting one of the so-called prostitution bars in the neighborhood. I entered the bar on a summer morning in 2016. I chose this moment because I wanted to talk to the bartender without bothering her while she was serving clients. At first, the bar seemed empty, apart from the female bartender. I presented myself as a researcher writing about the Yser area. I asked if I could have an interview with her. While the woman was kind, she refused stating that she did not speak French or English well enough to explain herself. We had a short informal conversation. She explained that she had previously worked in another bar belonging to the same owner but in a more touristic part of the city. Since that bar closed, she had been moved to this one. I asked her whether she liked working here; she replied no. “Why?” I asked and she nodded towards the corner of the bar, where a man, whom I had not noticed before, was asleep. She laughed and said:

C’est pas Yser ici, c’est M’Ysèr.

She was referring to the French word for misery ‘misère’ which happens to have the same pronunciation as the name of our neighborhood with an ‘m’ added in front: m’Yser. Our conversation did not continue much further due to our language barrier, a barrier which will be a red thread throughout this work. Her statement stands in contrast with the following statement of a man who works in the neighborhood:

He: You could describe this area as a total utopia. A place where so many rich, poor, cultural aficionados, prostitution aficionados, old shop owners, new people, all 117

different types of people come together. There is so much togetherness here, it’s unbelievable.

Although these two statements differ radically, they illustrate the range of problem perceptions that I came upon while moving through the neighborhood as a mobile platform: some people problematize the presence of prostitution, others problematize the exclusion of those in prostitution for the sake of city development and still others problematize the lack of security and/or labor conditions, to mention but a few problem perceptions.

Before I let the people of Yser, whether working or living in and around street prostitution, explain what they perceive as being at stake in their neighborhood, this chapter offers a brief sketch of how the municipality had reacted to conflict in the Yser neighborhood prior to my arrival. This sketch is necessary because these regulations and actions are referred to in the following chapters, when the problem perceptions are discussed. The structure of the next sections is largely based on how conflict and the reactions from the municipality were described in local media reporting, as a general illustration of how the conflict in Yser is represented to a broader public. The current and the following chapter mainly focus on the problem representations from residents, whose problem perceptions were readily available due to a very active resident committee. Together, these two chapters illustrate how the resident committee has been relatively successful in putting their problems forward. It is an introduction to the actors that are most vocal about what’s at stake with street prostitution in the Yser neighborhood. In short: we start with what is happening at face value: with the problem definitions that lie at the surface. I noticed that even though some of the residents explained that they actually experienced little trouble with prostitution as a nuisance issue, nearly every resident was able to talk about the phenomenon for almost an hour. Prostitution evokes conversations. Whether a resident did or did not problematize the noise and nuisance caused by prostitution, nearly all of them reflected on a ‘broader’, more general level on prostitution: prostitution as a way of living, prostitution as on the one hand the oldest profession, on the other hand as a phenomenon ‘not of this time’ anymore. Apparently there is a lot to be said, as I will present in the next chapters.

From chapter seven onwards, I dive deeper into the neighborhood and go beyond the problem perceptions of nuisance. Starting slightly in chapter six but more specifically throughout chapters seven and eight, a broader variety of people will emerge, together with a broader variety of problem perceptions. Problem perceptions from those working in prostitution, 118 social organizations (Espace P , Entre 2 , La Ligue des droits de l’ Homme or LDH ,…), the MTP from the municipality and the different police services (administrative police and vice police) will become more clear in chapter six on security and chapter seven on prostitution as a form of labor. The chapters on security and labor will also illustrate the diversity in opinions among residents who do not always consider street prostitution primarily as a nuisance problem.

Each chapter revolves around a dimension of prostitution that is perceived as problematic, often in a variety of ways. Every chapter will receive a title that reflects the variety of problem perceptions. Finally, the chapters build upon each other and only by considering them together will the complexity of what is at stake with street prostitution at Yser, become clear.

The years before: the Thielemans Years

My first research encounter with the Yser neighborhood was in the summer of 2013. I joined a public meeting about the neighborhood in La Tentation 50 , organized by a resident committee, the Alhambra committee. At that point, Freddy Thielemans (Parti Socialiste , the socialist party) was still mayor of Brussels and Yvan Mayeur (Parti socialiste ), who replaced Thielemans as mayor towards the end of 2013, was the president of the OCMW/CPAS (Public Welfare Service). During this meeting, it became clear that I had entered a room full of concerns about nuisance but also concerns about how the municipal administration had responded to requests by residents to reduce the nuisance. The responses of the police services during the meeting revealed that street prostitution is a complex matter, one that is not easily dealt with. A dive into what had happened during the years preceding this meeting explains how the meeting was just one of the many ways in which the Alhambra committee had tried to address the nuisance issue. It also illustrates how, nearly four years after the committee had its first meeting, this later meeting was part of a chain of actions undertaken by the committee. In what follows, I highlight the main evolutions in the local regulations that were established for the Yser neighborhood as these form a red thread through the next chapters.

50 La Tentation is a venue that can be rented for meetings or other events. 119

1999: The beginning of the Alhambra committee

In 1999, a group of residents gathered in a former bowling hall on the edge of the neighborhood. During this first official meeting several residents discussed how street prostitution was causing nuisance in the neighborhood and how the residents might be able to improve their quality of life. This gathering led to the development of the Alhambra committee, a committee that aims to represent (mainly) residents living around the Yser square and between the Handelskaai and the Emile Jacqmainlaan . One of the first specific action points on the committee’s agenda was the nuisance formed by clients of prostitutes who caused ‘car carrousels’ throughout the neighborhood. The committee quickly became effective with their lobbying work, which led to increased police controls of street prostitutes, clients (and other red-light visitors) and certain bars.

The committee was also effective in reaching local media. Since 2004, the nuisance and pollution caused by street prostitution at Yser had been addressed numerous times in media reports on the neighborhood. Within these reports, reactions or statements of the Alhambra committee were the rule rather than the exception. In the online archive of BRUZZ , the first report about the Yser neighborhood goes back to November 2004. The article titled ‘Controles om overlast prostitutie in te dijken’ (Controls to reduce nuisance caused by prostitution), is a short report on police controls that had taken place the night before. The article explains how twenty-one prostitutes were inspected. It also mentions the reactions to the controls by some residents, who stated:

The residents address (complain about) the increase in noise during the night, aggression and pollution. They fear that an isolated action like that of last night, would solve little. (BRUZZ, 2004, November 4)

The committee did not consider such controls to be effective in reducing nuisance and continued their lobbying work.

2006 - 2007: Testing mobility plans & the instalment of surveillance camera’s

In the summer of 2006, alderman Bruno De Lille from Groen (Green Party) reacted to the complaints of the committee by proposing a mobility plan as a measure against the car carrousels that developed in the streets at Yser. The plan proposed to introduce single direction traffic in three streets, to make certain streets traffic-free (except for locals) from a specific hour onwards and to change the direction of one street. The Alhambra committee 120 stated on their website that “the plan was largely based upon a plan proposed by the Alhambra committee” (Comité Alhambra, 2006-2012). They further stated that the plan had been developed, to a certain degree, with the aid of the residents of the neighborhood. It remains unclear whether the prostitutes or the social organizations were consulted or informed when the mobility plan was developed. That summer, the municipality administration conducted a public inquiry enabling the residents to comment on the mobility plan. The Alhambra committee collected some of the comments and stated that people had reacted positively to the plan. Other residents voiced concerns that the closing down of certain streets would just bring the prostitutes into their street instead. The report relied on the responses of thirty-four residents and was coordinated by one resident coordinator.

Despite the enthusiasm of the committee members, two non-specified companies problematized the mobility plan. Their main concerns: accessibility for larger vehicles such as delivery trucks for the local traders or ambulances, lack of parking space and… the relocation of prostitution to other streets. The report did not mention any consultation of the street prostitutes on this matter. The implementation of the mobility plan was postponed for an undetermined time. The committee problematized this postponing and stated that the local politicians lacked determination.

The committee continued lobbying for a mobility plan. The archives of their website contain numerous letters sent to the mayor. Meetings were organised, petitions distributed, and lobbying work took place with local politicians and Pascal Smet, minister in the Government of the Brussels-Capital Region, who was responsible for mobility. The politicians were invited to tour the neighborhood to make them aware of the situation .

In 2007, the City of Brussels installed surveillance cameras near the Koopliedenstraat and the Antwerpselaan . These cameras were part of a new security plan, which proposed an increased police presence and an increased number of surveillance cameras for the police zone Brussel- Elsene. In the Yser neighborhood, the installation of cameras was mainly aimed at detecting ‘uncontrolled prostitution ’ and illegal dumping (of waste). At first, the committee was hopeful that these cameras would discourage clients driving into the neighborhood to visit street prostitutes. If a car were to break a traffic rule, the cameras would be able to register the license plate. The reasoning behind the placing of the surveillance cameras was that, if a client were to receive a fine at their home address, a family member might find out that that he had been present in the Yser neighbourhood (Comité Alhambra, 2006-2012). In a letter to 121

Christian Ceux, alderman of city planning and mobility (Centre Démocrate Humaniste , Christian Democrate party), the Alhambra committee explained why the neighborhood needed more than surveillance cameras:

In other cities, such as Antwerp, Ghent, Ostend, Charleroi and Bergen, the prostitution problem was dealt with by closing down streets. It’s the only way to break the car carrousels. The cohesion of the neighborhood depends greatly on its quality of life. Car carrousels put a heavy load on our neighborhood. The cameras are only effective during the day. At night, during the weekends there is - as said before - the problem of cars driving bumper to bumper. You don’t have to take our word for it. We invite you to step by and check it out for yourself, for example on a Friday after midnight. You will be impressed. (Comité Alhambra, 2006-2012)

To illustrate that what had been defined as problematic could be observed objectively, the committee published a video of the street prostitutes at night on their website.

2008: Task Force Prostitution

Although the initial mobility plan had appeared to be a feasible option in 2006, two years later the plan was still not in place. A first issue that had slowed down the implementation of the mobility plan, had been organizational and practical concerns (for example, the accessibility for fire trucks, a lack of means to install retractable poles and complaints by local traders about access for delivery trucks). The committee was asked to be patient and told that it was only a matter of technical and administrative problems now, which needed to be solved before the poles could be installed by city workers.

Meanwhile, a prostitution task force had been called into life. This task force consisted of representatives of the City of Brussels, the police forces, the fire department and the public prosecutor’s office. Answering a letter of complaint by the Alhambra committee, the then mayor Freddy Thielemans stated that though he understood the concerns of the residents, there were other concerns too, and the problems surrounding prostitution in the neighborhood were not that easy to solve, in particular due to the issue of trafficking:

Since 2003, I address the problem of prostitution in your neighborhood head on, with the aim to not only fight against the scandal of human trafficking but also to reduce as much as possible the nuisance prostitutes cause to the detriment of the residents of the neighborhood. 122

Thanks to repeated actions by the administrative police and the judiciary, the introduction of a mobile police station and the cameras, thanks to the implementation of taxes on the rendezvous hotels and the actions concerning mobility, I have succeeded in reducing the presence of prostitution in the street by more than sixty percent since 2003. I also have been able to prosecute nearly fifty pimps.

To explain why residents might still perceive an increased presence of prostitution, the mayor explained that containing prostitution extended beyond his local authority:

This situation can be explained by two phenomena that are of such a nature that my actions lose a certain efficiency, (these are) the enlargement of the European Union to countries such as Romania and Bulgaria, which prevents me to act due to the situation of (…) people who originate from these countries and the rather cautious attitude of the prosecutor’s office regarding the frequency of administrative controls by my police services. (Letter from Mayor Freddy Thielemans to the Alhambra committee, 2008)

And indeed, to end the letter on a more hopeful note, the mayor made a rather cautious promise by informing the residents that there would be a task force on prostitution:

Finally, I would like to inform you that soon, somewhere between now and the end of June, a ‘task-force’ consisting of all the public stakeholders concerned with prostitution at the level of the City of Brussels will be installed, in order to attack the phenomenon in a transversal and coordinated way, with solutions that entail the presence of police in the neighborhood, mobility, urbanism, finances, …

The answer of the mayor leads us to a broader set of problem definitions concerning prostitution and illustrates the perceived difficulties with trying to coordinate regulating or controlling prostitution in the neighborhood.

In October 2008, the task force met for the first time to discuss the problems of the neighborhood. The committee had not been invited to join the task force (neither were the prostitutes) but it applauded this get-together by stating that ‘ for the first time, they are thinking about a global approach’ (Alhambra committee, website, 13 th of October 2008). The conclusions of the task force were presented in a meeting in November 2008, which according to the Alhambra committee had been open to the public. It is not clear who exactly was present at this public meeting but on its website, the committee mentions mayor Freddie Thielemans and aldermen El Ktibi, Ceux and Close as those informing the residents about the 123 proposed goals of the Task Force. A first goal was to re-install a mobility plan which would be tested from January until March 2009. In the meantime, the City of Brussels would install temporary roadblocks 51 in the neighborhood. Yet, the municipality explained that, after a period of evaluation, these roadblocks would be replaced by the automatic poles and a system of license plate recognition. The task force made promises that went beyond suggesting to reduce nuisance with a mobility plan. They suggested to re-install a mobile police office at the Yser square (behind the french fries stall), to increase police traffic controls, to close the Tropicana bar, and to contact the public prosecutor’s office concerning a more systematic approach to reports of public order violations such as ignoring traffic signs, prostitutes who solicit clients, pimping, noise, etcetera.

In the winter of 2009, the City of Brussels started implementing a new traffic regulation in the streets of Yser. In their letter to Mayor Thielemans, the committee initially appeared rather optimistic about the new regulation:

At this point (…) we are able to evaluate: the car carrousels are largely gone and in certain streets, the street prostitution has been strongly reduced. For most of the residents in the Alhambra neighborhood – unfortunately not for all of them – this means a better night rest and considerably less nuisance during the day. (Comité Alhambra, 2006-2012)

The committee remarked that certain issues remain to be addressed, such as the presence of prostitutes around the KVS theatre, the entrance of which would serve “as a roof for the dozens of prostitutes waiting for clients” This leads to remaining car carrousels on that side of the neighborhood.

We understand that closing down streets after a few complaints, is not possible. That’s not how a city functions. But as long as street prostitution as such is not addressed, it does become the only way to make the neighborhood more liveable for many of its residents. We are happy with the mobility plan experiment and its positive outcome but we hope that in the near future, (the City of Brussels) will really contemplate how it can organize street prostitution. Other cities in Belgium already did, so why would Brussels not succeed in it? Only then would the many millions invested in our neighborhood -the

51 These particular blocks would consist of vertically placed rubber tubes. Cars would not be able to drive over these blocks but firetrucks would). 124

renovation of the KVS, the neighborhood deal ‘De Kaaien’ really pay off. We hope that this debate will soon be possible, but we would like to thank you already for what the mobility plan has offered so far. (Comité Alhambra, 2006-2012)

At this point, the resident committee not only asks for the reduction of nuisance, but also, increasingly, for the development of the neighborhood. They refer to the De Kaaien contract, which was a contract to invest in the revitalization of the historical city centre.

2010 - 2013: police and administrative fines, development of the consultation platform and displacement efforts

Around 2010, the City started to respond to the nuisance complaints with a fining system. At first, the City encouraged administrative police to respond upon nuisance with police sanctions ( proces-verbaal ). In 2010, BRUZZ reported that during a police action in the neighborhood, 200 fines were handed out in one night (BRUZZ, 2010, July 1).

In 2012, Mayor Thielemans stated that he wanted to remove street prostitution and the connected nuisance from the neighbourhood (BRUZZ, 2012, May 5). With this purpose in mind he explicitly stated that prostitutes working around the theatre, library, school, … would be fined with Gemeentelijke Administratieve Sancties (Municipal Administrative Sanctions or GAS fines). Since 1999, Belgian municipalities can use municipal administrative fines as an instrument against public nuisance. Different from the previously described police sanctions, GAS sanctions could also be reached out by the city administration. Where in the initial statements about reducing nuisance through fines, the focus lay on clients causing traffic and nuisance issues, now, the focus shifted more to the behaviour of both clients and prostitutes. Nuisance, in this instance, is no longer confined to making too much noise or leaving litter.

The Alhambra committee expressed little confidence in the Mayor’s public statements, problematizing the previously promised actions and qualifying the Mayor’s statement as more of an election stunt than an actual answer to the nuisance complaints. However, the instalment of the GAS fines turned out to be no empty promise. In July 2012, the community council decided to administer fines of up to 250 euro for street prostitution to both prostitutes and their clients (BRUZZ, 2012, June 5). One year after the introduction of the GAS fines, BRUZZ reports that 951 GAS fines were handed out in the neighborhood. Luc Symoens, then the municipal secretary of the City of Brussels, explains that the GAS fines were given to prostitutes and – mainly – clients, stating that: 125

Five percent of the fines were given to prostitutes, the other 95 percent to clients or potential clients, states City secretary Luc Symoens. “That’s for causing nuisance, by driving around the block unnecessary, honking, or starting a conversation with a prostitute.” By releasing the numbers, the City wants to keep clients away from the neighborhood. “If people know that they run the risk of a fine, they will hopefully stay away. The supply will disappear and the neighborhood might get its calmness back”. (BRUZZ , 2013, May 14)

By the end of 2012, mayor Thielemans also suggested the development of an intersectoral platform. By march 2013, the platforme de concertation intersectorielle sur la prostitution (intersectoral deliberation platform), was created in order to develop a nuisance reduction strategy based on an “exchange of thoughts” with social organizations and the police services who deal with the prostitutes at Yser (Brussel Hoofdstedelijk Gewest, 2015:267). The platform brought different stakeholders around the table: the mayor, the legal section of the City, police services of the police zone Brussel Hoofdstad Elsene (local administrative police and vice police), social organizations such as Espace P and Entre 2 (which left the platform in the course of the process), the prevention service BRAVVO and the MTP of the City of Brussels. The platform met regularly and developed a zoning plan, Plan Intégré Communal d’Encadrement de la Prostitution (PICEP). In order to inform the street prostitutes, the platform created flyers in eight different languages, ranging from Hungarian to Spanish. 126

Picture 6. Official flyer announcing the first zoning plan.

The meetings resulted in a new regulation providing that after 10 pm street prostitution would move from the neighborhood to the Koning Albert 2 - Laan . The GAS fining system for clients and street prostitutes causing nuisance would remain in place.

When the City started to use the GAS fines and to set up a zoning plan, more stakeholders stepped to the fore and the complexity of trying to re-organize street prostitution at Yser started to surface more clearly. The combination of a displacement with the GAS fining policy, however, motivated several street prostitutes, Espace P and the League Des Droits des Hommes (the French speaking Human Rights League or LDH ), publicly problematized the local regulation. Their attempt to ask for an annulment of the GAS fining system in the neighborhood, however, was dismissed by the Council of State, the highest administrative court. The Council of State judged that a municipality is able to develop a local regulation on prostitution. They did, however, express doubts about the competence of a municipality to award administrative fines to people suspected of soliciting (BRUZZ, 2013, April 1). The City continued to administer the administrative fines. The committee was mainly critical about the rather soft implementation of the fining system.

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Shortly after the introduction of the first zoning plan, structural and organizational problems emerged. When police services from police zone Brussel Hoofdstad Elsene enforced the first displacements towards the Koning Albert 2 - Laan , the police services from police zone Schaarbeek St. Joost Evere , were not informed. A lack of communication between the municipalities City of Brussels (Brussel stad ) and Schaarbeek/Sint-Joost-ten-Node about the displacement (to a street which separates the municipalities) was not the only reason why the police services from Schaarbeek St Joost Evere redirected the street prostitutes back to the other side of the Boulevard (back into the Yser neighborhood). As there is already a red-light window area situated in Schaarbeek and Sint-Joost-ten-Node , the respective mayors opposed the displacement by the City of Brussels (GDC, 2013, October 3).

From 2014 onwards: adaptations to the zoning and fining regulations

The platform’s initial zoning plan was replaced by a second plan in March 2014 once the displacement had been proven unsuccessful. Certain street prostitutes continued publicly problematizing the police regulation. In 2014, they published an open letter to the mayor, stating that the regulation and the atmosphere in the neighborhood represented an inhumane treatment (Journal Intime de Quartier, 2014, September 1). Complaints by social organizations and police services about the feasibility of the plan, both for the street prostitutes and for themselves, combined with complaints by the committee noting that there was still prostitution activity in the neighborhood after 10 pm, led to a second, stricter adaptation of the initial plan. The new police regulation displaced street prostitution 24/7 to a limited tolerance zone: the Antwerpselaan , Boudewijnlaan and the Koning Albert 2 - Laan 52 .

52 Or, as stated in the press communication of the City: ‘on the sidewalk of the bd d’Anvers situated between the Lakensestraat and the Pelikaanstraat ; and on the sidewalk of the Boudewijnlaan between the Antwerpsesteenweg and the Koning Albert – 2 Laan (Stad Brussel, 2014, March 27) 128

Picture 7. The adapted zoning plan.

The street prostitutes were still allowed to enter the neighborhood to go to the rendezvous hotels, but interactions between them and clients were not allowed to be “of a flirtatious nature” (interview administrative police).

The plan was presented as a way to (1) increase the quality of life for the residents, (2) fight prostitution-related crime and (3) preserve the well-being and protection of the prostitutes. However, in the press release of that particular regulation, the mayor states that:

My priority is to respond to the legitimate expectations of the residents from that neighborhood to reduce nuisance related to prostitution. For several years, the CPAS and the Property Management Agency (Régie foncière) of the City have been keen to revitalize that neighborhood and to ameliorate the quality of life. I count on the common work of the different partners to guarantee a better living situation for the residents, while making all efforts to supervise those in prostitution to assure them the best socio-sanitary conditions. (press release City of Brussels, 2014, March 27)

Furthermore, the press release concerning the plan states that the new regulation creates a tolerance zone within the City, and has been communicated to the mayors of Schaarbeek and Sint-Joost-ten-Node . It was promised that the security of the prostitutes would be preserved 129 by an increased police presence and through the work of social organizations. In the next empirical chapters, I will explain why this plan was experienced as problematic by street prostitutes, social organizations as well as police services. For now, it is important to know that due to irreconcilable differences about the new regulation and the lack of results in effectively displacing street prostitution, the platform ceased to meet. This led representatives of the City -in this case- the MTP, to develop nuisance reduction strategies without consulting the various stakeholders previously participating to the platform.

After the mobility plan, the City’s response to the nuisance attributed to street prostitution evolved from re-organizing traffic and placing roadblocks, through developing a fining system for prostitutes and their clients to, finally, a zoning plan for prostitution in the neighborhood. The City’s measures evolved from re-organizing traffic to reduce nuisance and discouraging prostitution to a an explicit displacement of prostitution. The creation of no tolerance zones evolved from the displacement of street prostitution to the Koning Albert 2 - Laan (the outer boundary of the neighborhood) from 10 pm onwards to the introduction of permanent no tolerance zones. People working in prostitution, Espace P and the LDH , however, continued contesting the fining and zoning regulation.

This led to different actions:

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Pictures 8 & 9. These pictures were taken in the Yser neighborhood in December 2016 (MD, 2016, December 12).

The first picture shows a sign placed on the 12 th of December 2016 in the center of the neighborhood. The plate states the following: “ Implementation Area for the regulation against nuisance associated with street prostitution (regulation in force as of 27/6/16). Maximum fines 350 euro .” The second picture shows how, only several hours later, city workers are removing the plate because it referred to a police regulation that had been established as unlawful by the Council of State. The reason is that, though a municipality is allowed to introduce a local prostitution regulation (for example by creating a tolerance zone), soliciting cannot be fined through GAS fines by a municipality. Only police services are allowed to fine soliciting ( BRUZZ , 2016, December 12), rendering the enforcement of a no tolerance zone through GAS fines practically impossible. The City continued to make adaptations to the regulation in order to preserve a fining system enabling them to discourage prostitution in the neighborhood. After entering the field, the back-and-forth between most notably the City on the one side versus prostitutes and the social organization Espace P on the other, continued.

This brings me once more to the summer of 2016, to the apartment building from which I was observing the evening scenery. After the man threw away the coke cans, the evening evolved into the night. I was watching the square from the two different windows in the house. Each window offered a slightly different scene. Police cars drove through the neighborhood at 131 various points in time. One time, I saw a police car entering and staying for a while. This occurred when the playful encounters of the young men described at the beginning of this chapter, developed into a louder and seemingly more violent event. At another point, later during the evening, the police drove by again and addressed the street prostitutes through their speaker, directing them to leave the square:

Allez-y, les filles.

I saw the women walking near the direction of the little ring. They were not particularly rushed and the police did not particularly rush them either. After a while, they returned and for as long as I was observing the scenery, they stayed at their old place, only leaving to make a short walk around the block or to disappear with a client. As the back-and-forth between the lawyers of the City of Brussels and the lawyers representing the prostitutes continues, so does the almost passive cat-and mouse-game between the police and the prostitutes. In the following chapters, I aim to clarify these dynamics by answering, from different point of views, what is perceived to be at stake with street prostitution at Yser.

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Chapter 6. Des putes et des poubelles

What’s at stake from a nuisance point of view

Picture 10. ‘ City takes away prostitution benches ’ (KH, 2014, September 10).

The picture above, published by local media BRUZZ , shows city workers removing a bench in the Koopliedenstraat at the request of the Alhambra committee. In the short article the president of the resident committee explained that the benches were removed after complaints from residents about how these benches were only being used by noisy street prostitutes (KH, 2014, September 10). By sitting on the benches, they were still hanging around in the previously installed no tolerance zone for prostitution. The City decided to respond to the residents’ complaints by removing the benches.

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Picture 11. ‘Seen: railing against street prostitutes’ (KH, 2015, February 15).

Nearly five months later, the picture shown above was published on BRUZZ . The picture was used to illustrate how certain residents cope with the nuisance caused by the presence of street prostitution. The owners of this particular building placed railings in order to make it more difficult for the prostitutes to rest on the window sills. The president of the committee was quoted as stating that “ the residents, amongst them families with children, could often not open their windows anymore ” because of the prostitutes leaning against that side of the building (KH, 2015, February 15).

Both pictures illustrate coping mechanisms, responses of certain residents who experience street prostitution as a nuisance creating issue. Nuisance complaints lie at the base of why the Alhambra committee had started to problematize the presence of street prostitution nearly seventeen years earlier. In this chapter, I present how what’s at stake with street prostitution from a nuisance point of view was presented and discussed during my time spent at Yser. The main problem perceptions revolved around (1) the pressure of street prostitution on public order, (2) soliciting and dress code and (3) those working in prostitution blocking passage. 134

6.1 What’s at stake? Problem identifications around nuisance

6.1.1 What is represented as problematic and by whom?

Street prostitution and pressure on public order: noise and other pollution

When I entered the neighborhood in 2014, the resident committee and the city of Brussels had passed through years of lobbying for (the committee) and dealing with (the City) the traffic situation in the neighborhood. Years had passed in which several residents had stated that street prostitution brought along noisy car carrousels. The car carrousels were the result of men driving around the neighborhood, looking for a prostitute and negotiating deals. While observing, they would cruise the streets slowly, sometimes stopping to negotiate and consequently blocking traffic. Anyone who lived in a narrow downtown street knows how quickly such a situation turns into drivers honking, leading to a concert of impatient toots.

Local policymakers responded to the lobbying work of the resident committee by placing roadblocks and introducing new traffic regulations meant to prevent car carrousels from developing. Although drivers would still ignore the traffic regulations, in general, the placement of the roadblocks and the creation of one-way and local-traffic-only streets did seem to reduce car carrousels. However, when I started to converse with people at Yser, some people explained that such car carrousels were just one example of how the presence of street prostitution disturbed public order and public peace. To gain more insight into how street prostitution is experienced as a nuisance issue, the members or sympathizers of the Alhambra committee proved to be important sources. The head of the committee, for example, gave numerous examples of people who experience nuisance due to street prostitution:

If you would go and talk to the owners of that travel agency, they would tell you many stories about it (the nuisance). Since they constructed their building, 5 or 6 years ago, they have experienced lots of nuisance. They placed cameras. Their façade was damaged, people urinate against it, prostitutes go to the toilet between the cars…

The noise caused by clients conversing with street prostitutes, street prostitutes conversing loudly at night time, the left-over cans of energy drinks or used condoms: mainly noise and litter lie at the centre of most nuisance complaints during the time of this research. A resident explained that the constant activity from street prostitution brings a variety of side effects: 135

The traffic, the car carrousels, that is causing most of the nuisance here. The honking of the cars, the parking illegally, the waiting in the middle of the street, the loud music, people having sex in cars, the condoms on the sidewalk in the morning. That is trouble, of course. That constant activity.

Certain residents became part of the neighborhood committee after experiencing too much nuisance related to street prostitution. In search of some kind of solution, they felt inclined to join or at least support the committee. I interviewed a young couple (both in their mid- twenties) shortly after they had just moved into the neighborhood:

She: If it is tolerable? If we close our window, then the sirens are even more disturbing but yes, at nighttime, I already found myself shouting ‘come on!’. But it’s just that bar and it’s very much linked to street prostitution. (…) We were suspicious when we had just moved in here and found a petition in our mailbox, from our co-habitants in the apartment building, I think. (Turns to boyfriend): What did it say again?

He: That there is too much nuisance during the night, too much noise, especially for the people who live at the other side of this building. Apparently, it must be kind of rough there during the night. So, they started a petition but we were too late to sign it.

She: Sometimes they are very drunk, maybe they drink against the cold or something, I don’t know. One time I looked outside to check what was going on and then there was one singing, on her own, just because she was very drunk. (…)

When I met the couple four seasons later, they indicated that now, they understand the complaints from the resident committee. During the summer months, they had to close their windows at night-time, due to the noise down the street. Several residents explained that their perception of nuisance caused by street prostitution, occurred gradually and across seasons. Sometimes, a resident might not be able to explain why he or she suddenly started noticing more noise, like this particular resident:

Me: You told me that after a while, you changed your mind about the street prostitutes?

He: Yes, in the last three months or something. I don’t know, before that, they were calm for an entire year, but in the last three months, they became more hotheaded or something? (…) they are shouting more at night; they really make more noise. 136

Me: They are shouting because they are fighting? 53

He: Being ruder or something… When I am lying in bed, I just don’t want to go and check it out.

The local administrative police brigade, responsible for maintaining public order, confirmed that street prostitution led to a less tranquil neighborhood but they also noted that the variety of efforts to reduce prostitution related nuisance, did have an effect:

There are certain prostitutes who cause trouble. Some of them shout at clients, that’s for sure. If you live there and there are constantly prostitutes in front of your door who keep shouting at clients… Some years ago, the neighborhood occasionally looked like Ibiza. But in comparison to those days it has improved a lot.

Some residents were, however, sceptical about the effectiveness of the existing local measures. One resident explained that the roadblocks did help a little against the carrousels, but that there still was a lot of traffic in the neighborhood with clients just finding different routes, “like water that is searching its way” .

The media reports and the statements from the resident committee create the impression that nuisance is a residential issue , one shared amongst a homogenous group of residents. Before I had entered the neighborhood, it was unclear to me to what extent the nuisance problem perceptions were shared amongst residents or even whether street prostitutes would also experience nuisance as a problem at Yser. Throughout various conversations, nuisance emerged as an issue, mainly but not exclusively when I was talking to residents. In general, I noticed that nuisance complaints occurred more frequently at one particular side of the Alhambra neighborhood: around the Yser square and more particularly, from residents living at the Koopliedenstraat and the Pelikaanstraat . These streets share the presence of street prostitutes and several bars, but also that they are narrow which leads to a unfortunate acoustic setting.

There were residents who lived in these particular streets but who refrained from considering street prostitution as a nuisance issue. Some residents considered that street prostitution was not a, or the only, source of noise pollution in the neighborhood. One resident of the

53 During this particular fragment, I made the mistake of asking whether they were shouting because they were fighting. Asking that question, I was insinuating. However, I decided to use this quote anyway because of the resident’s answer, where he indicates that he does not know why they are shouting. 137 apartment building right across Jimmy’s bar (one of the more infamous bars in the neighborhood, after the former Tropicana bar), could explain in detail when the disco ball from Jimmy’s bar would start and stop turning (in the early evening until the early morning). Despite living so close to Jimmy’s that the lights of the disco ball reflected on his curtains, he emphasized that he experienced more noise from students who rented rooms in the apartment building he lived in.

Other residents did experience that prostitution brought along noise pollution, but discussed it as part and parcel of wanting to live in the City. Some residents drew a parallel with living near the National Airport in Zaventem : you know what you will get when you decide to live in such an area. Some residents problematized noise and other forms of pollution but did not consider it inherent to street prostitution but rather as an indication of a deficient city- management in dealing with all sorts of pollution. The title of this chapter refers to an interview with a man who had moved into the neighborhood only a few months before our conversation. He remembered with a smile that after his arrival in this part of town, he used to describe his new neighborhood as an area characterized by “ des putes et des poubelles” (hookers and trash bins) . He was mainly irritated by the thrash in his street and how his neighbors consistently put out their thrash on the wrong day. He relativized the influence of street prostitution but emphasized that in his view the City and its services were not doing enough to keep the area clean.

Still other residents stated that they did not experience nuisance from street prostitution. This mostly occurred when I was discussing nuisance with people living in less narrow streets or in streets with no prostitution bars or hotels. When discussing nuisance complaints, I seemed to encounter a less homogenous group of residents than I had assumed before starting to move around in the neighborhood. Exposing this diversity amongst residents is important according to the head of the vice police and to social organizations such as Espace P or Entre 2 . Although none of them dismissed nuisance problem perceptions as false or unjustified, they did express concerns about how the City, when developing local regulations or actions, considered and presented it as an issue broadly carried by residents. The head of vice explains:

I told the mayor: people who are complaining have the right to complain but the fact that there are people who are not complaining is equally important to develop an objective point of view of what is happening. 138

I discussed this variety of opinions on whether or not street prostitution was considered an issue of nuisance for residents, with the MTP . She explained:

We don’t really know about those residents who do not complain. It is very difficult to let residents who do not want to speak, speak out. So, we react to those residents who do write a letter to the mayor with a complaint. It is true that we only enter into dialogue with them because they address us. And people who do not complain, well, that’s like being in a couple: you only talk about what is going wrong, never when it goes really well. Again, like with many problems, we handle a problem when there is a complaint.

However, the MTP was interested in knowing to what extent residents did or did not problematize prostitution as a nuisance issue. She then suggested that it might be a good idea to spread questionnaires.

Finally, I also addressed the nuisance issue with those working in the streets. To a certain extent, my main informants recognized that some of their colleagues do cause nuisance. X, who works on the streets and lives in the neighborhood, stated that it used to be much busier in the neighborhood and that nuisance had reduced considerably. She emphasized that she also lives at Yser and that she, just as the other residents, wants her nights to be quiet and without shouting or noise due to street activity. Her friend Z 54 noticed that nuisance was still a problem:

There are days when they are more playful, more funny, all right, but come on (you cannot act like that) the entire year! There are limits.

In the beginning, it’s funny but after some time it becomes very heavy and annoying. At the same time, it breaks the atmosphere for everybody and it ends in disputes.

However, both she and her friend emphasized that those who cause nuisance, a certain group of prostitutes, pose problems for the prostitutes who do not, since it is because of the former that the city tries to also remove the latter from the neighborhood.

Soliciting and dress code

The presence of street prostitution may lead to confusion, as clients might confuse women who are merely passing through the streets of Yser, with those who work in prostitution. Similarly, people working in prostitution might address men who are not clients. It is not

54 She referred to Z as being a friend or entourage. 139 always clear whether such instances of confusion are considered to be a nuisance or even whether it is perceived as problematic. One female resident did explicitly problematize the situation where clients wandering or driving around the neighborhood asked her for her price when she was returning home. She experienced that as problematic and it made her feel insulted, angry: both about the clients and about the presence of street prostitution in her street. Some women considered their being confronted with men looking for sex for sale, to be annoying or uncomfortable, whether or not men mistook them for prostitutes, because of the mere confrontation with such men:

I see some men wandering around in that dark little corner right there (points towards the Koopliedenstraat) when they are, how would you call it? Shopping? I feel uncomfortable about that because, anyway, I have little understanding for men who visit prostitutes. I have no illusions about how widespread that is and that it occurs in nearly every layer of society blablabla… However, my first reaction (when I see those men) is that I don’t like them, because they are here.

Her partner added:

Yes! They are doing nothing wrong but the way they look at you!

The first woman stated that she had never experienced being addressed by men 55 but that some of her female friends had. Less clear was whether male residents experienced it to be problematic when those working on the streets asked whether or not ‘ honey wanted to come with them? ’ or blew kisses in their direction. This mainly would happen when they (male residents) were new to the neighborhood. They explained that once the prostitutes had noticed that they lived in the neighborhood, they would no longer address them and leave them alone, with the exception of certain trans prostitutes. The couple living in the neighborhood explained:

He: It can be strange. When I walk past them, I wonder: “will they talk to me? Are they perceiving me as a john (client) or just as somebody passing by?”

Me: How do you experience that?

55 However, after our interview, she explained that one time, one of the prostitutes mistook her for a man and asked her ‘chéri, on y va?’ When she turned around and the woman noticed that she was addressing a woman (with short hair), she excused herself numerous times. However, it did lead to the beginning of small talk conversations between that resident and a few women working on the streets near her house. 140

He: With mixed feelings.

He continued that he mostly felt uncomfortable with female prostitutes and that, when passing by, he was conscious about not seeking eye contact out of fear to be mistaken for a client. He then remarked that such feelings were absent when he passed by trans prostitutes. A perception to which I will return in the following chapters.

Nuisance in this instance emerges as a certain discomfort, a certain unwanted confrontation. Perceptions about uncomfortableness gave way to other problem perceptions, about prostitution as a form of labor, for example (see chapter 8). Another example is how a few residents made remarks about the way those working in the streets are dressed, especially during night-time. One resident said:

At daytime, they wear some tight jeans and a black jacket, especially those Bulgarian, Romanian girls, they all wear the same. But at night-time, it’s a different type of prostitution: you see many women with long coats and nothing underneath, you see everything, I have seen that. Just some coat and knickers .

Vice police and Espace P also perceived that at a certain point in time, people working in the streets at Yser posed vice-related problems by exposing too much skin. However, they indicated that they worked together to sensitize prostitutes at Yser about a certain dress code that was more appropriate when working in public space. Both vice and Espace P , however, indicated that currently, most of the prostitutes do respect a certain dress code, one that exposes less skin. The head of vice also emphasized that, apart from understanding that those working in prostitution would test the limits of what is allowed, her brigade was not pleased with those who consistently went beyond an acceptable dress code. However, she also wanted me to take note about how many of the people working during the day are respectful, both in general soliciting behavior and dress code:

There are many complaints from the resident committee about how the presence of street prostitution is problematic in an area where parents bring their children to school. From that particular school, I haven’t received complaints, while schools in Brussels are very quick to protest. There is no prostitute who will address a man who brings his children to school. None of them! None!

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Blocking passage

Certain residents would vocalize how street prostitutes are blocking the way: both by standing in front of the entrances of apartment buildings or just by gathering on the sidewalk.

He: In the end, they are often just blocking the way. If you have to pass by with a pram, well, they are in the way. I often see women who have to pass to the other side of the street because the sidewalk is too narrow .

Another resident explains why she considers women continuously waiting in front of her house, to be problematic:

I planted flowers, just there. But (after a while) there was nothing but cigarette butts. That’s a pity because it is not necessary. Now, I have to say, I tell them every time that I pass and when I see one of them next to my door. I tell them: ‘Not in front of my house, go, go stand in front of your own house but not mine. And now, when they see me coming from afar, they go. They’ll come back (later on), but they go. And they inform each other very quickly as well, they tell the new ones: ‘Listen, that’s the old crazy lady, better go!’ So I let them, I never call the police but I want to. In the end, it bothers me. No. It’s a pity, it hurts me that my neighborhood is full of them. Because prostitution, it’s, it’s… (sighs) 56

6.1.2 Which actors are represented as involved and in which roles?

Prostitutes

People who problematized street prostitution as bringing along nuisance in the neighborhood, referred to prostitutes, their (potential) clients and the prostitution bars as culprits.

Yet, I did notice that residents varied in how they talked about who was causing nuisance: some residents would refer to street prostitutes as one homogenous group, others would describe specific so-called ‘troublemakers’: clients who are drunk, trans prostitutes who would be perceived as more extravert and noisy than other prostitutes, specific prostitutes,…

56 This quote is also an example of how quickly one can talk about nuisance and ‘thrash’ to more general aspects about prostitution in a neighborhood. It was not always easy to distinguish the problem definitions. In this particular instance, the woman loathed that women were positioning themselves in front of her entrance but the quote indicates that it stretches beyond posing a barrier. It also appears to be aligned with being confronted with a phenomenon one does not consider “ right ”. 142

There were certain, so to say, personalities amongst the street prostitutes: people who appeared more present, noticeable and audible. A resident explained:

He: There are kind prostitutes amongst them. People who respect that you live here but there are also some bastards. There is one amongst them and she is just harassing everybody.

Me: How does she do that?

He: She messes up the atmosphere, I don’t know how she does it but if something was going on, she was always involved. She stayed here for two or three months but then she got beaten up.

My main informant on the street X and her friend Z also explained how certain colleagues cause too much noise and have little consideration for the residents and other street prostitutes. They attributed it to the use of alcohol, drugs or certain prostitutes facing mental illness or attention seeking behaviour. She emphasized that most of her colleagues, especially those she knows from working during the day, would rather not attract general attention (except from potential clients) and just do their job . When staying in a field for a certain time, one starts to notice that indeed, sometimes, a certain person seems to be frequently involved in the stories about trouble. There are people who pop up in descriptions by residents, social workers but also in the stories told by prostitutes and their entourage. I tried to avoid using names or referring to specific people while in the field but during some conversations, this was not possible. During one particular conversation in September 2016, I discussed a violent confrontation between a resident and a street prostitute with Z. Since the resident wrote an open letter about the confrontation, it was not even a public secret who was on the other side of the confrontation (I return to this event in the next chapter). During one of the last official days in the field, Z and I were sitting together in one of the nooks of the theatre building. By that time, we had spoken on different occasions and since he knew that I was doing research in the neighborhood, he always took the time to talk.

On that particular Friday afternoon, the new theatre season started and to celebrate this, there were deejays playing outside the building. Given the festive music, the sunny afternoon and the weekend being just a step away, the atmosphere in the neighborhood was rather joyful and this was also noticeable amongst the prostitutes. We started talking about ‘days like this’ when the atmosphere seems good and days in which conflicts surface. Z explained that he 143 understood complaints about too much noise or trouble caused by prostitution but he emphasized that residents should differentiate between those who are making trouble, and those who are not. The former, he said, were as problematic for the latter, as they are for residents. I asked him about one prostitute’s involvement in the violent encounter with the resident, since she just passed by to say hi. Although he expressed his sympathy for her, he did characterize her as one of the problematic figures working in prostitution at Yser. Z explains that some people working in prostitution at Yser, come to the neighborhood for a mixture of business and pleasure, although the majority of people are working there to make ends meet.

Social workers from both Espace P and Entre 2 also emphasized that those working in street prostitution are not one homogenous group of troublemakers. They regret that certain residents generalize the troubles caused by some to the entire population of people working in the streets of Yser.

Bars and clients

Problem perceptions could also refer to prostitution-related bars and clients as causing nuisance, most notably bars and clients from the Tropicana bar and later on Jimmy’s bar or bar Café Taverne 54 . By referring to those bars as hotspots for prostitutes and their clients, the committee problematized these bars as contributing to nuisance, especially where such bars have outside terraces that are also used at night. In the next chapter, I will present additional problem perceptions about such bars as hotspots of organized crime.

Although relativizing the (direct) role of those in prostitution in causing trouble, the administrative police confirmed that such bars and their clients contribute to the nuisance in the area:

He: Prostitution is only one of the many facets in the neighborhood. However, it attracts a certain type of client, and these bars, yes, it also attracts certain people.

Me: And with people you mean? Clients? Side figures? Clients of prostitutes?

He: Well, I don’t know whether they are clients, whether they are actually there for the prostitutes. But in one way or another, there seems to be a correlation between on the one hand a red-light area and on the other hand bars of a lower standard. 144

A notable exception, according to the head of vice, would be the area around a prostitution- related bar situated on the boundary of the neighborhood. Although the bar borders a narrow street, residents in that part of the neighborhood did not problematize prostitution as a nuisance issue. However, this bar seems to be involved with bar prostitution, where the prostitutes mainly engage with clients by waiting in the bar and not on the street. Although it was not entirely clear whether people working in the streets did not frequent the rooms above that bar, the street presence around the bar was almost non-existent. The head of vice encouraged me to visit that particular bar as a ‘good example’ of a prostitution-related bar in a residential neighborhood:

If you enter that bar, you will see men and women working in prostitution. You have to enter the bar to see it, it’s not visible when looking in from the outside. Above that bar, there are rooms, like a hotel. The girls who work there, work under pretty good conditions. It’s not a typical bar, not at all! I haven’t heard one complaint about that bar! Nothing! There is no noise during night-time. Once, a girl was killed there, but that is years ago, it could have happened anywhere else.

People working in or around notorious bars were, as bar personnel tends to be, diplomatic about pointing fingers at their own clientele. One bar owner explained that he uses a door policy. Certain people were not welcome and therefore, his bar did not cause trouble. A bar tender explained that several years ago, mainly ‘nightlife clients’, people who might spend an entire night in the bar, had been causing fights and noise. However, she emphasized that the situation had improved.

Police services and the City administration

Residents, more specifically those that experience prostitution as a nuisance issue, considered that local policymakers and local police services are responsible for curbing nuisance and maintaining public order. Certain residents complained that there is not enough vigor from the City and not enough enforcement of the local regulation and police regulations by police services (meaning: enforcement of the no-tolerance zone). Residents complain that the administrative police is not enforcing the police regulation enough:

To vote a regulation is one thing, to make people obey it quite another, but apparently, that is not a priority. The police are conspicuously absent from the area. I only see them when I or one of my neighbors call them. The patrols do not pro-actively work on the 145

compliance of the regulation. (…) Because of the soft approach by the police, nothing has changed and the prostitutes are still here on the street.

They noted that police forces are not always taking them seriously when they complain about nuisance in their neighborhood. After the Paris and Brussels attacks, they were told occasionally that their problems were currently not a priority 57 ; I will return to this in chapter seven, where I discuss this particular perception with the administrative police forces. Residents perceived the lack of police presence as problematic and, in response, start taking matters into their own hands by pointing out the regulation to the women working on the street. Social organizations referred to such instances as residents forming private militias , causing a negative atmosphere between residents and some of the prostitutes (see chapter 7).

Police services did, to a certain extent, acknowledge the perception that they were not able to vigorously implement the local regulation and to enforce a no tolerance zone through fines. In turn, they pointed out that there are practical difficulties when trying to implement the current regulation. A first hurdle is that merely imposing a no tolerance zone targeting a particular group of people is difficult. The administrative police explained:

For us, there are two important articles in the regulation: (1) the perimeter and (2) that they have to cause nuisance. This means that a prostitute who performs her activities in the no tolerance zone, can receive a GAS-fine because she is not respecting the perimeter. The court in charge of administrative sanctions is the police court. The police judge, however, has decided that this is not possible: you cannot forbid somebody to be standing in the street, you see! I understand that regulation. It has to be associated with nuisance, not just because she is standing in the street.

Police services explained that it is difficult to identify or address somebody as being a prostitute. They do recognize people who regularly work in street prostitution at Yser, but police officers may not, merely based on previous identification of a person working as a prostitute, consider that when he or she is present at Yser, is also working in that particular moment. Maybe they are also living in the neighborhood or just passing by. They have to observe the act of soliciting in order to judge that somebody is working as a prostitute.

57 During my fieldwork, the national threat level reached level 4 (a terrorist attack is imminent and expected) and after a while settled at a level not lower than 3 (a terrorist attack is possible). 146

A second and related hurdle is that the regulation does not take into account the characteristics of the ‘target audience’ , which consists of both local and migrant workers. Those working in prostitution, especially migrant workers, tend to move around between countries (for example, within the margins of the amount of time they are able to stay in a country with a tourist visa) and tend to lack an official address. This poses practical difficulties for sending administrative fines:

Me: You told me that, when you hand out a GAS sanction, they have to have an address in Belgium?

He: Yes, that’s often a problem. They (those without an address) get away with it, so that’s not fair to those prostitutes who do have an address, since they are the only ones who have to pay (…). So, we are forced to find nuisance (to be able to hand out fines). If there is no nuisance, then we can only ask them to go to the tolerance zone. They realize this, so it’s a cat-and-mouse game. We arrive, we ask them to go, we go to another neighborhood and when we return, later on, we have to ask again. Four, five, six times a day we have to send away the same people.

Police services were clear: it is difficult to enforce a regulation where there is no consequence attached to breaking a rule, where you cannot hand out fines. These hurdles make it practically impossible for police services to enforce the regulation and a certain group of street prostitutes are aware or informed of these hurdles, which leads to an almost passive cat- and-mouse game between street prostitutes and police (in the next chapter, I will explain how people with an illegal migrant profile would nonetheless prefer to not invoke interactions with police services and would obey regulations rather than be identified as undocumented).

6.1.3 What solutions are suggested?

Increased police presence and controls of bars

As nuisance was one of the main agenda points and sources of action in the beginning years of the committee, our conversation was now built upon almost two decades of history between the committee, the neighborhood, the prostitutes, the social organizations, the police and the City of Brussels. Opinions on which reactions would be necessary to reduce nuisance had evolved. The committee had started with a demand for a reduction of nuisance through a better mobility plan, it had evolved into lobbying and supporting the development of a no tolerance zone, and eventually it developed problem perceptions about prostitution that extend 147 beyond nuisance. I noticed a certain disbelief about whether it would still be viable to suggest solutions that merely tackle nuisance issues in the neighborhood. The president of the resident committee was sceptical:

You can call the police, they (street prostitutes) will leave but after 15 minutes, they’ll return. So, after months, years, … that brings along frustration. You start to realize: if the prostitutes do not want to compromise, why do we have to compromise? It’s this or nothing.

Noticing the lack of implementation of regulations and perceiving a lack of respect from the prostitutes for, for example, the no tolerance zone, the Alhambra committee no longer believed that street prostitution can function in a residential neighborhood. In this respect, during my fieldwork, the committee stated that merely reducing nuisance was no longer perceived as a realistic solution. An increased police presence, however, was still presented as desirable. In addition, the committee did suggest increased controls on certain prostitution- related bars. During the Thielemans administration, the City experimented for a short while with a mobile police force in the neighborhood. Although both the committee and Espace P were positive about that initiative, the experiment was abandoned rather quickly. Contextual factors played an important role here: compared to other neighborhoods in the centre of the City, the neighborhood is not considered as high-risk enough to deserve extra or permanent police forces. The mobile police force may have been a missed opportunity to explore a more constructive solution in the neighborhood, as it was one of the few actual implementations that was experienced as positive both by residents, social organizations and certain prostitutes.

As I explained in the previous section, it is clear that the administrative police also experienced difficulties in implementing a fining system. They did consider an increased police presence to be effective in reducing nuisance to a certain degree, just as regular controls on bars, but in the next chapter, it will become clear why a structurally increased police presence is not considered realistic or deemed necessary either.

Permanent displacement and/or prohibition of street prostitution

The roadblocks and the local regulations are seen as temporary measures or ways in which the neighborhood, according to the resident committee, tried to find a compromise with the street prostitutes. According to the committee, they did not help in reducing nuisance. Therefore, the committee became more insistent in describing prostitution as a problematic form of labor in 148 a residential neighborhood (I elaborate on this perception in chapter eight). This has led certain residents to argue for the permanent displacement of street prostitution to a separate and contained location:

A Villa Tinto and radically forbid street prostitution. Forbid it, no, forbid it. Not in public space, no. Time and time again it proves not to work. There is nothing romantic about prostitution.

After nearly two decades of lobbying and researching possibilities about how street prostitution can be contained or displaced, the president of the resident committee was, however, aware that such a displacement is best coordinated in an integral approach to prostitution in Brussels.

More means and support for social organizations

Social organizations such as Espace P or Entre 2 suggested that their organizations could contribute to maintaining public order and encourage a more constructive co-existence between residents and people working in prostitution through mediation. In order to mediate, however, they would need more time and consequently, sufficient means. Espace P explains how they tried to raise awareness about a more appropriate dress code several years ago and perceived that their attempts were successful.

The head of vice also indicated that social organizations, and police themselves, try to raise awareness about public order. She explained:

She: There are limits. Such a project (trying to reduce nuisance) is difficult, so they (Espace P) started out small, saying: “okay, from 10 pm onwards, no more noise”. We both did that. (concerning dress code). If we see that one of them exposes too much cleavage, we would say: “go home and put on a little sweater or something”. But they play with that. When they see us, the skirt goes down. When we leave, they pull it up higher… so I think there is still room for negotiation.

Me: Is that still useful? Recalling from my conversation with the chair of the committee (…)

[She interrupts me]

She: Yes, but you need two sides for that! And the second side does not exist. 149

6.2 Beyond nuisance

Long before my fieldwork started, a group of residents had started to publicly address street prostitution as a nuisance issue for residents. They gathered in what is now known as the Alhambra committee and succeeded in lobbying for nuisance reduction strategies. However, after nearly two decades of trying to reduce nuisance, the president of the committee was sceptical about whether approaching street prostitution as a matter of nuisance had been effective.

A lack of adaptation and compromise from those working in prostitution to local rules and regulations, had led him to question whether it suffices to consider that what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, is a matter of nuisance. The head of BRAVVO ’s town guards, however, confirmed yet also nuanced this lack of adaptation by pointing out that:

Generally, when we (the town guards) ask them to keep the neighborhood clean, they pay attention. We have a good contact with them on that matter. But the moment we ask them to move out of the no tolerance zone, they resist and then most of the time and ever more frequently, they won’t listen to us when we ask them to leave.

Wondering about the other side of the compromise and why those working in street prostitution would return to the neighborhood (if they had left at all), the mobile platform quickly started moving and broadened the conversation from nuisance to security problem perceptions.

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Chapter 7. Traffickers, Terrorists, and Maquereau Sandwiches

What’s at stake from a security and criminality point of view

Although the City of Brussels implemented a variety of measures to displace street prostitution from the Yser neighborhood to adjoining lanes, the street prostitutes keep returning or never left the area in the first place. By asking why the prostitutes continue to return to the neighborhood, I first encountered a variety of problem perceptions about security (the next chapter will also bring us to labor conditions). The challenge in discussing security in the neighborhood lies in the different perspectives on who or what is perceived as threatened and threatening. In the current chapter I present the variety of perceptions on prostitution and security. These perceptions revolve around four themes: (1) prostitution as a risk profession, (2) the impact of the local regulations in preserving safety and public peace in the neighborhood, (3) (concerns about) the presence of mafia or criminal networks, and (4) tense interactions and aggressive encounters between certain residents and certain street prostitutes.

7.1 What’s at stake? Problem identifications around security

7.1.1 What is represented as problematic and by whom?

The lack of recognition of prostitution as a risk profession in the development of local regulations

When I asked people working in prostitution at Yser why they stayed in the neighborhood, despite the installation of the no tolerance zone and risking to receive fines, the conversation shifted towards discussing security concerns. Street prostitutes, vice police but also social organizations Espace P and Entre 2 explained how street prostitution in itself should be considered a risk profession. Additionally, they agreed that the City is not taking these security challenges for street prostitutes to heart when developing local regulations. This puts extra pressure on already precarious working conditions (see next section).

Together, street prostitutes, social organizations and vice police identified three general security concerns: (1) risks and uncertainties associated with working in an intimate context, 151

(2) risks related to the visibility of a highly stigmatized profession or bullying and (3) risks related to the involvement of organized crime. X mainly discussed the first concern when explaining why she and her colleagues remain in the neighborhood. She explained how those working in street prostitution rely on an established network of and habits between colleagues and more particularly the rendezvous hotels and bars in the area. Since street prostitutes do not have their own room or a window which they share with a colleague or a madam, they rely on informing colleagues about their whereabouts or on hotel owners to keep an eye on anomalies. These elements help them cope with uncertainty about the intentions of certain clients. I observed that during the day, when those working in the streets were addressed by men driving by, they would enter a car less frequently than I had assumed. X explains that most of the people working in street prostitution would rather refrain from getting into a client’s car. Getting into a car increases uncertainty and decreases the amount of control over the situation. A client might drive you anywhere. She and her friend returned to this particular risk when discussing the impact of the local regulations (the creation of a no tolerance zone and the fining system) on their security coping mechanisms.

The second security concern was put forward by vice police and Entre 2 . Because of their visibility and accessibility, street prostitutes and, in particular, trans prostitutes, are an easy target for bullies or sociopaths. The president of the Alhambra committee indirectly gave an example of bullying when he advised me to contact people working at Air Maroc , a travel agency in the neighborhood that, according to him, experienced a lot of nuisance because of the presence of street prostitution. He said that the owners of Air Maroc had to clean their façade regularly, since men would pass through the neighborhood in order to throw eggs at the trans working in front of the travel agency. The head of vice identified this example as an illustration of how those working in prostitution are bullied and violated. Such violations could range from shouting insults or throwing eggs, to knife stabbings and rape. The aggressors were not necessarily clients, pimps or members of criminal networks but ‘annoying and drunk people just stepping by to bully them’ . The head of vice explained that not only stigma related to prostitution feeds into bullying, but that being aware about that stigma also prevented those in prostitution to contact police services:

Me: So, crime is more directed at the prostitutes than at the people living in the Alhambra area? 152

She: Of course. You know what else is there? Rape. A lot of rape. And they are often victim of serial rapists (…). By people who are seriously disturbed, people who try to numb them with chloroform… So, this is actually a profession of high risk but they won’t press charges. We recently arrested a serial rapist. He raped six to seven girls. We had one complaint, one of the girls who dared to speak up about what had happened to her. The more we investigated the case, the more victims emerged.

Me: Why didn’t they speak up?

She: Because they think they would not be taken seriously. Who would believe a prostitute claiming she was raped? So, that’s a really big part of our job. (…) this is the situation and it is something that is not discussed in the political debate on prostitution in the neighborhood. Absolutely not.

X confirmed that fear of not being taken seriously, of being criminalized or identified as an undocumented migrant worker, would lead those working in prostitution to refrain from addressing their security concerns. She explained how some of her colleagues “already (have) too much on their mind and trying to secure money first to pay the bills” indicating that security concerns are also weighed against labor concerns. Another reason is that “some of the girls do not have papers and so they just keep silent ”. Prostitutes who work illegally, fear to be identified as such and avoid situations that might lead to a deportation. This illustrates how a perceived fear of ‘being caught’ is weighed against ‘addressing security threats’. This led us to discuss the presence of networks or why some prostitutes refrain from contacting police services but rely on a (financial) agreement with a third party as a security coping mechanism. This could lead to catch-22 situations in which to preserve one’s safety, a prostitute’s options are limited and might have unwanted consequences.

In spite of the head of vice identifying prostitution as a risk profession, when I talked to X about the different police departments present in the neighborhood, she was skeptical about how police forces pay attention to the variety of security risks for those working in street prostitution. She pointed out that administrative police are ‘ only doing their job ’ when they enforce the local regulation, but she referred to the vice police as cowboys. In her perception, while prostitutes could not count on the administrative police for protection, vice police also seemed to be less interested in prostitutes who were not presumed to be the victim of a network. Identifying prostitution as a risk profession is important, according to 153

X, also where organized crime may not be involved. Prostitutes who do not identify with a trafficking victim profile are not sure who they can rely on to respond to security concerns not related to criminal networks or third-party exploitation. They are at the bottom of the victim hierarchy. X explained that for the administrative police, they are sources of nuisance, disruptors of public order. For the vice police, they are less of a security priority compared to those who are assumed to be a victim of criminal networks or exploitative third-party involvement.

Security threats related to the local regulation

Watch out! You might get a fine for just standing here with us, for talking with us (chuckles) (X)

If street prostitution is a risk profession, the local regulation is considered a threat to the coping mechanisms of those in prostitution, outreach efforts from social organizations and the protective actions by vice police. The displacement to the Koning Albert 2 - Laan and the fining system create two security traps, according to those working in prostitution. A first trap is that although the boulevard is wider, it is also more deserted at night so there is less social control. In contrast to the Yser neighborhood, there are no rendezvous hotels and bars. Given that those in prostitution rather refrain from stepping into a client’s car, the absence of rendezvous hotels confronts them with a dilemma: either they refrain from getting into a car but make an arrangement with a client to meet at a rendezvous hotel at Yser (which is still possible, according to the current regulation, as long as they do not solicit for clients outside the tolerance zone), risking that the client will look for somebody else or not show up near the hotel; or, they get into the car but risk losing control of the situation. In short, their working conditions deteriorate and traditional coping mechanisms become inoperational. I asked Z what he thought of the local regulation. Although he was aware that some prostitutes did put local order under pressure, he also identified that the nuisance reduction actions (the displacement, the fines) targeted the entire group of people working in street prostitution at Yser and entailed serious security threats for them:

It puts the girls in a dangerous position (standing at the Koning Albert 2 - Laan ). (…) the girl will have to call the client over and she will have to get into a stranger’s car too. That’s a risk. There are stories about (how) that (went wrong), it’s not that there are no examples, there are examples! And even if the girl goes to a hotel on foot, the client might not show up and she will have made a trip in vain. You see, it’s a ‘boucle 154

sans fin’ (vicious cycle) … They (the city) do not think about their safety (…). You know, people just think about their own safety. They don’t think about theirs. They just look at them as hookers and they just want to put them all together like sheep on another boulevard. And then? They will keep an eye on them by surveillance camera’s? Cameras are no good, they are not direct enough.

An important side-effect is that the displacement also increases competition between the street prostitutes and this affects both labor (see next chapter) and security conditions. Prostitutes in more precarious financial situations tend to agree more easily to get into a client’s car. Prostitutes adapting to the less safe working conditions are consequently affecting the expectations of clients towards the other prostitutes. X works every day at Yser, from Monday through Sunday. She has regular clients, men she knows. She does not work at night so she did not have to leave the street of Yser around 10 pm at first, in accordance with the old local police regulation. Since she lives close-by and developed a certain client base (regulars), she could avoid waiting in the neighborhood and just arrive near the hotel at a pre-arranged hour. She heared from her colleagues that it was more difficult to negotiate with a client passing by on the Koning Albert 2 – Laan , to convince him to go to the hotels at Yser. She explained that the pressure to get into a client’s car had increased among the prostitutes. XX, who joined our conversation, explains that she did once work on the Koning Albert 2 – Laan but that she got scared, so she returned home. Both women explained that they, generally, did not like working at night since the atmosphere was more rough.

The second trap revolves around how these regulations affect the type of clientele which remains (that is not deterred by police sanctions). While competition on the supply side increases, quality on the demand side decreases, leading to a vicious cycle. Being able to evaluate and refuse clients is part of the coping mechanisms of prostitutes. I observed this in action while I was talking with the women on the street. When they had refused a client, in a direct but polite way, they explained to me that they know these types of clients and are aware that they are only trying to negotiate an ever lower price. Prostitutes differentiate between regular clients, clients who pay the suggested price and who do not try to bargain, versus those who do. However, when good clients stay away, there are less options for the prostitutes to sell their services, consequently, prices drop and some prostitutes start to offer less safe services. 155

The women working in the street explained that the displacement actions and in particular, the fining system deterred ‘good’ clients. These clients would rather avoid receiving a fine at their home address, which would indicate that they had been ‘caught’ at Yser. X explained:

She: You know, some of my clients don’t care about getting a fine, they’ll just pay it. That’s because they have nobody at home. The other clients are afraid, they don’t want their wife to find out, you know, so they are afraid to come here’.

Me: But now they can’t fine clients anymore, right?

She: Yes, but they (clients) are not sure since the regulation is always changing.

Whether the police regulations are implemented or not, harm is done: clients are unsure about whether they will be fined today or left alone tomorrow. Consequently, the fining system created an environment for ‘bad’, less trustworthy clients to negotiate prices and conditions (such as less safe sexual encounters). Furthermore, the types of clients that profit from the decreasing demand and consequential emergence of a negotiation margin, are the clients also causing most of the nuisance and trouble in the neighborhood. With the arrival of annoying clients, the prices drop, but the temperature in the neighborhood rises ( “ça devient chaud” , as a bartender explained). It appears that the fining and zoning plan not only created security issues but also a more attractive environment for clients causing nuisance, not only to the residents but also to the prostitutes. Here we can observe how security conditions and nuisance interact.

That the zoning and fining system would create security challenges for the prostitutes had been expected by social organizations such as Entre 2 or Espace P and by the local vice police as well. Both social and police services (mainly vice police) identified this regulation as problematic because it worsened the working conditions of the prostitutes. Moreover, as already touched upon in the beginning of this chapter, the regulation creates extra challenges for social and police services in their investigation and outreach efforts. This active outreach is perceived as crucial because those in prostitution are generally cautious when it comes to actively contacting social organizations or police services out of fear of stigmatization, fear of being identified as illegal or merely out of concern that they would not be taken seriously.

Furthermore, the head of the vice police was particularly concerned that the local regulation would create additional confusion and distrust in police presence. Thus we came to discuss a delicate issue concerning the double role of the police towards the prostitutes: 156

The explanation is very simple: a way to help the prostitutes and to gain their trust lies in their access to the police. The threshold now is very high, actually, so they don’t come to the police station. (You have to know), they are often victims from a whole lot of different crimes that go from, you know, (people) stealing their purses for example. That’s why they rather leave their purses in the hotels but then the police in uniform uses that against the owner of such a hotel (…).

In the neighborhood, people refer to the uniformed police (local administrative police) and the plainclothes police (local vice police). The latter is in charge 58 of combating sexual violence. This ranges from sexual harassment, over rape, to dismantling circuits of exploitation, abuse and trafficking. The former, uniformed police, has the task to ensure public order. At Yser, they are in charge of ensuring public order and implementing local police regulations. The local administrative police were also aware about the double role of police services in the neighborhood. One police officer explained that the presence of two police forces creates a good cop/bad cop situation:

He: For vice, the prostitutes are sources of information. They deal with the women in a different way (…) It’s important for them to have good relations with them because these women know a lot. For them, the most important task is to discover who the pimps are and which woman is exploited. That’s important. But that’s also an example of good cop bad cop for them (the prostitutes). You have to have people who control whether the law is obeyed, but they (the prostitutes) also have to be able to trust police people too.

Me: So, you are the bad cop then?

He: In this case, yes. There are neighborhoods where we are the good cops, but that’s in a different context or in a different neighborhood. That’s why it is important that we work in uniform and they (vice police) in civilian clothes. That makes the distinction clearer.

The head of vice police agreed with this distinction and explained how (1) being able to get in contact with the prostitutes and (2) building a trust relationship is crucial for her team to do their job. Vice police feared that when prostitutes are persistently relocated and fined, their circuit will move underground. This will lead to less contact between prostitutes and the services. This contact is important since the services work with people who, to a certain

58 Together with federal police units who connect this situation to a broader national and international context. 157 extent, tend to situate themselves under the (police) radar due to reasons described earlier. Social organizations such as Espace P or Entre 2 shared this concern. Their work strongly relies on outreach activities for sexual health prevention and to promote their medical, legal and psychosocial services to those people who might experience a threshold to address related issues in a more mainstream circuit.

The administrative police officer explained that they were less focused on building a trust relationship with the prostitutes. They recognized the necessity and importance of their colleagues from the vice brigade and were aware that if they implement the local regulation, they are the bad cops to those in prostitution. By handing out fines, by raiding bars and rendezvous hotels, by asking people for their identity card, their role vis-à-vis prostitutes is of a different nature. The head of vice explained that friction as following:

She: The administrative police consider the girls as possible offenders or perpetrators. Their goal is: the less prostitutes in the street, the better the result. While for us: the more we leave them at ease, the more we can gain their trust and the more, yes…when they are at ease, it is easier for us to do our observations too. You see? In fact, our aims are in competition with those of our colleagues. Also, conducting our cases is time- consuming: observations, telephone investigations, and so on, our files are not put together in two days. We need time. (…) it easily takes three to four months of work before we can arrest somebody. It becomes a problem for us when the girls are taken off the street by the uniforms 59 or when they are expelled from the country. At that point, we can bin all our work. So, we had to find a certain modus vivendi with the uniformed police.

Me: When I talked to them, they also mentioned this as a problem.

She: I won’t say we are battling one another, not at all, but I do want to say this: we have to find the middle ground with our own colleagues of the local police, not with the federal police. (…) We also receive contradicting orders. The local police have two bosses: an officer from the judiciary police and an officer of the administrative police. The federal police have one boss: the prosecution council. So, if my boss says: ‘Everybody has to leave’ but at the same time I receive a note from the public prosecutor stating that “you have to avoid administrative controls of the prostitutes because they are victims and you have to be open to the victims and not push them into

59 Administrative police 158

illegal or clandestine spheres”, then I am caught between two fires. That’s our current position.

The different tasks of the local police forces (vice versus administrative) and in particular how the local regulation has highlighted this difference, is experienced as problematic, especially by the vice brigade. However, when pointing out how the administrative police expressed a similar concern, she recognized that her colleagues of the administrative police are in a difficult position in the neighborhood:

You have to understand that the Alhambra neighborhood does have a long history with prostitution (and I want to warn you that if the Alhambra committee says that this is historical fiddle-fuddle, it’s not true). You have to imagine that, when the uniformed police was busy expelling (the illegal prostitutes), the associations such as Entre 2 and Espace P filed complaints with the Comité P (Committee P) 60 . And with reason! We are not allowed to do mass expelling, but we do have to address people who are causing nuisance more specifically (…) Then, the Alhambra committee filed a complaint with the Comité P because the police were doing nothing against the problems of prostitution. So here, and now I am defending my uniformed colleagues, they found themselves constantly between two positions. If they did nothing, they received complaints from the Alhambra committee, if they were doing something, the associations complained. So, that’s what the problem was back then and what the problem is right now.

In order to cope with this issue, the police services tried to find a modus vivendi on the ground. During my conversations in the field, I also noticed that the presence of the two different police forces leads to confusion in the neighborhood. During matters of disturbed public order or safety, not only those in prostitution but also residents experienced conflict. When a resident tried to explain to prostitutes waiting in front of his door, that he did not like that and that he wanted them to leave, he was reprimanded by ‘the plainclothes police’ . He explained that he was aware of the importance of a trust relation between those in prostitution and the vice brigade but he felt uncomfortable that this could entail reprimanding residents who try to preserve public order in front of their own door. He perceived it as intimidation from a police officer and this led him to write a letter to the Committee P to address the conflict. The head of the resident committee was equally concerned about the vice brigade’s

60 The committee supervising police services in Belgium. 159 involvement in the neighborhood and how they indirectly complicate the implementation of the local regulation. These two residents perceive vice police as less comprehensive of residents’ conflicts with prostitution in the neighborhood. It appears that both vice police and the Alhambra committee perceive each other’s way of dealing with street prostitution as problematic.

(Concerns about) the presence of organized crime

At the beginning of this chapter, I explained how street prostitution can also be considered to be a risk profession when organized crime or exploitative networks are involved as a third party. I decided to present this association in a separate section because it proved to be a security-related issue that evoked a lot of discussion with different stakeholders. The (possible) association with organized crime not only emerged as a security issue for those working in prostitution. In March 2015, BRUZZ published an article titled “Mafia takes over restaurant business in the Alhambra area ” (2015, March 11). In this article, the Alhambra committee indicated that street prostitutes consistently keep returning to the neighborhood, despite the local regulation, because of the presence of certain bars. According to the committee, prostitution and mafia or organized crime sustain each other: the mafia takes over regular bars to turn them into prostitution bars, where prostitutes are welcome 61 to use the toilets or have a coffee. The presence of such bars causes the prostitutes to stay in the neighborhood. In an open letter to mayor Mayeur, the committee not only addressed nuisance as their problem, but broadened the problem by addressing how a link between organized crime and street prostitution poses problems in reducing the impact of street prostitution at Yser. The resident committee perceived an increase in the number of these bars and therefore, feared a further and long-term embedding of street prostitution in the neighborhood.

The perception that prostitution and organized crime go hand-in-hand, is a strong one in the neighborhood. Whether it was by reflecting on who organizes or controls street prostitution and bars such as the former Tropicana bar (mainly residents), by considering it as possibly contributing to how street prostitution at Yser is a risk profession (mainly social organizations), by relativizing its assumed omnipresence (certain people working in prostitution) or by explicitly condemning it as one of their core problems (mainly vice police): in varying degrees and through a variety of perspectives, nearly every conversation arrived sooner or later at the subject of organized crime. I untangle this particular association, to make

61 Which is not always the case in other, non-prostitution-related bars. 160 clear what or who is considered threatening or threatened, safe or unsafe. This is necessary because, despite the perception of a strong linkage between prostitution and organized crime, concerns about this association varied in an unexpected and rather complex way. When discussing the role of organized crime in what is at stake with street prostitution at Yser, two concerns came up: (1) concerns about the overemphasis on or simplification of the involvement of organized crime and (2) concerns about how organized crime embeds prostitution in the neighborhood. Finally, I discuss how certain people associate organized crime with social control in a rather interesting way.

(1) An overemphasis or simplification of the involvement of organized crime Social organizations Entre 2 and Espace P , vice police and street prostitutes explained that the involvement of criminal networks is part of their security concerns about some of the people working in prostitution. The head of vice and social organizations Espace P and Entre 2 identified criminal networks as organizing or facilitating part of the influx of certain prostitutes in the neighborhood. Entre 2 and Espace P indicated that those working in prostitution sometimes inform them when they are worried about a new girl arriving at Yser. The vice brigade, whose main task is to detect sexual violence (see previous section) and exploitative third-party involvement, are worried about the psychological evolution of such networks and third party involvement:

She: That’s a problem: since the legislation about the aid to victims of trafficking started working, pimps adapted very quickly. What did they do? They stopped using violence, they stopped taking the entire profit and started giving 50 percent to the girls, 50 percent to themselves.

Me: Creating some sort of goodwill?

She: And they immediately tell her that it will be a job in prostitution. (…)

Me: So, if I understand correctly, there is a psychological approach to it?

She: Well, psychological… it’s a win-win situation. Because if they take away 100% (profit) of their girls and those girls press charges against them, they lose their profit and they risk some serious sentences or jail time. Now that’s not necessary anymore. Before, they had to keep an eye on the situation and they would have to be in the neighborhood. Now, they can just stay in Bulgaria or Romania because they don’t need to check if their girls are working (…). This leads to a different approach for our 161

services: now we have to convince them that it is not normal that they have to pay 50% of their profit to them.

Throughout our conversation, she explained that the changes in how criminal networks work with prostitutes, lead to more intensive and longer procedures for their services: not only to discover who is part of an exploitative work arrangement, to gain trust of women who have to share their profits but sometimes also to convince them of the unbalanced financial arrangement. These are actions and procedures that require time and this is put under pressure by the local regulation as discussed in chapter five.

Throughout the fieldwork, I noticed that prostitutes who appeared uncomfortable or unsure to talk about their situation in the neighborhood, also declined talking or staying in contact. This means that I have no problem perceptions from women who explain they are part of a network and therefore this fieldwork misses important problem identifications, from prostitutes who are part of a network, of what is at stake for them from a security point of view. I was also careful to address security concerns about the involvement of organized crime with those working in prostitution, as I did not know whether I would put them in an uncomfortable position or whether it would have consequences for sustaining our contact. As such, I approached more carefully. X and her friend Z recognized that there are criminal networks and problematic bars in the neighborhood. Though they did not focus on this as the main problem, they did point out that certain groups, people working on this or that side of the neighborhood, tended to be part of criminal networks. They also explained that they could help me get in contact with people and always referred to them as people who work independently. They did not specify whether the girls of the networks would be unwilling to talk to me out of fear but rather referred to how they might not be able to speak English or French. In short, they did refer to the presence of criminal networks but often did so in a subtle way.

What was possible to discuss, was whether or not people would work independently. X, XX, M and T are women who identified themselves as working independently: they decided when, where and for how long they would work at Yser, in another red-light district or even in another sector. In a formal interview with T, she explained that she was looking for a job like cleaning houses or working in a bar. In the meantime, she was working in prostitution independently. During a short informal conversation with M, she explained that she too, works independently. She returns to the neighborhood when needing to earn a little more after 162 her hours cleaning offices, without her family knowing about the source of extra income. X nuanced the extent to which criminal networks or organized crime are behind the organization of street prostitution at Yser:

She: Yes, there are networks, but that’s not the case for every girl working here. Me, for example, I work independently. I pick my own clients and I work when and wherever I want. Nobody approached me yet to tell me that I had to stand here or there. Nobody. We mind our own business. You know, some girls also have what my friend refers to as maquereau sandwiches 62 .

Me: Maquereau sandwiches?

She: Boys who tell their girlfriend: ‘You do this guy so I can buy my sandwich!’

In these terms, X explained that one should relativize the omnipresence of organized crime behind each and every person working in the streets at Yser. She continued by pointing out how such a focus on organized crime and exploitation, results in a lack of concern for other security concerns as discussed in the previous section.

X was not the only one who pointed out the importance of putting the involvement of organized crime into perspective when discussing what’s at stake from a security point of view. Social organizations Espace P or Entre 2 and vice police also did not identify organized crime (and more specifically human trafficking) as the source of all security problems, nor did they equate street prostitution with human trafficking or exploitation. Moreover, Espace P and Entre 2 considered the emphasis on the role of organized crime as problematic, as it overshadows the complexity of reaching out to those working in prostitution. Entre 2 expressed its concern about how debates on street prostitution at Yser in particular, but prostitution in general, are focusing too much on the involvement of criminal networks in which they assume a passive role for those working in prostitution:

She: The residents think that they (prostitutes) are all exploited but you have to nuance a lot of things. The moment something is aligned with drugs or sex… you know the things that are marginalized, you start hearing crazy stuff.

He: You know what is interesting for your research, all those numbers given in media (…) They don’t research where these numbers come from! (…) combine that with the

62 French for ‘Sandwich pimp’ 163

politically correct times we live in and you get little nuance in the debate. If you want to explain prostitution, you have to nuance a lot (…) some feminist movements are really powerful in making us think about prostitution in terms of slavery. Even if you show them that it is more complex than that, they still don’t want to hear it.

They feared that if the problem constructions on the security issues of prostitutes become limited to the involvement of criminal networks, this may give ground to the abolitionist argument that a city should not allow prostitution in the first place. As such, the city could reframe their local regulation as offering a solution to both nuisance concerns and ‘saving women working in prostitution’. Such a perspective would dismiss the city from taking up responsibility in responding to broader security concerns and from providing secure alternatives.

(2) The involvement of organized crime in the imbedding of prostitution in the neighborhood Just as Entre 2 predicted, residents (and certain shop owners), strongly associated street prostitution with criminal networks and exploitative third-party involvements. For example, when presenting my research to a shop owner, he disrupted my introduction saying that: “Street prostitution and problems! you are from the University of Antwerp? Well they used to come with little buses from Antwerp to drop off a bunch of girls only to pick them up at the end of the day!” . Concerns about how networks would be in charge of organizing, sustaining or controlling the street prostitutes at Yser were strongly tied to how people perceived prostitution as a problematic form of labor (see chapter eight). Yet, these concerns also occurred when residents talked about news reports on problematic prostitution bars or when they perceived certain figures or evolutions in the neighborhood as out of place. Some residents referred to how a particular small night shop, selling out of date condiments, was able to survive for years even though the shop was not selling all that well. This shop must be a cover up for mysterious and criminal practices, a place where prostitutes probably have to bring in the money they just earned, one resident reasoned. Other residents talk about observing a black Mercedes that regularly parks on the square on weekday evenings and still others are concerned about how certain relatively accessible bars develop into (for them) less welcoming places. A resident explained:

Do you know this restaurant, that old tapas restaurant? It was a very nice restaurant but they closed down. It is a very nice building, from around 1800 or something, nicely 164

restored, in perfect condition. I thought that there would be a fancy clothing store or something, but no… it became a bar. There are no clients, it is very marginal with these TL lights, … It is just impossible that that type of bar could be there. So yes, you can see that some bars pop up that do not make sense (here). Brussels is becoming super hipster and expensive and here you have the Flamingo and the theatre and then such a marginal bar opens? With no clients? That is without a doubt suspicious.

Most residents explained that they are concerned about the presence of organized crime but they identified different issues as at stake. Firstly, residents, especially those who are part of the Alhambra committee, were concerned that the presence of organized crime will lead to a structural and hard to contain imbedding of street prostitution in the neighborhood. The Alhambra committee explicitly associated bars like Tropicana, bars where prostitutes and clients meet, with criminality. Apart from them causing nuisance, they relied on this link with criminality to advocate for the closure of such bars.

Secondly, by assuming the presence of organized crime, certain residents worried that they were up to more forces than just the people working on the streets in their endeavors to find a compromise about maintaining public order in the neighborhood. While I was talking with a resident about the long process in which the city tried to close down the Tropicana bar, he strongly suspected the influence of criminal networks on the presence (and re-emergence) of certain prostitution-related bars. Furthermore, he considered that residents were on their own when battling against such forces:

Since the Tropicana has closed, eight new bars have opened (…) my trust is gone and I am not the only one, many people have no more trust in the local administration. This neighborhood is doomed; the mafia took over. Good, congratulations, Brussels! People like me, dual earners who pay a lot of taxes, disappear. But I think that is what the socialist party wants. (…) I don’t know the structures of that (how the mafia works) but that guy from the Tropicana, who is now in the Jimmy’s bar, received half a million 63 from the city. That’s crazy, what are we doing, Kristien, what are we doing?

When new bars emerge, such as the Café Taverne 54 in spring 2016, they are often compared to Tropicana , the infamous bar that was located in the midst of the Yser neighborhood. When I arrived in the neighborhood, the debate on how the City should deal with the Tropicana bar

63 The respondent refers to the 1.25 million euro that the OCMW/CPAS of the Brussels City supposedly payed to buy the Tropicana bar in 2013 (BRUZZ, 2013, May 5). 165 just reached its climax. The City tried to close down the bar after police checks, for three months in 2014. The City was able to close the bar down after an inspection in which weapons and drugs were found. Tropicana was able to re-open immediately after that period. It was the third time the bar re-opened after being closed down by the city (BRUZZ, 2014, January 14). In spring 2015, the first media reports emerged on how the city’s OCMW/CPAS might buy the property. The bar could no longer extend its license and shortly after that, the Tropicana was closed down 64 . But the resident committee remained vigilant and noticed how the clientele from Tropicana merely moved to another prostitution-related bar. That way Jimmy’s became the new Tropicana . Certain residents indicated that their discomfort with bars like Tropicana or Jimmy’s increased when they perceived an inability of the City to close them down. Such inability, in turn, is sometimes perceived as suspicious as well, leading to a lack of trust in the mayor or representatives of the City.

I addressed the suspicion of certain residents about bars such as Jimmy’ s with the administrative police. They also perceived a certain association between street prostitution and suspicious bars, although they were careful in drawing causal conclusions:

Police officer 1: In one way or another, there seems to be a correlation between, on the one hand, having a red-light area and, on the other hand, dubious bars, where there is a link with weapons or drugs, well, there is a relation.

Police officer 2: Prostitution takes place within a specific milieu, so, how can I say this (…) You have an underworld and the official world and prostitution lingers somewhere in between. So, there is money laundering, weapons, drugs and yes, all of that is connected with these people.

The police officers explained they understood why residents would be suspicious of certain bars and, by extension, of street prostitution, yet at the same time, they also reflected upon the presence of shady bars in other, non-red-light areas in the city. They also relativized to what extent such bars, or even the assumed criminal entourage, represent a threat to the residents of the Yser neighborhood:

Police officer 2: It’s a concern of these residents, not only prostitution in itself, but everything that this brings along: fighting, stabbings, the occasional gunshot. Imagine living there with children. It’s not prostitution in itself but,…

64 Currently, an art project is running in the former bar. 166

(…)

Police officer 1: On the other hand, it’s not that there are no fights in other neighborhoods. These people gather complaints to show “look it’s unsafe here”, while there are other places in Brussels where there are fights once in a while even where there is no prostitution. It’s true, there are different experiences in that neighborhood. Some people experience it differently (…), that’s why a perception of unsafety is subjective.

Apart from finding certain developments in the neighborhood suspicious, most of the residents, however, reasoned that criminal networks must operate behind the scenes, since they did not observe or met/encountered any pimps, traffickers or other criminals themselves. For example, although residents assume that prostitutes work with pimps, most of them also explain that they are not sure whether men talking to prostitutes are potential clients, friends, errant boys or pimps.

(3) Social control This brings me to a final perception of residents about the presence of street prostitution and its relationship with organized crime. Whereas certain residents considered the connotation between street prostitution and organized crime as problematic, the responses of other residents indicated an unexpected beneficial side-effect of the presence of street prostitution and an assumed mafia entourage. When residents reflected on matters of security or criminal networks more generally, most of them did not question whether their own personal and physical safety was at risk by living in a street prostitution area.

If they (mafia) buy up local businesses and put them under pressure and threaten them, then that is a criminal problem. But for me, as a resident who works somewhere else and has no commerce (business) here, I cannot consider those guys as criminals. They never talked to me, I never saw them doing anything wrong, I never saw them fight. But maybe that’s just me, I don’t know, but I do understand that if you open a shop in this neighborhood and you are suddenly put under pressure, then that becomes a problem.

Some residents assumed a certain hierarchy of crime in their area, with traffickers and mafia at the top of the criminal food chain, who would keep petty crime out of the neighborhood, so prostitutes would be able to work without disturbance and clients would not be afraid: 167

What I really want to tell you is that I feel much safer in this neighborhood than in the Anneessens 65 neighborhood. You know what bothers Brussels residents more than anything else? That stupid petty criminality. You are beaten up, people steal from you, push you or as a woman, they shout at you. That is very annoying. These are petty crimes but the kind of crime that bothers people a lot. The impression that I get is that in this neighborhood, you do not have much of that, because of the social control by the hookers. I think that the men who watch them, so not really the pimps, but you know, the guys who hang around here and keep things in check, I don’t think these are the kind of guys you have to fool around with. I think those kinds of guys are allergic to little bandits trying to steal the wallet from an old bank clerk visiting a prostitute. (…) If those guys would notice that clients stay away because they might be robbed here, they will not allow that! I think the street credibility of those pimps is big. I never experienced somebody trying to steal my wallet here, while when I lived around Anneessens they just shouted at me: “Hé Sale Flamand, viens ici.” I never hear that here.

Another resident shared an ambiguous perception about, on the one hand, considering street prostitution as a sign of organized crime but, on the other hand, as a form of social control. He explained what he perceives as security benefits of a 24/7 presence of street prostitutes by referring to an incident that occurred when the street prostitutes were no longer allowed in certain streets:

I never had any problem in this neighborhood. Then, they made this rule 66 that the hookers were no longer allowed here. The first time, they had to move to the other side of the circular road 67 , my car was parked behind the theatre. Suddenly, it was very quiet here, there was nobody, no more hookers and then some people tried to carjack me. That’s when I realized that they (prostitutes) bring along security. This is a red-light district, that’s those guys’ business, they don’t want any trouble here.

Other residents also reflect on how the mere presence of prostitutes offers them a sense of security:

65 Anneessens is a neighborhood on the other side of Brussels City. It is often perceived as a more dangerous area. 66 The zoning plan. 67 The Antwerpselaan . 168

He: I never thought of this place as dangerous, it’s more a problem of nuisance. There is much social control because of the girls standing here. They are kind of the street guards, so to speak.

Me: How do you notice that?

He: Well, it’s something that I think, not necessarily know. But like car theft, you won’t have that as easily here. There is always somebody watching. I never saw glass from broken car windows in the street. There are always people around. Just because the girls are standing here, there are always people passing by. It’s never deserted here, actually, you are never alone in the streets.

Although not unanimously shared, a recurring perception in conversations with residents on security was one of social control: residents who felt more at ease in their neighborhood because of the presence of prostitution. In general, residents’ concerns about how street prostitution may signal the presence of criminal networks, were not predominantly revolving around a fear for their own personal and physical safety. This does not mean that there were never any violent encounters in the neighborhood. Yet testimonies about that refer to violence between certain residents and certain prostitutes (see below), not between residents and pimps or other people the residents associate with criminal networks 68 .

However, an underlying unease from residents about the connotation of street prostitution with organized crime, did come to the surface when we were discussing whether residents would understand that the street prostitutes might also count on residents for social control, a bi-directional social control. In general, residents explained that they did not perceive it as their task, that they would be unable to offer street prostitutes protection against the security threats street prostitutes are facing. The perception that prostitution might be linked to organized crime, makes them feel uncomfortable and inadequate to provide the role of ‘ social controllers ’:

Me: Why do you think they are here?

68 Except for an incident in 2005 between the Alhambra committee and the owners of the rendezvous hotel Studio Europe. When the committee was holding a neighborhood meeting, the owners of Studio Europe are said to have disturbed the meeting and to have verbally threatened the committee members. The owners of Studio Europe, however, explain that they are not part of criminal networks but are rather offering a safe working environment for the prostitutes. Furthermore, they explain that they collaborate with the social service Espace P , offering them one of the hotel rooms as a ‘mobile/pop-up’ doctor’s office on a regular basis. 169

He: They think it is cozy here. They’ve got vestiaries in those eight bars and they count upon people like you and me to keep an eye on the situation, so that is perverse.

Apart from this resident reflecting that the prostitutes may find the neighborhood cozy, during our conversation, his concern was that prostitutes depend on the neighborhood for protection. He finds this problematic as he perceives this responsibility as not to be his or any other resident’s. Another resident shared this concern:

That letter, written by the prostitutes, was kind of an eye opener to me. They explained that they do not want to be displaced to the Koning Albert 2 - Laan because there is little social control there. So, that means: “We want to stay in your streets because we kind of expect you residents to watch over us.” But come on, so you (prostitutes) use us as protection in order to do your job. I don’t want that kind of responsibility. I feel kind of used at that point.

Interestingly, the following statement is made by the same man who, earlier in our conversation, referred to the women as the guardians of the neighborhood. I tried to understand the different perceptions by discussing their co-occurrence:

Me: Excuse me for playing the advocate of the devil here but at the beginning of our conversation, you explained to me how the prostitutes offer you a sense of social control?

He: Yes, that also true. It’s two-sided. It’s not black versus white.

Me: So, you’re kind of leaning on each other?

He: Yes (…) I already asked myself: what would I do when something is happening to one of these girls? I think I would differentiate between: is this someone that I recognize/know or is it one of those (prostitutes) that annoys me every night because she does not understand that she cannot be here. In that last case I would think: fuck it, now you can take care of yourself. But it’s difficult, it’s very difficult. In the end, I think I would always call the police.

Although most of the residents explained that they were not particularly afraid that their personal safety would be at stake in their neighborhood (no more or no less than when living somewhere else in the city), sometimes it was. When I was talking to two teenage brothers living in the area, they explained that they are not afraid but that they always pick up their 170 female friend who lives close by so she does not have to walk alone through the neighborhood at night. I arranged an interview with their friend to hear her version of that story. She explained that she did, indeed, rely on her friends when walking home at night or that she preferred to take a different route when she was alone.

She: I experienced it a few times that when I passed by there, then there are men talking to women and then they look at you like ‘ah!’. I don’t know… I tend to go on very quickly and not look back.

Me: Do they sometimes talk to you?

She: Yes. They walk next to me for a while and ask me ‘what’s your name?’ It’s like… I answer quickly but I walk on very fast.

She continued by clarifying how such encounters between her and men visiting the neighborhood in search of a prostitute, lead to discomfort or annoyance:

She: You know, the women don’t disturb me but I feel like ‘don’t look at me’, especially for the men who hang around there.(…)Mostly I am annoyed. Maybe sometimes I do hope that nothing will happen. But in the end, often there is somebody walking me home. It’s kind of ok in the end.

When finishing an interview, I asked the interviewees whether they had further advice or questions for me, as a researcher in the neighborhood. In this particular conversation, an underlying fear surfaced when she asked:

She: I really wonder, because sometimes you hear that girls are kidnapped and forced to prostitute themselves. I don’t know but is this also happening here?

(I explain that there are various reasons why women work in prostitution but that it does happen that some of them are forced into it)

She: Well, that’s what makes me feel unsafe. I don’t want to be, suddenly, thrown into a car.

In addition to this question emerging in different resident interviews, the perception of this young woman is important. Her reaction indicates that uncertainty about how prostitution works, having unaddressed questions or concerns about one’s own risk as a woman in a red- light area, could increase feelings of unsafety. Indirectly, in her case, this led to a preventive 171 problem identification (the possibility that one can be approached by people with dangerous intentions) and a better-safe-than-sorry solution: avoiding to walk alone through the neighborhood at night.

Tense relations and aggressive encounters

Indirectly, the implementation of and unclear communication about particularly the toleration/no-toleration zone also seemed to bring along a different, more subtle type of perceived security threat. This security threat developed because of heated debates and violent interactions between certain prostitutes and certain residents discussing whether or not the prostitutes were allowed in the neighborhood. In this instance, prostitutes are no longer ‘just’ perceived as nuisance or victims, but also as aggressive individuals. In the summer of 2016, for example, a discussion on whether or not a prostitute was allowed to be in the neighborhood became heated to the point that the encounter got violent and a male resident had to be hospitalized. The resident, who wrote an open letter to local and national media, presents aggressive prostitutes as a security threat in the neighborhood:

I leave my home on Wednesday the 6 th of July (…) Near the Flamingo bar, I see a prostitute with whom I already had several disagreements. The man, dressed as a woman, had threatened me a few times in the past.

This time, however, he decides, without any specific cause, to push and hit me. I immediately call the police (…). While waiting for the police, I receive several punches (…). Many bystanders see this happening from a terrace nearby, but nobody is reaching out to help. (…)

He explained that this aggressive encounter took place in the no tolerance zone:

The reality is that, every day, there are prostitutes in my street, with all the nuisance that comes along with it (from litter and noise to unsafety, human trafficking and mafia).

According to his letter, there is a lack of police enforcement and therefore those in prostitution stay (going into hiding briefly when a patrol does visit the neighborhood in response to a resident’s complaint).

Frustrated with this ridiculous ‘solution’ from the police, I started addressing the prostitutes myself, asking them to leave. This, obviously, leads to regular discussions. 172

(…) Earlier this year, I had another discussion with a prostitute who did not want to leave. She pushed me too so I called the police. I informed them that the situation was getting worse, that the prostitutes were becoming more aggressive and that I felt threatened. The patrol took ‘note’ and send it to the municipality officer with the promise that she would contact me. I never heard anything again.

(…)

In the meantime, I had to be hospitalized (due to the violent encounter) and the prostitute who attacked still walks cheerfully, in front of my door. I don’t feel safe anymore (…) 69

In the previous chapter on nuisance, I explained how X and Z responded to this violent encounter, by referring to some troublesome individuals working in street prostitution. However, Z was also critical of certain residents who addressed them pointing out the no- tolerance zone. He referred to an incident in which a resident shouted at X and him. He explained that they were just hanging out around the theatre building and a man suddenly shouted: “ Do you think I like to have hookers in front of my door? ” He indicated that such reactions are hurtful and do not inspire people to cooperate and enter into a constructive dialogue.

Espace P and Entre 2 confirmed that the behavior of certain residents would qualify as threatening to the safety and security of prostitutes. Where some residents throw water on the prostitutes when they make too much noise, others take pictures or videos of them while they are working on the streets. The organizations identified this as residents who try to illustrate that the local regulation is not obeyed yet, at the same time, violate the privacy of those in prostitution. When these pictures or videos are put online, this poses privacy and security risks for prostitutes who for personal or security reasons would rather work anonymously (this was also identified as a concern by the head of vice).

69 Open letter by resident, sent to me by resident through e-mail correspondence on the 10 th of July, 2016. See also Goethals (2016, July 11). 173

7.1.2 Which actors are represented as involved and in which roles?

Criminal networks and prostitution bars

A variety of people referred to criminal networks in their security problem perceptions. Residents who are lobbying against nuisance and the presence of street prostitution, considered such networks as causing an influx and further embedding of street prostitution in the area. The resident committee also considered them to be actively involved in buying up real estate (whether or not by pressuring local businesses into selling their property) to open new prostitution-related bars. Criminal networks as such are not easily identified by residents. They explain that they assume their presence, but the only indications are the presence of, on the one hand, young migrant women and, on the other hand, the emergence of shady bars or empty stores.

The head of the vice police was more specific in identifying criminal networks by pointing out from which European regions certain criminal organizations operate. She explained that there are different networks, which evolved over the years. By explaining how, currently, networks mainly operate from abroad, the head of vice indirectly explained residents’ inability to identify specific figures. Consequently, she also explained why these networks are mainly causing security issues for those in prostitution, rather than for residents.

Without discarding a negative influence of criminal networks on the working situations of certain prostitutes or the presence of bars, social organizations and street prostitutes were more nuanced in pointing towards criminal organizations as causing ‘the biggest’ problem in the neighborhood. Both emphasize the role of the City in securing safe working conditions (see below). X and Z, however, aligned with residents when expressing suspicion about certain bars being not good for the neighborhood nor for the prostitutes.

Street prostitutes

The position of street prostitutes emerged as more complex. The variety of problem perceptions may attribute different roles to street prostitutes. Those working in street prostitution did not explicitly identify themselves as victims but they did identify themselves as working in a risk profession. The subgroup of prostitutes I interviewed explained that networks do organize the influx of certain other subgroups of people working in the streets of Yser. However, they refrain, at least while I was doing this research, from explicitly identifying the ‘girls from the networks’ as being victims, too. Street prostitutes also 174 identified certain colleagues as causing security risks for the entire group of people working in prostitution. Prostitutes who are willing to negotiate prices and, in particular, working conditions, are considered as instigating less safe practices. Towards the end of the fieldwork, X also identified an increased influx of junkies into the neighborhood as causing security concerns 70 . As junkies would also start offering sex for money, they attracted a new, more dangerous audience into the neighborhood. Importantly, in the problem perceptions of those in prostitution, a differentiation in roles and positions between colleagues, emerged. They do not necessarily or consistently consider themselves to be one homogenous group.

The head of vice is more explicit in identifying certain prostitutes as victims of exploitative third party involvement or criminal networks. However, she pointed out that her identification of somebody as a victim might not correspond with the self-identification of this person:

In the past couple of years, the girls have not perceived themselves as victims. And that really complicates things. They feel that they have chosen to prostitute themselves, that they are working together with their dear husband or they consider him as their protector. They think: ‘All right he takes part of my money, but whatever, my monthly average salary in Romania is nothing compared with what I earn here with prostitution’.

Interestingly, prostitutes who are not part of networks indicated that the vice brigade tended to overlook potential threats to their security and thus to underestimate the possibility that they, and not just illegal migrant sex workers, might become victims, too.

When identifying problems from a security point of view, residents shifted in how they perceived the role of street prostitutes in causing or being subject to these problems. Identifying prostitutes as sources of nuisance did not exclude identifying them as possible victims. Depending on what problem perception becomes more relevant for a resident, one is more emphasized than the other. Residents who gave more weight to nuisance problems than to security were less inclined to perceive street prostitutes predominantly as victims of organized crime. However, they did not consider street prostitutes as criminals or culprits in organized crime, either. In these discussions, street prostitutes were not presented as victims of, nor as participants in, criminal networks, but they were positioned as indicators of the presence of organized crime. A similar but slightly different role attributed to street

70 She explained that these junkies arrived in the Yser neighborhood after increasingly being chased away from the newly installed pedestrian zone in the City center ( Anspachlaan ). 175 prostitution in the discussion of security concerns, was that the phenomenon in itself attracted ‘wrong or dangerous’ people into the neighborhood. An example of how street prostitutes can be perceived as indirect causes of security threats can be found in the following suggestion from a resident:

If you make an agreement with the prostitutes that this or that street is for children (to play) and that they would wait somewhere else so they would not attract external people (clients) because that is less safe for the children.

It becomes clear that residents can consider prostitutes as both intruders and victims, depending on the problem we discuss (nuisance or safety, respectively). The position of street prostitutes, then, can develop into a mixture of being villains (causing noise and being associated with organized crime) and victims (being subject to criminal networks): criminal victims, if you will.

Just as the street prostitutes, social organizations Espace P and Entre 2 rather identified street prostitutes as people working in a risk profession who can be subject to a broad variety of security threats. However, they explicitly did refer to street prostitutes as being victims of the local prostitution regulation that does not take their security concerns into account.

Clients, pimps and maquereau sandwiches

Those working in prostitution identified a certain type of men as causing both security and nuisance problems, explicitly pointing out one of the culprits to the co-occurrence of these two problem perceptions. They distinguished between correctly paying, regular clients versus clients who try to negotiate prices and conditions. Vice police and social organizations also identified security threats posed by certain clients or mere bullies who visit the neighborhood to harass those working in street prostitution.

The women I spoke to did talk about pimps, but at the same time, also relativized the degree of security threat they represent. The figure of the ‘maquereau sandwich’ emerges: men who do profit from women working on the streets to pay for their sandwich. This was said jokingly, as a way of relativizing the threat posed by pimps in the neighborhood. As I explained in the previous section, the perspective of vice police on the presence of men financially profiting from the work of street prostitutes, differs. Furthermore, the 176 distinction between perceptions about criminal networks or one-on-one exploitative relationships is not clear and needs to be further examined.

Although the figure of the pimp emerges in nearly every interview as an assumed culprit to why the women are working in the neighborhood, it must be the least visible figure in the neighborhood, for residents, that is. Most residents explain that they would not know whether somebody is a client, a pimp or entourage. Only one resident, the spokesperson of the Alhambra committee, was explicit in identifying who controls the women working in the neighborhood:

The biggest pimp in the neighborhood is actually a woman, an older woman. I think she is in her sixties. She has black hair, black clothes, everything is black. (…) She walks around here, from morning until evening. Once you start noticing her, you will see her all the time. If you don’t know her, you won’t notice her, she is kind of invisible. You would not think that a woman could be a pimp, certainly not at that age, but she divides up the neighborhood. She will tell the Bulgarian girls to stand on that corner and the Romanian to stand on the other.

Local administrative police & the City of Brussels

There is a certain ambivalence when discussing the role of local administrative police in problem perceptions on security. Those working in prostitution did not explicitly hold police forces accountable for security problems, as they perceived police forces as merely executing instructions from the mayor. Vice police holds a similar perspective. Both point towards the City administration as responsible for taking into account the security of those working in prostitution. They do perceive the City to be negligent when developing local regulations. Since these regulations lead to a decrease in less safe working conditions for those in prostitution and less access for social organizations and vice police, the City is perceived as, indirectly, causing security threats. The president of the LDH, for example, explains:

It is something we encounter often: when regulations are applied to prohibit or abolish something, the consequence is that the protection decreases and the risks for prostitutes increase. That’s an element often neglected by policy makers. They kind of decide blindly that they found a solution. However, there is also a lot of hypocrisy involved, 177

especially from municipalities like Schaarbeek and Sint-Joost-ten-Node which really profit from window prostitution with their taxes on the ‘carrees’.

One resident considers that the City fails to take into account security in its efforts to revitalize the neighborhood:

There will be hundreds of new students here (…). I am worried about that because when you will have young girls (students) walking around here at night, with these men, horny, looking for prostitutes. I think that’s a dangerous situation. I think it’s strange that the City does not see those problems coming. (…) there is no vision, nobody seems to care.

This is noteworthy because the neighborhood is increasingly advertised to students and buildings are developed that are marketed to this particular audience.

Others

Most notably, the entourage and bar personnel of certain infamous bars shift the cause of troubles in the neighborhood by pointing towards a certain type of people visiting the neighborhood and/or by reflecting on the relativity of ‘drugs and prostitution’ versus terrorism. Racial slurs were common in the neighborhood, but at two bars, Muslims where specifically presented as causing security concerns for the neighborhood and the City in general. During an informal conversation with a bouncer and a client of a bar in the middle of the neighborhood 71 , conversations about the neighborhood were steered by the man to discuss the then recent terrorist attacks. Both men indicated that they had seen the terrorists who participated in the Paris attacks in the Yser neighborhood. I was unable to redirect the conversation to what’s at stake with street prostitution, as they indicated that it was of no importance or presented no threat compared to the presence of (radicalized) Muslims. When visiting another bar at the outer edge of the neighborhood, the bar tender also specified that he did not allow troublemakers (to which he referred as difficult Muslims ) in his bar and that this was the reason why his bar did not cause problems.

71 In this instance, since an easy identification of the ‘bouncer’ or ‘bartender’ could occur, I prefer to anonymize the names of the bars, so as not to endanger the privacy of the people involved. 178

7.1.3 What solutions are suggested?

Communication and mediation to ameliorate tense relations

In response to the tense relations in the neighborhood but also to the security concerns of residents, Espace P suggested mediation and communication as a possible solution. He referred to how Espace P had circulated a micro-questionnaire with five questions about street prostitution in the neighborhood. Afterwards, they developed a booklet with the main responses, which they delivered in the mailboxes at Yser. He illustrated how, by reaching out this way, some people reacted by informing them about their own problem perceptions. He continued by mentioning an angry phone call from a female resident. She complained about street prostitution, especially about a situation where street prostitutes in her street had addressed her baby. He explains how his conversation with her evolved:

I asked her whether it was bad (that the prostitutes had made little noises to the baby)? She asked: but why are they doing that? I said: maybe because some of them are mothers, too? She answered: I did not think about it in that way… I thought they were being aggressive. I said: no. And we talked, for 40 minutes on the phone. In the end, she said that she would try to think about it differently. Maybe she talks with them, maybe only with those two in front of her (door). That can open the debate.

Increased police presence and controls on bars

Residents who perceive criminal networks as part and parcel of what is at stake in the neighborhood, rely on this as an extra argument (see chapter six) to demand increased controls on or the closing down of prostitution bars, which they perceive as hotspots of criminality and nuisance.

An increased police presence or a mobile police station in the neighborhood, as suggested by the Alhambra committee in light of nuisance concerns, is also perceived as a valuable solution for both the nuisance complaints and security concerns by Espace P . When I was discussing the presence of the surveillance cameras with Z, he explained that it was experienced as a safety net by some street prostitutes, but he also relativized its importance. He explained that such cameras are not sufficient to provide safety for those working in the streets and that a more direct contact (not one intermediated by a camera) was needed. It is unclear whether he referred to an increased police presence, vice police presence or yet another approach. When police services and the MTP reflected on an increased police presence in light of the nuisance 179 complaints, they indicated that such a solution is difficult to achieve. Due to the lack of personnel, especially during the heightened terrorist threat level and the relatively low threat against residents , a mobile police station or even an increased presence of police forces was considered impossible. The head of vice explained why an increased police presence was currently not considered necessary as a solution:

The local police regulation does not work. It does not work. Why? It would demand a permanent police capacity in the neighborhood which is not possible because… you have to look at it from an objective point of view: the criminality against the residents is low. Against the prostitutes… that is something else. They are victim to many things.

In reaction to complaints from the Alhambra committee about the weak response and lacking involvement of the City, the MTP held a similar perspective:

Due to the current situation, the permanent police presence of two police officers might be out of proportion. The residents are not endangered because of the presence of prostitution. It is somewhat difficult to use police officers (in that neighborhood) in the current terror threat climate. However, we will keep working on closing down prostitution-related bars.(ADB, 2016, March 19)

The Alhambra committee also proposed to have more controls performed on the prostitution bars. The raiding of certain bars, a task performed by the administrative police, can have a double function. On the one hand, its aim is to find evidence against bars causing nuisance (for example after complaints by residents), on the other hand, such inspections may provide information to the federal and the vice police on matters of organized crime. The MTP presented the raids as a response to both security and nuisance concerns:

She: We also work on the bars, we inspect them (…), like for example (…) the new bar of the owner of the former Tropicana (…) We are aware that this bar is a hotspot of crime and they smoke inside. So yes, the police do intervene in the neighborhood, to assure the safety.

Me: Vice police?

She: Vice police works more with the girls to discover networks of human trafficking or to stop pimping. The bars, that’s more the work of the DO3 (a division of the police that works in the Yser neighborhood). Sometimes they are joined by other police forces (…) 180

we work a lot on the security of the bars and we try to limit the troubles related to the activities from such bars. These are true security actions for the neighborhood performed by the police.

Administrative police explained how the raiding of suspicious bars could serve a double purpose of combatting both nuisance and security issues since such raids could also provide information to their colleagues of the federal and vice police in the investigation of criminal networks:

Me: What type of controls are you performing then, when going to such a bar?

PO2: Criminality in general, the nuisance related to such bars.

PO1: Identity controls. We do go in with certain institutions so it’s an organized action.

PO 2: The drug dog comes along. But you have to distinguish between the different tasks: if we do an identity check, we take note of the names. We send those names to the federal police who might be interested in one of these names. But we do not investigate any further. We are doing checks in the field. We act on criminality, on what is causing nuisance. We write an official report and send it to the prosecution Council. The prosecution Council can decide whether it could be related to a case of human trafficking and then they send it to the federal police. At that point, we are not really informed anymore, but that’s not always necessary either.

Although raids could provide information to vice and federal police in their fight against organized crime, the timing and effects of these raids for the street prostitutes might also put a strain on the trust relationship between those in prostitution and vice police. Furthermore, those in prostitution were skeptical about raids as a solution because these also deter their clients. At Yser, coordinating the work of the vice police and the administrative police, although necessary, seems to be the equivalent of balancing on a tightrope. Administrative, vice and federal services do perform checks on bars, both for reducing nuisance (local administrative police) and investigation purposes (vice and federal services), but vice police stressed, that, in order to maintain the security of those working in prostitution, merely the raiding and closing-down of bars is not sufficient. Vice police emphasized that the current regulation, especially the fining system, is not a solution to nuisance but only creates additional security threats. Another approach is necessary. This brings me to the next section. 181

Gaining insight into the needs of and providing safety measures to those in prostitution

Vice police suggested a broader debate in which not only nuisance but also the security risks of those working in prostitution are taken into account by the City’s policymakers. To a certain extent, this had happened with the creation of the intersectoral platform in 2013. However, the platform interrupted its meetings 72 when the displacement efforts appeared to be ineffective (both for the residents and for the street prostitutes). When I asked why the platform had stopped meeting, the MTP answered that ensuring the security of those in prostitution did not seem to be the City’s task. The MTP identified that the City’s goal is to assure public order:

Our goal is to develop a better quality of life in the neighborhood. The goal of the City is to assure public order and the security of the residents in the neighborhood. So, we tried to gather all the stakeholders around the table but we realized it is not working really well. We also tried to improve the quality of life of the girls by, for example, maintaining their sanitary conditions, by making sure that things are also going well for them but we realize that this is not changing the situation.

When I asked her what this would mean for the public peace of those working in the neighborhood, the MTP specified that her services’ aim was to work towards a better quality of life. She distinguished quality of life for prostitutes from that for residents:

I think that normally, that should be the task of Espace P , Entre 2 , … organizations who are there, specifically for them. Do you know Pag-Asa ? They were also present in the platform discussions. They were there because they work a lot with victims and the City also wants to work against pimping and human trafficking. There are also the vice police, organizations specifically working with that audience. Our job, we are a City service, so my job is to propose how the quality of life can improve. In ‘quality of life’ you hear ‘living’ and I don’t think the girls who work here, live here.

Although subtle, this last remark points towards a friction that is tangible and problematized by the prostitutes. Some of them explain that they actually do live in the neighborhood. Once they have been identified as prostitutes, they are sometimes still suspected and approached as being at work by police services when they are not working as a prostitute but, for example,

72 In February 2017, nearly a year later, a new meeting was planned. 182 grocery shopping. Here, their quality of life as residents of the neighborhood is at stake. A second observation here is that this also outlines the perceived aim of the platform: to assure the quality of life of the residents. Assuring the quality of life of the prostitutes is perceived to be the task of the local organizations and police. The platform’s stated aim is to gather all stakeholders around the table to find a solution on how to reduce nuisance while at the same time preserving the safety of the women. Yet there also is a perception that preserving the safety of the women is not the task of the City’s prevention service. Therefore, it becomes unclear how the platform will lead to a joint effort or a plan that can assure both.

The social organizations Espace P and Entre 2 which were invited to join the platform, hold different perspectives on whether they, who to a certain extent represent the issues of the prostitutes at Yser, would be able to influence the decision and to what extent the platform was leading to workable solutions for the prostitutes. Where Espace P remained in the platform and collaborated on the police regulation and informe the prostitutes about it, Entre 2 withdrew 73 . When asking Espace P why they stayed, they gave a rather rational and practical reason: to be informed about possible new developments in the local regulation and to be able to anticipate if necessary. This does not mean that they did not monitor whether or not the police regulation would cause problems for the prostitutes on the street. When their involvement in the intersectoral platform could not prevent the further development of the fining system and when certain prostitutes approached Espace P with their concerns about the police regulation, they saw no other solution than to put the issue before the Council of State with the aid of a lawyer and the involvement of the LDH . I contacted the president of the LDH to discuss their involvement and to ask what solutions they would suggest:

We are aware that something has to happen with the regulation (at Yser). I can imagine that it is not easy for the people who live there, especially those with children. (…) I understand that families want to do something about it. But again, to clean up every neighborhood, to make the housing prices skyrocket? To chase away the prostitutes? To chase away the poor? Who remains, then? The white bobo’s? The ones with money? It’s a very complex issue and there are no easy answers. (…) We need clear statements in our answers and one of them is that sanctioning or prohibiting is not a solution. That

73 I was unable to interview the director of Entre 2, especially since she resigned in 2016. The decision to retreat from the platform, was, according to Espace P , not supported by the social workers of Entre 2. Espace P emphasized that it was the director of Entre 2 who decided to leave. I did talk with the social workers of Entre 2 but they remained rather diplomatic about whether or not they supported the decision to leave the platform, since, at that point, the director was still in place. 183

does not mean we should do nothing and that it should be possible to create red-light districts anywhere but we cannot have an ostrich policy either. We know there are networks and exploitation, we know some prostitutes might solicit more aggressively (…) but blind sanctioning? Just because one is a prostitute or a client of a prostitute? That is a bridge too far and regulates nothing. It only makes the problem more complicated, more hidden, with less protection for prostitutes and even for clients.

Residents who were concerned about the safety of those working in prostitution but aware of the nuisance conflict in the neighborhood, wondered why a Villa Tinto would not serve as a solution to both the nuisance and security problems.

He: I think that for the girls and for the neighborhood, a Villa Tinto solution, like in Antwerp, would be a good solution (…) They (the City) are looking for a building, they identified three possibilities but these were disqualified. But anyhow, they are working on that and it will probably be on the circular road too.

Me: But a Villa Tinto is rather for window prostitution… Maybe there is a reason why the women are working on the street?

He: Yes, but, honestly, I don’t think street prostitution is a good thing. I don’t think that’s safe for the girls, I really don’t think so . (Resident 1)

This resident argues that a Villa Tinto model could be a solution to re-organize street prostitution outside the neighborhood. He considers it a more attractive alternative for those in prostitution. With a Villa Tinto solution, he refers to part of the project in which the city of Antwerp reorganized prostitution in 2005. Villa Tinto is part of a red-light window area with 51 windows, opened by a private developer (but in coordination with the City of Antwerp). To answer this question, my mobile platform arrived at discussing street prostitution as a form of labor which led to yet another set of problem perceptions (see chapter eight).

7.2 Beyond nuisance and security

The question why prostitutes return to or refuse to leave Yser, even though their presence is contested there, brought me to the topic of security. Security emerged as a complex issue, with prostitution being problematized in a variety of ways, leading to different ideas about who or what is threatening and who is threatened. 184

However, street prostitutes, police services, social organizations and certain residents emphasized that they mainly consider those working in the streets to face specific security risks. Threats are identified as the presence of criminal networks, the risks associated with their profession, a certain type of client, bullies or -indirectly yet tangibly- the implications of the local police regulation that poses extra challenges to the security coping mechanisms prostitutes have developed to deal with the challenges of their profession.

Answering the question how the local regulation fails to respond to the impact of prostitution on the Yser neighborhood, reveals several frictions. A first friction revolves around the bars and rendezvous hotels: the Alhambra committee considers them as sources of nuisance and criminality. The street prostitutes, on the other hand, rely on such bars and hotels to create better and especially safer working environments. A second friction revolves around the implementation of the police regulation: the committee perceives the implementation of the regulation as ineffective in securing public order, while prostitutes and social organizations Espace P and Entre 2 consider the regulation as inherently undermining the security coping mechanisms of those in prostitution. Vice police and social organizations consider the regulation as hindering their investigative and outreach work, and therefore also as undermining their attempts to provide a safer environment for those in prostitution. A related friction emerges between the perception of residents and prostitutes of what they might expect from the different police forces which work in the neighborhood. A fourth friction emerges around the subject of social control with opposing perceptions about who should take care of whom in public space and, especially, who should be tasked with the protection of the street prostitutes.

Developing a plan to re-organize prostitution, appears impossible without taking into account the needs and security coping mechanisms of street prostitutes or without discussing the role of social organizations and police forces in reaching out to the street prostitutes. However, when discussing the security risks for prostitutes, two questions bring us to our next chapter: (1) why then, do we not re-organize street prostitution with a Villa Tinto like solution? or (2) shouldn’t a city and a country invest in creating other job opportunities for those in prostitution? By addressing these two reactions with mainly prostitutes and social organizations, it becomes clear that a different challenge is at play with regard to the organization of street prostitution: how we understand prostitution as a form of labor. 185

Chapter 8. Eastern European Tristesse and Latin-American Carnival

What’s at stake from a labor point of view

Apart from nuisance and security, labor was a third dimension that steered discussions on what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser. Just as in the previous chapters, problem perceptions varied. In contrast to the previous two chapters, where problem perceptions varied by addressing different aspects of an encompassing theme, here they varied by approaching prostitution as a form of labor, in different ways. The problems described can be organized under three general problem identifications: (1) problematic recognition of prostitution as a form of labor and its labor conditions, (2) prostitution as a relatively valid form of informal labor which, however is not at place in a residential neighborhood and (3) prostitution as an invalid/illegitimate form of labor.

8.1 What’s at stake? Problem identifications around labor

8.1.1 What is represented as problematic and by whom?

The problematic recognition of labor and labor conditions for street prostitution

When joining a social worker from Entre 2 on her weekly round through the neighborhood to hand out condoms and vaginal sponges, conversations with the street prostitutes mostly revolved around how business was going slow, especially during the day. Some prostitutes attributed this to the economic crisis (particularly in the beginning of the fieldwork), others to how the local regulation and actions such as bar raids scared off clients.

Discussions with those working in prostitution mainly revolved around discussing security and labor conditions. Where the local regulation was problematized, security and labor concerns emerged as strongly intertwined. This became particularly clear when those in prostitution (confirmed by Entre 2 or Espace P ), explained how the local regulation indirectly forced them to make a trade-off between preserving safe working conditions and securing an income. The consequences of the displacement to the Koning Albert 2 - Laan illustrates how a 186 prostitute, by not getting into a client’s car (a safety coping mechanism), weighs security more heavily than securing an income. Those working in prostitution and the social organizations pointed out how the local regulation does not take into account how prostitution is an income generating activity for people in a precarious financial situation.

In the previous chapter it became clear how the local regulation created competition between those working in prostitution. The development of less safe practices goes hand in hand with a drop in prices. Those in prostitution as well as Espace P or Entre 2 considered it to be problematic that local policymakers not only ignore prostitution as being an income generating activity but defend the criminalization of clients by equating prostitution to exploitation. They were skeptical about how local policymakers’ criminalization of clients and raids on bars would have been able to develop a win-win situation for both residents and those in prostitution. By not taking into account how prostitution is a “chemin de secours” (Z, Entre 2 ), an emergency solution for many of the people working at Yser and by ignoring their security concerns, local regulations are not perceived as rescue measures but rather as posing serious challenges to the coping mechanisms of those in prostitution.

As explained in the previous chapter, the local regulation and the bar raids have detrimental effects on their client base of those in prostitution. Certain clients (especially those who are married or in a relationship) become less inclined to visit the neighborhood out of fear of risking a fine or are daunted and deterred by bar raids. During other, informal conversations in the neighborhood, however, some women working at Yser also identified the increased presence of junkies who prostitute themselves to sustain their habits. X explained how she notices that her clients fear the presence of junkies and the deterioration of the atmosphere in the neighborhood. Taken together, the no toleration zone, the deterring effects of the fining system, the presence of junkies and an economic crisis increased the competition between the people working at Yser. Clients who tend to negotiate prices and conditions (having intercourse in their car, without protection, paying less) now have more room for negotiation, since the presence of clients who respect the conditions, declined. This influences the amount of money a prostitute is able to make. Handing out fines, then, is perceived as particularly problematic, as it could install a vicious circle: turning to street prostitution to gain money, being fined because of trying to attract clients in the no tolerance zone (where there might be less competition) and having to return to the streets to pay the fines. 187

When discussing the problems those in prostitution experienced with the local regulation, the administrative police, in charge of enforcing the rules, recognized the security and labor concerns. One police officer pointed out that the regulation did not take into account certain labor-related dynamics, such as an increase in economic competition, by reducing the allowed workspace but also the client-prostitute contact:

We notice that clients are not used to the women being pushed out to those streets, they will still look for somebody in the no tolerance zone. On the other hand, many girls were forced together on a small spot and that’s not easy. So the one who keeps on waiting in the no tolerance zone, now has an entire corner to herself, so that’s more attractive.

They explained how they observed how street prostitutes tried to adapt and test the boundaries of their new workspace:

Now they are spreading towards the Jacqmainlaan, they are really looking for a spot, going around that zone, really testing the boundaries (…) for economic reasons you see.

The MTP, when evaluating the existing displacement plans, was equally aware that the plan entailed a deterioration of the working conditions:

We wanted the girls to move to the Koning Albert 2 - Laan . But we realized the displacement was not respected because of the difficult weather conditions. It was in October, just before winter and that boulevard is really a wind tunnel, there are no small bars, so no social control, they cannot go and warm themselves or get a cup of coffee, use the toilets. They would have to cross the boulevard and go back into the neighborhood if they wanted to go to a bar.

The impact of the regulation on prostitution as an informal type of labor is also one of the reasons the LDH questioned the local regulations that are implemented at Yser:

He: Currently, we see policy and local policy actions that are not in line with the European Convention on Human Rights.

Me: How so?

He: When prostitutes are put in a situation in which they can no longer freely exercise their profession, (then that) is not in line with the social-economic rights which are 188

part of the human rights. When they cannot group themselves to assert their rights, then that is not in line with the right on assembly, the right to be unionized. So, a government has to make sure that, even though their job is different, their social- economic rights, which are human rights, (…) are respected.

I asked him how he evaluated this in light of the existing nuisance complaints or how certain residents considered street prostitution to be not at place in a family-oriented neighborhood (see below):

Me: But is it also a right to work wherever you want? What about working in public space?

He: Well, there you have legal limitations that are respected by the European Convention on Human Rights and other courts, namely, the respect for public order. You have to (…) assure good behavior, etcetera. So a prostitute who exposes too much or who is aggressive when looking for clients would not be in line with public order and vice and would be punishable.

Me: That is vague.

He: And subjective! What would we allow then? How many people are not jogging around with a bare chest in the Royal Park during lunch break? The prostitute waiting for her bus after work, still in her work outfit, who was punished, that’s a bridge too far.

Me: So that is where the city can read it (legislation) in different ways?

He: Yes.

At that point, just like many other stakeholders such as social organizations or vice police, the president of the LDH started to zoom out from the specific labor conditions at Yser and elaborated on the complexity and necessity of providing labor rights for those working in prostitution. The problematic lack of labor related rights becomes particularly tangible when displacement measures are installed.

What’s at stake in our neighborhood, according to Espace P and Utsopi , is that the street prostitutes cannot rely on labor rights and/or regulations when the City tries to displace or criminalize (aspects of) street prostitution. The City is able to sidestep labor conditions, since 189 street prostitutes and the social organizations are not able to refer to labor rights. Therefore, currently, they have to rely on human rights law to secure safe working conditions. This does not mean that Espace P considers prostitution to be a normal job, seeing that the motives and experiences of those working in prostitution can vary:

There are a variety of misunderstandings. They (residents) do not realize that prostitution is very complex. There are complex reasons why women work in prostitution, under what type of conditions they have to work (…) We approach the street prostitutes in a non-judgmental way and we work on their rhythm. Getting people to leave prostitution is not a goal by itself. So we do not judge (…) and sometimes people change. People who can live in it for several years and then it becomes complicated because the situation changes. So really working on the rhythm of the person in front of us.

During our conversation, he was consistent in maintaining this nonjudgmental approach. Consequently, when he talks about the presence of a rather abolitionist, Catholic organization that visits the prostitutes to talk to them about leaving prostitution, he did not consider that to be problematic either. He explained that it is good that there are a variety of people reaching out because some of the prostitutes might want to exit 74 . Because of the complexity of the job, Espace P reasoned that one of the main underlying problems which leads to a problematic position of prostitutes, is the lack of labor rights.

Prostitution as a (problematic) form of labor not at place in a residential neighborhood

Although with varying degrees of concern, most residents wondered whether or not the street prostitutes in the neighborhood have entered the profession out of their own free will. The president of the Alhambra committee, however, also approached prostitution from a labor perspective, be it from a different angle. He put aside the question whether prostitutes work voluntarily or not. The efforts of the Alhambra committee do not focus on dismantling street prostitution as a legitimate form of labor, but on prostitution as a form of labor within a residential neighborhood:

74 He did problematize, however, that such activist organizations are mostly working with volunteers instead of social workers. Since it requires a certain know-how and education to help people get in touch with social services, to help them navigate the possibilities, he explains that often these volunteers promise more than they can deliver. 190

There are many different perspectives in this neighborhood but in general, nobody is against street prostitution but everybody, or a large part of the people here, does have a problem with street prostitution in a residential neighborhood. That’s an important nuance to make and often, during the debate, that nuance is lost because then they say: ‘Yes but a prostitute has to be able to work’ and then we are getting involved too much in that debate while that’s not really an issue in our neighborhood. Nobody condemns the prostitute and nobody says: ‘It should be forbidden or allowed’. Nobody takes a position. It’s more about the practical side: what happens if there is street prostitution in your neighborhood?

From my conversations with the president of the committee it became clear that looking at street prostitution from a labor perspective and considering prostitution as a form of labor, could affect the discussion on the presence of prostitution in public space:

He: Can streets be privatized? That’s the question. Because that prostitute has her spot, some square meters and no other prostitute can work there or conflicts emerge, conflicts that can be violent. The prostitutes come to do their shift, there is one coming here, from 11 am to 4 pm, each day, except weekends. And every time new people arrive, there is commotion. But these streets become some sort of commercial trading zone. That’s not public space anymore, it is space divided in windows.

Me: Without the actual windows.

He: Without them paying taxes.

Another resident was clear: although he once did consider prostitution as a valid type of labor that deserved space in the neighborhood, he had reached his limits of tolerance:

I used to think: be more tolerant, it is good that they (clients) don’t go and rape somebody, men have to get rid of their drives and those women, well, as long as they are inspected and registered, pay taxes, then all is fine. But it is not like that. It is very dirty. It’s a bad world. It has to stop.

Some residents also reflected upon what would happen if we would recognize prostitution as a legitimate economic activity taking place in public space. One resident explained: 191

You have to organize it. Either everyone is free to sell whatever and whenever they want, or no one is. But now they are getting some sort of privilege: ‘We don’t know what to do with you, so okay, you can stay and you get the right to do what you want, we won’t pay too much attention’. And, that’s not really fair towards all the others. Like that, we would have to give three streets to the Peruvians selling stuff (…).

Somebody else voiced a similar remark:

Maybe you have to see street prostitution as a consumer good: I cannot sell shoes on the street so why should they be allowed to sell their bodies on the street? So that would not be right. So, I would say: it’s allowed nowhere except in the form of a store, like in the rue d’Aerschot , I think that should be possible. You’ll have to keep a close eye upon whether these girls are working voluntarily, that they are paid correctly, that there have the same labor conditions as somebody working for Dexia Bank.

Although the committee stated not to be interested in discussing whether or not street prostitution or prostitution should be recognized as a form of labor, interestingly when this was discussed anyway, the discussion was about labor duties (such as paying taxes or having a certain permit for working on the street) but not labor rights for street prostitutes.

A remarkably large group of residents, even those without children, perceived street prostitution to be an ill-suited phenomenon for the development of a family-friendly neighborhood. This resident, for example, indicated that street prostitutes have to adapt to residents who invest in the neighborhood:

I am not afraid to speak to the prostitutes. When they are sitting on my doorstep, I chase them away. In the beginning, I kindly told them: “Look, we live here with four children. We bought here and we will stay here. You, probably, won’t stay here, because of the nature of your profession, you’ll face problems sooner or later. But we are here to stay. So, I respect you, you made a choice to do your job, (but) you should respect us who live here”.

This resident, who bought a loft in the neighborhood years ago, was thinking about moving away, especially since he had a family:

He: I wonder how I can explain this to my daughter, what those ladies are doing here. Sooner or later, she will ask this. So, that’s not pleasant (…). Is this the best place 192

to raise my daughter? (…) I’d rather leave before becoming conservative and bitter (…) if you can’t beat them, don’t join them but….I have to think about my wife and little child, no?

Me: And your wife (…)?

He: No, my wife is more tolerant. As a woman, I think, she feels more pity for the women.

Me: How do you notice?

He: Often when I make a remark like “there she is again with that dirty…”, she would say: “yes but she’s also a human being”. That’s how she thinks.

Discussing prostitution as a form of labor in relation to the development of the neighborhood as a family friendly area, however, did not always lead residents to problematize it. For certain residents, it rather offered an entrance to discuss how they perceived actions of fellow residents as problematic. One particular couple indicated that their conscious decision to live in the inner city entailed the importance of making children aware of inequalities and conflicts:

From what point of view (do they say that a residential neighborhood cannot be a prostitution area)? Because you don’t want to see that other people are in a more difficult situation than you? Of course, it will be difficult within a few years when we pass by with her (she refers to her baby) and she will ask what are these ladies doing here. I will find that difficult too but that’s life… I think it is very strange.

Or this resident:

The cargo bike mums are the ones with the network and the right language to challenge things and probably I belong to that group as well, so it’s no judgement. But it is a fact that some people have more to say than others. Then you keep on having this mechanism of the stronger ones who suppress the less stronger ones… that’s probably why you see prostitution on the fringes of cities, never in the nice, fun areas of town.

I discussed the problem of street prostitution being perceived as a form of labor not at place in a residential, family friendly neighborhood also with the head of vice police and social organizations Entre 2 or Espace P ; each of them pointed out that many of those working at 193

Yser are mothers too. In the open letter, signed by “ the prostitutes from Yser”, those in prostitution also point out that many of them might be parents:

You probably have no idea about who we are. Many of us have children, partners and husbands/wives (…). Many of us would have the sidewalk as a home if it wasn’t for prostitution. If we are here, it’s because we are not rich.

This particular fragment reminds me of how the head of vice stressed that those working in prostitution have a work ethos and show awareness of working in a residential neighborhood by refraining from addressing fathers with children.

I opened this section with a quote from the president of the resident committee, stating that residents are not against street prostitution. Such concerns are often not mentioned in media reports or in the committee’s statements about the neighborhood, and thus, it may seem that prostitution as a form of labor is not really part of what people think is at stake in their neighborhood. During conversations with other residents, however, I noticed that a large part of the residents at least grappled with the question of prostitution as a legitimate form of labor and that this is a consideration when they reflect upon what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser. This brings me to the next section.

Prostitution as a problematic form of labor Only a few people spent little time to discuss prostitution as a form of labor. They perceived it as not more or less interesting than the job of the butcher in the neighborhood. However, these reactions were rather scarce. Contrary to the perception of the president of the committee, most residents did, at some point, reflect on whether or not they perceive prostitution as - in a broad sense- a legitimate form of labor. These residents are concerned that they are witnessing an unethical, exploitative form of labor in their neighborhood (but do not know how to deal with it). The main problem perception that lies behind their opposition to prostitution in the neighborhood, thus differs from that of the committee. Furthermore, it leads to a negative evaluation of the current displacement and fining regulation, as these are perceived as regulations that target people in precarious or exploitative circumstances. Residents reflected upon (1) motives behind working in (street) prostitution, (2) labor conditions and the type of labor and (3) what prostitution could symbolize when they indicated that they find prostitution to be a problematic type of labor. However, most of these concerns came with questions.

194

(1) Motives

During the conversations, a recurring concern was whether the women working on the streets, are actually working voluntarily and whether one should see or discuss prostitution as a job at all. In nearly every conversation, when residents reflected upon observing women working down the street or on how the City should respond to street prostitution at Yser, they pondered on the question why the women are working there in the first place. More specifically, an underlying concern to most of the residents is whether or not the women working in their streets are working voluntarily, whether they are in a position to choose this job. Residents worry about third party involvement, the influence of economic hardship or whether inequality dynamics forces people to turn to prostitution. A couple indicated:

She: How did they arrive in this situation? Maybe it’s a prejudice because maybe there are women who consciously choose to do this but, in my perspective, they have been forced in one way or another: be it forced by someone or more indirectly, because of economic conditions.

He: I project entire stories on them. I see them being transferred in shaky buses from the Caucasus to cold Brussels.

Just as for the resident quoted above, migrant prostitutes and the association with crime are a subject of concern:

They are not coming from Romania or Bulgaria, leaving everything behind, to stand around here, day and night, with pleasure. It could be very dark, this entire situation: for one, how they got here could be obscure.

(2) Labor conditions and type of labor

A reason why people question the motives of those working in prostitution, is that they consider prostitution in itself, often defined as ‘selling one’s body’, to be a mentally difficult type of labor. A resident perceived it as:

There is a dignity boundary you cross (with prostitution). How can I explain this? If you work 8 to 10 hours at an assembly line, maybe that touches upon your dignity as well. Or maybe when you are a Moroccan migrant with a university degree and not being able to use it here, maybe that touches upon your dignity too, in the long run. But 195

prostitution is a real direct infringement of your dignity, a bodily infringement. I think that might be one step worse.

Personal judgements about working in prostitution were common with residents who problematize prostitution as a form of labor. A returning remark was that they ‘could not imagine doing this job’, or like the following resident, whether or not one would allow their daughter 75 to work in prostitution:

Hello! They are playing with their health, it’s also not optional! Imagine having a daughter, saying that ‘it does not matter that she is standing around the corner, her life will turn out just fine’ .

For some residents, this perception is valid for all forms of prostitution. Regardless of whether somebody works on the street or behind windows, the mere act of exchanging sex for money is perceived as problematic. Other residents distinguish between the different forms of prostitution and mainly consider street prostitution to be a problematic form of prostitution because of the specific labor conditions in which people trade sex:

I don’t mind that they are standing here with 1, 15 or 50 (girls), but I do think: ouch, what are you wearing? They did not choose to walk like this here, at this hour of the night, and to stand there like that, up straight (…). You imagine guys who come to prospect them, men who come and check but then continue on their way. They have to endure that as well… To call it fascination or pity is too strong but I wonder how it works. It just seems very unpleasant.

(3) Symbolizing gender relations

Certain residents, mainly female residents, also reflected upon the prostitute-client relation, which they perceived as symbolizing distorted gender relations. A couple living in the neighborhood explained:

She: It makes me angry sometimes, when people say: ‘it’s the oldest profession in the world’. I know it is there and we won’t be able to rid it from this world. But it just cannot become a thing like ‘oh well yes’ or saying that some women really do it to earn money.

Me: Couldn’t that be the case for many people?

75 People mainly reflect upon female heterosexual prostitution 196

She: I know but let’s agree that prostitution is an extremely degrading job, it is different than working on the assembly line.

He: Maybe it isn’t like that for some people (…). Maybe some women do prefer to do this than to walk behind a dust car, maybe they think that is a more dishonorable job to do. I do think you should keep that option open, even if you cannot understand it yourself.

She: I do admit there is a certain subjectivity but I also think that it’s just structurally wrong, it’s a skewed male-female relation. (…) .

Near the end of the interview, she explained what she meant by the skewed male-female relation:

What is such a client thinking: it’s a power relation, “I dominate that woman and I take some money out of my wallet, to do whatever I want”. As long as you have men thinking like that, there is something wrong. Okay, you can project an entire economical structure on it as well, but if you take that away, it’s unjust, not right and an unethical situation.

However, during the conversations opinions could switch. Some residents were very consistent and persistent in considering it is a problematic type of labor that we, as a society should not allow. Other residents could have stated the same but would also indicate to have questions or doubts about their statements. This particularly struck me when I reread one of the interviews I had with a resident. Although he considered it to be problematic that our government lets people prostitute themselves, near the end of the interview he says:

Actually, it is absurd. They (people) consider it as unethical or not okay, while there are worse things happening in, for example, the top management of a bank. That’s way more unethical than selling your body .

In short, although not always clear-cut, a considerable group of residents found it difficult to consider prostitution a legitimate form of labor. Part of experiencing this as difficult stems from one’s own perspectives on sexuality, intimacy and labor, another part stems from having unaddressed questions and concerns about what it actually entails to sell sex. A recurring remark when people problematize prostitution as a job, is that they actually do not know and would like to know more about the women working in their street. 197

There are mainly two ways in which residents discussed their observations of what is happening in the streets: on the one hand, residents reflected on observing street prostitutes working long hours outside, regardless of the weather conditions. Combined with their own normative stance on whether or not one would actually want to trade sex or intimacy, they questioned whether prostitution is not a problematic activity, one that a city should not allow for ethical reasons (rather than because of nuisance complaints, for example). On the other hand, there are residents who actively contrasted their idea about prostitution being a problematic way of earning an income, by reflecting upon the street prostitutes seemingly having fun:

What strikes me is that when they are in-group, they are rather casual. I mean: they are giggling, making jokes, texting all the time. To be honest, they act like they are girlfriends waiting for somebody else. In that way, they actually do blend in.

Or:

Some do look super happy, they are chitchatting, so maybe it is possible? I just don’t know. Actually, I am very curious about it (…). I would love to talk to these women, to hear how it is actually working.

A similar doubt emerged when residents reflected upon their observations of client-prostitute interactions in the neighborhood:

That romantic image of the conscious decision and the old Dutch ladies from the Walletjes, I don’t think the industry is still working like that. I can be wrong. (…) It’s mixed: it can be very tragic but also very funny (here). It is very sad (when) they are working during winter when it is very cold, under their umbrella. But on the other hand, sometimes it’s funny too, when I observe older ladies who attract a specific audience, or that time when one of them was picked up by a guy on a scooter. That situation was very hilarious to them. The girl was asking “so, you really want me to get on that scooter?” The guy even brought a helmet for her. Well she got on the Vespa and then everybody was laughing down the street.

Or another resident couple who reflected upon observing more intimate, less distant client- prostitute interactions: 198

He: I’ve never seen aggression, actually, on the street, I have only witnessed humane interactions. And they decline clients, sometimes I even pity the clients.

She: No, I am not convinced.

He: No, I mean, I think it’s also about a social contact. It is not always guys with a BMW passing by. Finding a conversation partner, some human interaction…

She: Well, but it’s not altruistic of these women, they make money out of it.

A few residents tried to empathize about the importance of certain labor conditions for those working in prostitution:

I wonder, if you are a prostitute, you have some dignity in choosing yourself where you can work, where you want to stand, where you think certain clients would pass by.

In general, although a substantial amount of residents (sometimes strongly) problematized prostitution as a form of labor, these problem perceptions are also characterized by questions and doubts. A resident couple indicated that:

She: After they arrive here, and they want to get out, is that possible? And if not, what are the consequences?

He: And why is it difficult to get out? Is it because of the milieu? Due to the society in which they worked as a prostitute for a long time? We have many questions, yes.

She: All these migration and refugee issues, there are many things to say… How does a young girl end up in this situation? Why does somebody think that working in prostitution would be better (than working in the supermarket)?

8.1.2 Which actors are represented as involved and in which roles?

The City, (local) policymakers

When discussing problem perceptions on prostitution as a form of labor, nearly every stakeholder was of the opinion that it was the responsibility of (local) policymakers to create alternatives for those working in prostitution. Although perceptions about what these alternatives would be, could differ, stakeholders mainly considered that local policymakers did not provide them. Mainly street prostitutes, social organizations and police services experienced a negative impact of the current regulation on the existing labor conditions of 199 those working in prostitution. The president of the LDH pointed out that the City can be held accountable for breaching the socio-economic rights of those working in prostitution. The resident committee also held local policymakers responsible. In the committee’s perspective, the City is not successful in displacing street prostitution away from the neighborhood. Local policymakers are positioned as both causing and responsible for (solving) what’s at stake with street prostitution in the neighborhood.

The MTP, however, indicated that the City does not have the responsibility to provide realistic alternatives for those in prostitution. She indicated that her service is mainly responsible for and capable of responding to the other problems, especially those connected with safeguarding public order.

Street prostitutes

Those working in prostitution referred to a certain type of colleague as causing threats to both their security and labor conditions. Prostitutes who are willing to negotiate prices and modalities enforce a deterioration of the established labor conditions. Street prostitutes and social organizations tend to distinguish between (roughly) three types of people working in street prostitution at Yser: (1) those who work independently, (2) those who are part of networks or those where there is third party involvement and (3) those who display attention- seeking behavior (and have psychological issues). The first two types are considered to be subject to the negative impact of the local regulation on the available labor conditions. Furthermore, they are also considered to be subject to economic hardship (first group) and/or to exploitative third party involvement (second group). The third group is or may also be subject to these issues, but is also perceived as causing or contributing to how labor conditions at Yser are at stake by them disturbing public order.

Although people outside prostitution may perceive a street prostitute to be more of a victim or subject to hardship than somebody working behind a window, both X and XX did not specifically consider themselves as being more subject to labor-related problems than people working in bars or windows. They considered their labor-related issues to be different from the issues of those working in other forms of prostitution. They identified benefits to street prostitution that are not present in other forms of prostitution, such as flexible work hours, no obligation to drink with clients and the freedom to move around. 200

Social organizations emphasized that those working in prostitution are also subject to a lack of recognition and rights. Police services also perceived that street prostitutes are subject to the negative effects of the local regulation and a lack of rights to fall back upon when the city tries to displace them. Vice police emphasizes that those working in prostitution can be victims to exploitative third party involvement when discussing labor concerns.

Finally, residents differ in how they view street prostitutes: as victims or as troublemakers (causing problems in the neighborhood). A first group of residents, who tend to emphasize how what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser mainly revolves around how the phenomenon attracts nuisance and organized crime, were less vocal or explicit about whether or not those working in prostitution would be victims (see also the previous chapter). When people approach street prostitution as an informal type of labor that is not at place in a residential neighborhood, street prostitutes are not described as victims (or, at least, not emphasized as being victims). Rather, they are identified as people who profit from public space without contributing.

The president of the committee explicitly differentiated between bar/window and street prostitution. Prostitutes who take their business to the street, cause problems for the neighborhood. A distinction between different types of prostitutes and different forms of prostitution emerges. Older, white, Belgian prostitutes seem to be more frequently associated with a romantic idea about prostitution while young migrant prostitutes are perceived both as victims and as indicators of organized crime:

There is nothing romantic about it (…). There are no old Belgian platina blond hookers who give losers a blowjob. It’s not like that. It is dirty and each time there are new (faces). It’s a milieu in which girls are moved between different cities on tourist visa. I see that, I walk here every day (…). there are few familiar faces. Sometimes they leave for months and then they return. There is a circuit behind that. If the tourist visa expires, they have to go back for a while and later they return. There is no neighborhood feeling. The sweet old hooker who greets you friendly, forget it.

However, not every resident who thinks street prostitution is a type of labor that is not at place in a residential neighborhood, perceived young migrant prostitutes as bringing along problems. Our resident from the previous chapter, who had experienced a violent encounter with a trans prostitute, changed his opinion on who is causing problems. After the violent encounter, we got back in contact. He told me that he wanted to talk to me because he had 201 noticed that his opinions had changed from when we conducted our first interview, almost a year earlier.

He: I felt that it was changing, that some of the individuals became very aggressive.

Me: Who?

He: (shows pictures) And another one, but always Belgians.

Me: That’s new?

He: Yes, that’s new. I talked about it with that guy from vice police (…). I took a few pictures, also from the other ones in the previous weeks and showed them to him. And he said: ‘Yes, that’s typical, they are all Belgian and all junkies’.

A second group of residents mainly identified those working in prostitution as victims: victims to inequality, lack of opportunities or exploitation. However, residents tend to perceive certain types of prostitutes as victims. They mainly refer to young, migrant female prostitutes, when they talk about victimhood. Older, Belgian and/or trans prostitutes are less or not identified as such. Since residents frequently refer to ‘the girls’ and ‘the trans persons’ (to whom they interchangeably refer to as ‘transvestites’ or ‘transgenders’) but only talk about girls or women as victims, I asked whether they also perceived the trans prostitutes as being victims:

He: I feel more at ease with them. They are so grotesque… They play a part, have a certain façade, almost literally. (…) With those guys it is much more obvious, standing on their high heels…

She: Often with a huge cleavage!

He: It feels like a mix of a Latin-American carnival and Borges.

I asked them why they perceived the difference between female and trans prostitutes:

He: You know what it is with these girls – and yes, maybe we should not make the distinction because you don’t know why these transvestites stand here – but with these girls, I have the reflex to think: poor girls, this is fucked up. You should not be standing here. I feel so bad for them. A more human reflex? A more emphatic reflex? With the transvestites, my reflex is different.

She: It is funnier. 202

He confirms: It is funnier, while with the girls I mix pity with unease, thinking: you must be kidding me. It’s so cold, put on your jacket. Prostitutes can be seen as victims of trafficking, exploitation and bad working conditions, but mostly so when they are female. The man from the last interview could point out that he feels bad, pities female prostitutes based on an emphatic reflex. There is an emphatic reflex based on gender yet there is also an association with travesty and ‘fun’ and ‘gay drama’ that leads to less problem constructions when it comes to trans prostitution. A social worker at Entre 2 was concerned about this distinction. He emphasized that the challenges trans workers face are, contrary to what certain residents may assume, worrisome. By not necessarily victimizing trans workers, he did stress that I should understand the difficult working conditions of trans that might be specific to them being trans:

He: The life of trans people is hard (…). You have to understand that from the moment they leave the neighborhood, they are no longer in safety because of their particular look. They are confronted the entire time. A simple visit to Numéricable 76 for example, from the moment they enter the store, clients look at them and the person who has to help them there also takes them for… it’s carnival you know. But they are confronted with that all the time. It is really hard.

She: It’s the fear of difference.

He: And from the moment they are here (in the neighborhood), and they prostitute themselves, they feel together (…). It is really hard. Later on, his colleague explains that some of the police officers (from the administrative police) working in the neighborhood, address the trans prostitutes as ‘mister’, which she suspects as being on purpose, a lack of respect which also indicates a lack of understanding the complexity of the people working as prostitutes at Yser. Both colleagues do point out that the head of vice does understand this complexity. Here, the social workers contrast the problem perception that female prostitutes are ‘ worse off ’ than trans prostitutes. They are straightforward in stating that trans prostitutes face a double stigmatization and their own set of security problems, because of them being trans. So here is a clear example of how experience with a certain group of prostitutes leads to a radically different problem construction, a different weight that is attached to the problems trans prostitutes face. Where residents or other actors attach more weight to female prostitution, social workers do not.

76 Phone operator 203

Thirdly, the type of prostitution also adds to why certain residents consider the prostitutes in their neighborhood as victims. Some residents think that prostitution in general is ‘wrong’ as a form of labor, whether that is street, window or any other form of prostitution. Other residents, when they think about prostitutes as victims, mainly think about street prostitutes as victims, just like the resident in the beginning of this chapter who considers window prostitution as a less problematic working context for prostitutes. This becomes clear when we discuss what would be possible solutions to the problems of the neighborhood (see next section):

He: It is not okay, prostitution. I don’t want to say that it is not okay because in some cases I think it is okay, like those escorts, I can understand that exists (…). I just think it’s not right when girls from Poland or Ukraine are brought here, purely to prostitute themselves. The Matroesjka story 77 really exists, I think. Human trafficking is not… it just exists.

Or later, during the interview

He: Prostitution, like in the rue d’Aerschot , that can be accounted for, but the way it is here, not.

Me: Wait, what do you mean? So, you say: window prostitution is ok, street prostitution is not?

He: Because the first one is legal and the other is not, for starters. And these women (street prostitutes) are often women who do not choose this job and who are put under a lot of pressure, I think, actually I don’t know. (…) I really don’t know, what I am saying now is really my feeling.

When combining different problem perceptions, some residents indicated confusion or ambiguity about how they identify those working in street prostitution. However, pity does not necessarily cover the entire picture for every resident, especially when they report experiencing high levels of nuisance and interpersonal conflicts with certain prostitutes. Perceptions about those working in street prostitution, then, can be ambiguous, especially for

77 Referring to the 2005 television series, broadcasted on the Flemish commercial television channel VTM. In this popular Flemish television show, young, Eastern European girls were lured and then forced into prostitution (although into bar prostitution). It is unclear whether such imagery influences why residents distinguish between the street prostitutes or whether it is because of gender stereotypes or because of interaction patterns in the neighborhood. 204 residents. Perceptions in which street prostitutes emerge as victims can also change and these perceptions can even be contradictory when, especially residents combine what’s at stake with street prostitution from a labor perspective, with what they perceive to be at stake from a nuisance perspective.

Sometimes it seems that residents who observe prostitutes joking around, having fun amongst themselves or making noise, assume that they are probably not necessarily in a bad situation or that maybe they are less of a victim. The way they act, throughout the day, however, sometimes slightly affects the degree to which residents emphasize that prostitution is a problematic form of labor. Observing them having fun amongst themselves makes some residents question whether they are actual victims or as ‘victim-like’ as certain residents would assume street prostitutes to be.

Clients

Street prostitutes’ problem perceptions on security and labor refer to a certain type of clients as causing trouble. They differentiated between regular, well-paying clients who do not negotiate the established labor conditions from those who do. Police services and social organizations also identified a similar group of men visiting the neighborhood, as putting pressure on labor conditions.

Residents who problematized prostitution as a form of labor identified clients both as culprits and as men they pity. Some residents emphasized that the men visiting the neighborhood are causing a problematic demand:

He: The way I see it is that those women are more victims, that they are forced into a corner in one way or another. The men (clients) I see as aggressors, perpetrators, is maybe too strong but yes, why not.

She: If you personally cannot understand why somebody would pay for sex, and I think we are at that part of the spectrum, then you consider those men, what they do as very dirty. I don’t project that dirtiness on the women, they are the victims (…). You have prostitutes, women who are wives, who have children, but also work as prostitutes. I always think it is interesting because it changes your perspective because (for them) it is a conscious decision. (…) But those few stories that are told, most of the time, it’s a matron in one of these villages or young students who work as escorts to pay their school or to buy fancy clothes, who think it is exciting 205

to go with rich men, to earn money with that. (…) But that’s not street prostitution, that’s not in the neighborhood, that’s not what you see. It might be that there are three ladies in our building who work as escorts but that we do not notice, so then you do not project. While men paying for escorts are as dirty as men paying 40 euros (for a street prostitute). That’s not changing what is going on.

Residents who both problematize and question prostitution as a form of labor, sometimes express pity with men who have to rely on paid services in order to satisfy intimacy or sexual needs. In such instances, both the supply and the demand are pitied. Such identifications mainly emerge when people observe that a demand not always leads to a supply:

There are men who feel uncomfortable. There are many negotiations that fail as well. I don’t know what they are talking about but often, they go their separate ways.

Residents, then, who both pity those working in street prostitution but who also experience nuisance, tend to attribute the causality of both to clients visiting the neighborhood.

8.1.3 What solutions are suggested?

Exploring and providing labor rights

Social organizations, vice police and the president of the LDH all explicitly indicated that those working in prostitution should be able to rely on labor rights. However, although they agree that the absence of rights is a problem, they differ in the solutions they suggest or consider attainable. In essence, the main difference revolves around whether or not they would consider the legalization of prostitution as a form of labor to be a solution. Espace P and Utsopi indicated that the recognition would lead to better protection of prostitutes:

Espace P wants to work towards a professional statute for the sex workers, a real statute, one that is known by the law, that it is recognized as a form of labor, not like other types of labor but still…

The head of vice was careful in suggesting a traditional legal framework in order to provide labor rights. She considered legalization to be unrealistic and potentially dangerous and referred to the different profiles of people working in prostitution:

We cannot consider prostitution as one phenomenon, it has many faces and of course, it is not a profession an sich, I mean, sorry but I know some will say “I have chosen this, I 206

want to do this” and I assume, listen, perfect. But I am convinced that in 99 percent if not even in 100%, nobody makes an actual conscious decision. It is a decision out of necessity. (...) That's why I think it is good that they give certain rights to everybody and especially to prostitutes because they are amongst the weakest. However, I also think that the recognition as a form of labor, in effect, would offer no solution for a majority of the girls.

Apart from identifying how those in prostitution might have different experiences with third party involvement, she considered that there are additional issues to take into account:

You have to understand: they would have to make clear that they are working as a prostitute. That's too high a threshold for many. They will not admit to it because it remains a taboo in our society. If she would fill in 'prostitute' as a profession on a file of her child, how will people look at that child? They will see it as a kid with problems or a complicated home situation. I know many prostitutes who raise their kids very well but it is a mark on that child. So I don't think it is a solution. And I think that even when these fragile professions are recognized, they would still get exploited... and not a little bit! (…) So, I am not sure that the recognition of prostitution as a profession would offer a solution to that problem of trafficking. I am not sure. It will be a step forward for some prostitutes, and if it is a good step in the right direction for some people, then that is fine but from the moment that you work under a certain statute it also means that those who do not want to take part in that statute fall completely by the wayside.

Given her professional experience with prostitution as a risk profession and, more particularly, the influence of exploitative third party involvements, she weighed labor-related concerns against security concerns, especially when reflecting upon possible solutions.

The president of the LDH indicated that further exploration about how to develop labor laws is needed and emphasized that this should happen in close cooperation with those working in prostitution. Based on his own conversations with those working in prostitution, he would make careful suggestions:

He: I hear from people working in prostitution that the demand for a real statute with maybe some obligations but certainly rights, is needed. With a protection of those rights, too, and maybe a way in which they can organize themselves, so that they 207

would not need to rely on a pimp, a ‘protector’ who is -currently- often an exploiter, somebody who lives on their expenses.

Me: Do you think that is realistic in the current context?

He: Yes, I think that is possible but I also think that it would not serve every situation. The exploitation will be hard to get rid of, because it’s not that black and white. (…). But there are also situations where the pimp is not necessarily an exploiter but rather a bar owner for example.

Me: More some sort of protection figure?

He: Indeed. (…) I heard from some women that they would rather organize themselves without it being punishable. (…) To prostitute yourself is not punishable and allowed by the law, but to keep someone in prostitution and make money from it, is punishable. When they work together, they fall under the punishable scenario. (…). That type of system needs to be figured out by prostitutes and by specialists in criminal law but certainly in social law as well.

Although with different outcomes, both the head of vice and LDH point out the complexity of the legal recognition of prostitution as a form of labor (to provide labor rights). The head of vice, apart from her own opinion, refers to an internal resistance from those in prostitution: prostitutes would refrain from registering themselves as working in prostitution, due to social stigma. The head of LDH , on the other hand, explains how there is a demand from within the prostitution sector, to recognize prostitution as a form of labor.

This ambiguity also characterizes a difference between how Espace P or Entre 2 actively lobby for the recognition of prostitution as a form of labor. Espace P and the sex worker’s organization Utsopi , appeared to be the only actors who explicitly and openly put the lack of labor laws/legal labor framework on the table. A social worker of Espace P pointed out how a less active position from Entre 2 had led to frictions between the (directions of) the organizations. He explained that the previous direction of Entre 2 -what’s in a name- is ‘in between’ or rather, leaves in the middle whether or not to debate prostitution as a type of labor in need of recognition. Although their general approach and outreach to those in prostitution does not differ radically (they both offer medical and social assistance without aiming to get people working in prostitution out of prostitution), their different engagement to the recognition of prostitution as a form of labor, did influence why only Espace P joined the 208 prostitutes, Utsopi and the LDH in addressing the fining system as unjust at the Council of State:

Entre 2 refused, saying that it was not their battle. And then I became angry with them. I told them: ‘We don’t do this to be in the media, we do this for the well-being of the women. Because they will be chased by the police, their clients will have fines and they will not get by anymore, they won’t be able to pay those fines and they won’t be able to pay rent, food for their children’. (…) The regulation is an attack on the liberty of a prostitute and more weight is added when the LDH joins than when only we join. So we decided to do it. But they did not want it. Well, their board did not want it.

Talking with X, it became clear that she is one of the women working in prostitution that protested against the regulation before the Council of State. She explained that she lived in the neighborhood so she considered herself to be the right person in the right place to join the action. She explained that other colleagues were less inclined to join her, due to the same reasons that keep them from addressing security concerns: because they fear to be identified by the police or social support services such as OCMW/CPAS , because they had other priorities securing an income and/or having already too much on their mind 78 .

Throughout my time in the field, I noticed that, despite the new regulations, most of the people who had been working at Yser regularly, kept coming back to their corner at the same hour every day. Sustaining work habits emerged as a silent way of how the street prostitutes at Yser try to sustain their working conditions. Their response to what’s at stake (namely working conditions and habits) in the Yser neighborhood (namely the fining and zoning regulations) is to stay at Yser nonetheless, as there is no alternative which offers a more beneficial work context.

Providing alternatives

Those working in prostitution ask for safe workable alternatives if the City decides to displace street prostitution from the neighborhood. X and XX confirmed that the fines will not succeed in displacing them because they would not know where to work under the same safe and workable conditions. They both indicated that they would shift places and cooperate where

78 I also received that reaction when asking people working on the street if they would like to talk to me on that day or on another day. Some of the women explained that they would rather not out of fear of being recognized by family members who did not know they were working at Yser, besides their cleaning job, for example. Still others responded that they would rather not because they already had too much on their mind. 209 there would be a realistic alternative, meaning a safe environment in which they can easily reach a rendezvous hotel or bar and a place that provides security to counteract the risks related to their profession (see previous chapter). Social organizations and police services agreed that taking into account the security and labor needs of those working in street prostitution is necessary to develop a constructive and effective displacement. Some residents suggested a Villa Tinto-like solution, a specific, controlled zone for prostitutes to work in. Although at one point, the City indicated to work towards a Villa Tinto scenario, this scenario was not perceived as a solution by social workers, street prostitutes, vice police and the president of the resident committee 79 , as it would not necessarily be a solution for those who turn to street prostitution instead of other forms of prostitution. X explains that a Villa Tinto solution would be too costly as one would have to pay a rent. In addition, when renting a window, one would be attached to fixed working hours, which is not always possible. The alternative will have to be (relatively) cost free and allow flexible working schedules. The head of BRAVVO ’s town guards pointed out that the City realizes this:

You probably already know about how the City thought about developing some sort of brothel in the area, but who would want to be the owner? How would they coordinate it? It’s very complex.

During my conversations, I noticed that there was a rather broadly carried awareness amongst police services (administrative and vice police), social organizations and the people from BRAVVO (both the MTP and the head of the town guards) about why a Villa Tinto -like solution did not present an alternative for the street prostitutes from Yser.

Other residents did not consider the displacement to a controlled environment to be an alternative. These residents are concerned that prostitution, whether it is happening on the street, behind windows or online, is problematic. Residents who perceive prostitutes to be victims to sexual exploitation, state that our government should not allow prostitution in general , and did not limit that to street prostitution at Yser:

She (1): I would rather not have it here, but not the prostitutes per se.

79 The president of the Alhambra committee developed an insight into what solutions would be acceptable for those working in the streets. He referred to studies about the displacement of street prostitution in other cities to explain what type of alternative would be feasible. 210

She (2): Yes indeed, I don’t want it away from here, I want it away. That’s something totally different. As long as ‘away’ would mean that these ladies have to do the same somewhere else, I am not interested.

Later, during the interview, when I asked the couple what they thought about the local police regulation, they continued:

She (2): I was in total shock when I read (about) that.

She (1): I did not know about that, but those kind of things, I think are really… These are people, not trash bins.

However, they also explained why they found it difficult to oppose the displacement measures:

She (1): What are you battling for, if you battle for them to stay?

She (2): Then you say nothing. Status quo.

She (1): I don’t have this calling to go on the streets for them while I often do feel an urge. So there is a contrast. Firstly, it’s a very difficult subject because I am not pro prostitution, so it’s difficult to defend their right to stay. I don’t want to battle for them to go, either, because that would just displace the problem and I don’t want that either. So maybe I think it’s maybe more interesting to financially support these organizations like Entre 2 . When they would sell waffles, I would buy one. But it’s a difficult case.

(…)

She (2): I have a problem with that: that we, as a country, are not able to support those in prostitution, so that they don’t have to do that (job). (Resident couple 11)

Later on, they also express doubts about whether or not they could align with the resident committees lobbying work for a residential but not red-light neighborhood:

She (1): It’s difficult. When the Alhambra committee would say, for example: ‘we are very critical of pimps, we want to have more knowledge about those pimps and we want very strict controls on pimps’ and if that would lead to more arrests of pimps, I would not be against that. (…) But I know it’s not that easy. 211

None of the residents went into depth about what this would entail in terms of regulation although they did problematize the criminalization of people working in prostitution. In general, residents suggested both a more broadly carried vision (that exceeds the local level) and the development of safe alternatives:

He: We tolerate it in our neighborhood, but it is no solution to displace it to a shadier neighborhood, that’s no solution, that is way more dangerous for those women. When they would clean it up, like they say sometimes, and they would offer alternatives, that would be more desirable.

She: (…) The most important thing is that a broadly carried vision emerges: how can we approach this, how can we get the women out of it (…) do you have to recognize prostitution as a legitimate economic sector? That’s a principled choice you have to make. (…) There will always be a minority that can live with what they do, firstly: those are super strong women and secondly, there are exceptions but the majority is really not doing this for fun but out of pure misery and a lack of money. And aside from that, those men (clients) also have a problem, they show distorted behavior towards women. (…) I cannot see an in-between zone to tolerate it a little bit, to understand it a little bit. I am quite principled on this.

Interestingly, despite their disdain for clients, residents do not propose to criminalize clients as a solution, either. These residents, however, also think that as long as there is a general lack of economic opportunities and inequalities, prostitution will not disappear as an economic survival mechanism.

Although many residents explain that they have little knowledge about the local and national legislation on prostitution, they do perceive it as legislations that tolerate and allow prostitution. Some residents are principally opposed to this tolerance because it signifies that our society does not condemn prostitution as a problematic form of labor:

To explicitly allow it, like our government is kind of doing now, well that is like saying: okay, you can come and prostitute yourself, that’s something totally different.

At this stage, residents seem to have more questions and a disapproval of what is currently happening, than suggestions or solutions. 212

Residents who problematize street prostitution as a form of labor in a residential neighborhood (who are mostly also residents who problematize it as a source of nuisance in a residential neighborhood), ask for its removal, its displacement by the City. The president of the committee keeps himself aware of the different ways a city could organize street prostitution and during our interview, he even knows how cities outside Belgium deal with street prostitution. Even more so, the president of the committee is aware that street prostitution would not be solved by a Villa Tinto -like solution that is not adapted to what street prostitutes expect from working conditions:

Look, it’s not our job (to suggest solutions), we are probably looking at it too much from our point of view and they, the prostitutes, do the same. We did suggest that (the City) could organize some sort of zone where there is a social service, where there is security, where prostitutes could keep their own space (…)like a Villa Tinto but then for street prostitutes, no building, so it could be in a neighborhood where (there are no residents). From cleaning up, the security, to the bookkeeping, all for them (…) Some sort of drive-in, easily to reach by car but the prostitutes do not want that.

The MTP explained that the stance of the City towards the neighborhood went in the same direction: from trying to contain prostitution in the neighborhood to considering it as a type of work that is difficult to organize and coordinate within a residential neighborhood:

It was not possible to say that we would try to do it with the girls in the neighborhood because for the residents (the committee), it was no solution. They are very strong and very active.

I asked her about the platform established in 2014 and why they were no longer meeting at that point. She responded:

But we are limited, so we tried to find solutions to increase the quality of life for the residents in the neighborhood by other means. We tried to gather all the different actors around the table and to develop measures but we realized that it does not work.

We also discussed the often referred Villa Tinto -like solutions, but the MTP explained that this was one of the alternatives the City had in mind. However, the City could not find support from (reliable) project developers who would want to be responsible for such a project: 213

She: It was one of the proposed solutions during the last meeting of the platform. As the mayor indicated to the Alhambra committee, he wanted to create a structure where the prostitutes could work, just as an alternative to working on the streets. Okay, we can try to develop such a structure in a building, to invest in something. (…) We worked together with the department of urbanism to identify some buildings but, the Board of Mayor and Aldermen, in its entirety, voted against taking that route.

Me: It is difficult because?

She: We cannot organize prostitution. That’s forbidden (…) we did contact the person involved in Villa Tinto to explain to us how it works. So, it was reflected upon by the City, but this led nowhere.

8.2 Beyond nuisance, security and labor and a final note on dialogue

One of the more complex themes that emerged when talking about what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser, is how people approached prostitution as a form of labor. Social organizations, street prostitutes and vice police did not differ in their opinions about prostitution being a different, challenging type of labor. None of them considered prostitution to be a normal profession. However, they all did emphasize the importance of gaining more insight into the working conditions of those in prostitution. They may differ in the long-term solutions they propose (whether or not to recognize prostitution as a form of labor), but they did agree that the current fining and police regulation threaten the labor and - closely aligned with that - security conditions of the street prostitutes.

One reason why it is unclear what exactly is being perceived as problematic with prostitution as a form of labor, is that during our conversations (mainly) residents kept switching between making statements, questioning themselves and asking me questions when talking about prostitution as a form of labor taking place in the neighborhood.

Both the committee’s and the mayor’s problem perceptions seemed to have developed from trying to reduce the nuisance and slowly discouraging prostitutes from working at Yser (or, at least, containing prostitution), to no longer perceiving containment and coordination of street prostitution in a residential neighborhood as a possibility. Some people avoided discussing prostitution as a form of labor because it complicated talking about the removal of street prostitution from a residential neighborhood. People who were concerned about the work motives of and dynamics behind street prostitutes at Yser, were concerned about their 214 displacement (unless, for some, displacement would mean that the prostitutes could work indoors). However, this does not mean that the group of residents opposed to displacing prostitution, would lobby for them to stay. Most of the residents appear to be uncomfortable with that very idea. These concerns paralyze and silence a large group of residents, since they are not sure what the ‘right’ reaction in the neighborhood would be in the first place.

A final note on communication

When addressing what’s at stake from a labor point of view, allowing mainly residents to reflect, illustrated how problem perceptions can be surrounded by questions and doubts. Such questions and doubts referred to one underlying issue: the lack of communication and information exchange between the different people at Yser, an issue that emerged as a red thread into both the nuisance, security and labor problem perceptions.

When our conversations revolved around whether or not mainly those in prostitution and residents had addressed their mutual concerns with each other, different reactions occurred. Certain residents explained that they had tried but that it was not easy, due to language differences mainly, but sometimes also because of a hostile or dismissive attitude from those in prostitution:

He: At a certain point, the situation got worse. (…) So then you start to chase them away yourself, you go into confrontation with the girls, sometimes we even had fights.

Me: How did those discussions go?

He: Well yes, I start by telling them: actually, you cannot stand here.

Me: They understand that?

He: Most of the time yes. Except for once, not so long ago, there was a girl who really did not understand, not by language of any kind. (…) That girl really did not understand. I kept on explaining because yes, she was always in front of my door. So yes, you tell here twenty times with your hands and signs and… but she keeps returning. After a while, I became really angry and I started shouting. Suddenly, another (prostitute) came from behind the corner and she spoke Dutch. That was very strange. It was the first time I heard one of them talk Dutch. (…) She said: “so, what do you think you are doing? I am watching you, you know? Don’t you know 215

that girl is pregnant?” She got really aggressive, she pushed me and then I called the cops. That was quite something, yes yes, but if they start being aggressive!

However, Z indicated that the same could be said of certain residents, who approached them disrespectfully. This resonates with a paragraph in the open letter written by the street prostitutes at Yser:

Before, we were spread over several little streets, things were balanced, there was respect. (…) Now there are insults from all sides, as if it is justified to behave aggressively towards us. (…) Currently, there is a hostile and extremely tense climate.

I noticed that both referred to tense but short interactions about the no tolerance zone. For certain residents, especially the president of the Alhambra committee, the willingness and faith in the usefulness of developing a dialogue both with those in prostitution and with social organizations was low:

Me: Is there still, from the committee’s side, an interest or a willingness to come together and think about co-existence?

He: Four years ago, I would have thought it was still possible. Now, and I think I can speak for a large majority in the neighborhood, even when they will be nuanced if you ask them, no.

He said that a lack of compromise of those in prostitution with the no tolerance zone fed his doubts about trying to find middle-ground through dialogue. He was equally suspicious about entering into dialogue with social organizations such as Espace P or Entre 2 :

He: We used to have numerous meetings with with Espace P and to a certain extent also with Entre 2 . We actually wonder what Entre 2 does more than merely handing out condoms and give some legal advice. In principle, Entre 2 should mediate between residents, prostitutes and local policymakers.

Me: Do they reach out to you?

He: They are rather a prostitutes’ union. That’s their right but they have to admit it, now they hide the truth, which is frustrating. Espace P does not, they would say “street prostitution causes nuisance, but…” there will always be a ‘but’ but that’s a normal conversation. 216

The ambivalence towards Espace P did increase after the social organization actively fought against the fining system, leading certain residents to perceive that these organizations did not take into consideration the problems experienced by residents. Attempts in which Entre 2 tried to connect with the neighborhood were also perceived as problematic.

Picture 12. Front side flyer exhibition Entre 2 clichés (Entre 2 and Mélanie Peduzzi).

Together with photographer Mélanie Peduzzi 80 , Entre 2 , developed a project called Entre 2 clichés in 2015. The pictures aimed to portray a less stereotypical, more humane image of the people working in prostitution around Yser. An example is the picture from above, showing two women looking at the Yser square from the (former) Entre 2 office. This pictures reverses the ‘normal’ situation of people looking at them standing at the Yser square. In order to inform a broad public about the humans behind those working in prostitution and to give an insight into the social work of Entre 2 , the organization developed a local exhibition in the neighborhood. They exposed the pictures in 6 places: in rendezvous hotel Studio Europe , the KVS theatre, bar Le Bridge , shop Gatsby , the office of Entre 2 and the Jobhuis (House of Employment). By exposing pictures in the neighborhood, Entre 2 and the artist wanted to contribute to the social cohesion in the neighborhood. On their website, Entre 2 explains:

Presented from the 20 th of January to the 15 th of March, the exposition raised awareness with an estimated 100 different people. For instance, there were around 12 guided tours accompanied by social workers or the artist. (…) During the 8 weeks of

80 For more information on Peduzzi’s projects: https://melaniepeduzzi.wordpress.com/entre-2/ 217

this presentation, we were involved in a beneficial exercise of social cohesion, in a neighborhood that certainly needs it. (…) Through this artistic experience, Entre 2 wants to be, under different forms, an actor of dialogue with anybody, no matter how open or rich they are. (Entre 2, 2015)

The president of the committee was critical of how the project was a way of reaching out to the residents. He indicated to be offended about how the project tried to present things better than they are. A social worker from Espace P also referred to a certain resistance from the City and certain residents to enter into a constructive dialogue. In light of ‘ Week of the Woman ’ they proposed a theme evening, together with the social organization Aimer jeunes , about sexuality and prostitution. The social worker of Entre 2 emphasized that their goal was to develop a more general but low-threshold debating environment in the neighborhood:

We wanted to work around themes. (…) There was also one about prostitution: how can one live as a prostitute? The goal was not to bring in solutions but to open the debate because we felt that the neighborhood needed to talk about it, to be heard. We wanted everyone around the table: the people from Alhambra, people from the city, people from the police.

However, the organization of that theme night was not easy:

He: The project had to be approved by the City council. When they saw ‘Espace P’, the project was refused. When I called the person in charge of the Week of the Woman, I asked her to formally confirm, on paper, why they declined, because I worked hours to develop that plan and I had to defend that to my administration board. She said: ‘We cannot do that. I will tell you but I cannot write it down: well, when certain people saw the name Espace P , they said: ah no, Espace P are terrorists, people who want prostitution!’. So, they refused.

Me: Certain people… Who?

He: People from the City Council (…) I don’t know their names and I did not know whether it was true or not but we thought: we’ll use politics as well! I also have my contacts. (…) And then I received a phone call that ‘in the end, we do want your project. (…) But because you are a little bit late, you will not be in the official program of the Week of the Woman. They made this beautiful program with all the activities without ours… They did not want to be publicly associated with us. 218

Espace P was able to organize their theme nights during the Week of the Woman. The social worker also pointed out the resistance from certain but certainly not all residents:

He: The Alhambra committee was there, police, well, vice police but nobody from the City of Brussels.

Me: It was before the platform?

He: Yes, way before.

Me: But the people from the Alhambra committee were there?

He: Yes. (…) They were handing out flyers saying that prostitution does not belong in the neighborhood. People working in prostitution who came to testify, when they received such flyers, then phiew… the committee did not come to listen. (…) They said: “but that prostitute, she is a bit dangerous.” Yes, she can be aggressive from time to time when she drinks but she did not drink now so you are not risking anything. We noticed a lot of negative images.

Me: Did you have the impression that there were residents who were interested?

He: Well, there were three workshops at the same time. In each workshop, there were about 15 people, that’s good. We were in contact with more moderate people.

Finally, the president of the resident committee pointed out that the City did not involve their resident committee in the intersectoral platform. He explains that the mayor declined their participation because it would obstruct finding a ‘quick solution ’.

Moving through the neighborhood, I noticed both hesitance and willingness amongst residents to enter into dialogue. When residents were addressing issues of labor or security, they surrounded their statements about those in prostitution with doubts and questions:

He: I would love to talk to them. Now, they do say “hello, how are you?” and then I reply ‘good, how are you?’ “çava, çava? Ok Ciao!” (laughs). I don’t think they would like it (to talk), I don’t know. (…) You know, I already discussed with my roommate about inviting one of them to come for dinner, for a sandwich or something or that we would say: we have some extra spaghetti, if you are hungry? We would love to do that, but we are afraid. 219

In general, nearly all residents expressed that they did not really know how to talk with the prostitutes, that they experienced a certain barrier. A considerably large group of residents, especially those who emphasized their questions more than their problem perceptions, indicated that in order to live together, more dialogue is required:

Maybe it is combinable when you make sure that people talk to each other, that they know each other. (…) To see it as something from our society) could be a start to do something with it instead of that back and forth they cannot stay here/they can stay here. That’s going beyond the real story here: it’s here and we should do something about it, as a society. When that can happen, we can start thinking about how it can exist together.

Some see dialogue as a way of informing them about the lives of the street prostitutes. Other see dialogue as the most pragmatic solution to inform the street prostitutes about resident’s problems:

I am realistic. As long as these hotels are here, they won’t leave. I’d rather have us going into a dialogue in which we can say: these are our biggest problems that we have with you. Try not to sit with your ass on our cars, try to put your trash in the bin, try not to make a giant scene on the phone at night when you call with your pimp or whoever, go somewhere else if you want to have a loud telephone conversation. Those kinds of things. But now there is no communication.

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Chapter 9. Synthesis and Conclusion

I conclude this work by discussing the contributions and limitations of the current research, as well as venues for future research. This chapter begins with a synthesis of the previous empirical chapters. In this synthesis, I gradually move away from the Yser neighborhood case to evaluate the usefulness of the open approach related to organic public sociology in developing a multidimensional problem construction on prostitution. First, I illustrate how the open approach was able to map out different problem perceptions by engaging in a bottom-up, joint effort with the people living and working at Yser; the variety of problem perceptions that were collected indicates an initial layer of complexity regarding the issues surrounding street prostitution in the neighborhood. Next, I explain how the open approach’s main strength lies in going beyond describing the different problem perceptions and extends to analyzing their co-occurrence. This approach is able to illustrate how the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions can lead to conflict or challenges, especially when one problem perception is addressed more seriously than another. The co-occurrence adds a second layer of complexity to what is at stake with street prostitution at Yser.

Third, I make a careful statement about how the approach is able to detect blockages to the development of a successful multidimensional problem construction on prostitution. These blockages add a third layer of complexity to what’s at stake in our case. I argue that the development of a constructive multidimensional problem formulation benefits from these three layers of information that reflect this issue’s complexity. Approaching prostitution as a multidimensional issue resulted in a problem construction that can contribute to an enhanced social and scientific understanding of the issue of prostitution at large. I also argue that this approach’s relevance stretches beyond the case of prostitution to other, unconventional, wicked phenomena taking place in public space. 221

9.1 Synthesis

9.1.1 From a unidimensional to a multidimensional problem construction: the usefulness of an open approach in gathering different problem perspectives

The placement of road blocks, the creation of no tolerance zones, the fining system - the municipality’s responses to conflict in the Yser neighborhood run like a red thread throughout the conversations at Yser. When considering these actions, which are presented as nuisance reducing strategies, it may seem that street prostitution at Yser is a matter of nuisance and preserving public tranquility by displacing the phenomenon. The dominant problem construction at Yser, that prostitution is an issue of nuisance, resembles one of the three dominant problem perceptions identified in Chapter 1. Scholars such as Laing & Cook (2014), O’Neill and colleagues (2008), Hubbard (1998, 2004) or Sanders (2004) illustrated the presence of highly similar dominant problem constructions in other red light neighborhoods in which nuisance complaints go hand in hand with exclusionary measures to deter street prostitution.

By applying the open approach, however, it became clear that street prostitution at Yser is more than a problem of nuisance. The previous chapters illustrated the open approach in action, and laid out the variety of problem perceptions that occurred when moving throughout the neighborhood as a mobile platform. In this section, I evaluate the usefulness of the main characteristics of this approach for developing a multidimensional problem construction. These characteristics revolve around openness by (a) not focusing on a particular stakeholder (rather: identifying a variety of publics), (b) not focusing on a particular dimension, (c) allowing a variety of perspectives, (d) encouraging co-construction with those in the field instead of applying a top-down analysis to determine the issues relating to street prostitution at Yser. The approach relates to organic public sociology, and apart from exploring the usefulness of openness and co-construction, it also carefully examines the possibilities and benefits of deliberation (Burchardt, 2014) in the development of a multidimensional problem construction. This research situates itself within a public sociologist tradition of knowledge production. This research made it possible for a more diverse group of people living and working at Yser to enter into conversation about street prostitution. I argue that an open approach is valuable because it allows researchers to explore the variety of problem perceptions, variety of publics (and the different opinions within such groups), and the 222 blockages and hurdles that make the development of a multidimensional problem construction challenging.

The exploration of the open approach led to multidimensional problem construction regarding a variety of dimensions that can be experienced as problematic in a multitude of ways - both within and between groups. The three dimensions that capture the available problem perceptions are (1) nuisance, (2) security and (3) labor. In this synthesis, I illustrate how they co-occurred and what this co-occurrence explains about the complexity of street prostitution at Yser.

A multidimensional, wicked problem

Currently, the responses of the municipality to conflict in the Yser neighborhood resemble what Wagenaar and Altink (2012) refer to as “morality politics,” reducing the complexity of a social phenomenon to a fixed normative framework. Rodríguez García & Gillis (2017) illustrate how prostitution politics in Brussels have and continue to resemble such morality politics. Especially in the Yser neighborhood, this has led to prostitution regulations that are “adopted, adapted and re-adapted with the sole aim of ghettoizing or repressing prostitution.” By exploring the open approach, it is clear that a multidimensional problem construction is better placed to understand the issues around street prostitution at Yser. Just as Nagy & Powell (2016) refer to the regulation of prostitution in Australia as a wicked crime policy problem (see Chapter 1), I would argue that “what’s at stake with street prostitution at Yser” illustrates equally well how prostitution is a wicked issue: “complex, open-ended, and intractable wherein both the nature of the problem and the preferred solution are strongly contested” (Head, 2008:101).

Head (2008) explains that in order to deal with wicked issues, “the key challenge is to unpack and discuss entrenched differences (…) (through) mediated dialogue (…) and interim steps for moving forward together” (2008:105). This brings me to the second layer of information that emerged by exploring the open approach: the challenges that arise when looking at the co-occurrence of problem perceptions. By functioning as a mobile platform, the open approach is able to discuss the co-occurrence of problem perceptions, especially in this context where information exchange is limited or challenging. This could be regarded as an attempted “intervention” in the neighborhood: it not only opened the floor to people to share their problem perceptions, it also informed them of other problem perceptions and allowed people to react. This appears crucial in developing a multidimensional problem construction, 223 because it allows for the illustration of why the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions matter, and why unidimensional responses (to a specific problem perception, without taking into account other problem perceptions) are currently failing.

9.1.2 Analyzing co-occurrence of problem perceptions and illustrating the relevance of considering multidimensionality: the usefulness of a mobile platform

By moving the problem perceptions through the neighborhood, I was able to discuss the co- occurrence of certain problem perceptions. This was particularly insightful when discussing the different solutions people suggested for addressing certain problems. By introducing different perspectives in conversations and demonstrating their co-occurrence, I was able to determine why certain suggested solutions formulated by some would lead to difficulties or challenges for others. Here, the importance of considering the co-occurrence of problem perceptions when developing solutions emerged most clearly, because it illustrated how certain solutions would be unidimensional, and how these solutions would lead to other problem perceptions. However, it also illustrated how, when considering different problem perceptions and suggested solutions, overlap can actually emerge. Below, I highlight the most important co-occurrences:

The co-occurrence of nuisance versus security problem perceptions

Conflict could emerge when nuisance and security problem perceptions co-occurred. This is particularly due to how nuisance problem perceptions have mainly led to actual actions and the implementation of regulations to reduce nuisance. Discussing the nuisance problem perceptions from the resident committee with those working in prostitution, Entre 2, Espace P and vice police, led to them to emphasize how the municipality neglects the security concerns of those in prostitution when developing nuisance reducing responses, which creates additional challenges in preserving secure working conditions or outreach efforts for both social organizations and vice police. It is mainly residents who place more weight on prostitution as a problem of nuisance that lobby for the displacement of prostitution as a solution to issues surrounding the phenomenon in their neighborhood. While discussing this suggestion with individuals working in prostitution, social organizations, police services and residents who are concerned about the well-being of those working in the industry, it became clear that such a solution provokes resistance. Those working in prostitution, social 224 organizations and vice police indicate that displacement as a solution to nuisance complaints creates security and labor-related problems.

A benefit of the mobile platform is that it is not only able to identify differences or conflict, but also to explore, when discussing different problem perceptions, to what extent people consider different problem perceptions when reflecting on possible solutions. I noticed that when addressing the nuisance complaints, both those working in prostitution and Entre 2 or Espace P, did recognize this as a problem that should be taken into account (although they prioritized security concerns). When discussing the co-occurrence, X, XX and Espace P indicated that displacement (as a nuisance reducing strategy) is a possible solution if, and only if, a safe alternative workspace is provided. The results of the multidimensional analysis illustrate that it is not necessarily the presence of different problem perceptions that automatically entails conflict, but rather how this co-occurrence is taken into account when regulations are developed.

A final but equally important point is that this research was able to expose how the co- occurrence of both nuisance and security problem perceptions highlight the conflicting tasks and roles of the different police services present in the neighborhood.

The co-occurrence of nuisance versus labor-related problem perceptions

Attempting to solve nuisance complaints for residents and defending displacement measures and bar raids as actions to reduce the presence of organized crime is not considered a solution for those residents who place less weight on nuisance problems than on labor-related concerns. By assigning different values to nuisance versus labor problem perceptions, residents were more divided about prostitution at Yser than may appear at face value. Residents who mainly perceive prostitution as a problematic form of labor indicate that displacement is a non-solution for them, as it still symbolizes how the city in particular (and society at large) accepts prostitution as a phenomenon. For these residents, displacement to a safe alternative space is at best a temporary solution. Laing & Cook (2014) note that although resident activists often refer to themselves as representatives of the community, it is important not to assume that a community and especially all residents hold similar opinions, or would support the same solutions or actions. The co-occurrence of different resident problem perceptions is important because it is also able to explain why a large group of residents was hesitant to suggest certain solutions and remained silent (that is, until the mobile platform 225 arrived). The open approach was able reach this silent group and to demonstrate the diversity in resident perceptions and, more specifically, the solutions they consider acceptable.

The co-occurrence of security and labor-related problem perceptions

When addressing how those in prostitution cope with the local displacement measures, it became clear that there are conflicting problem perceptions among those working in the streets at Yser. The different problems they perceive lead to different solutions in addressing local regulation, consequently leading to frictions among them.

The main difference lies in how they attach weight to either security or labor-related problems (although both labor and security concerns are closely intertwined for both). Those who consider security to be at stake (by needing to step into a client’s car, for example) when moving to the no tolerance zone, remain or return to the no tolerance zone whenever possible, risking a lack of work or fines. Those who consider lack of income to be at stake and want to ensure being able to work (for example by not being detained by police services) adapt to the local regulations and the new labor conditions. However, those who do not adapt to local regulations consider those who do as accepting a deterioration of both security and labor conditions.

By discussing the co-occurrence of these problem perceptions, the heterogeneity of the population of individuals working in street prostitution at Yser became more visible. This fieldwork exposes how there might be a difference between how non-migrant or documented versus undocumented migrants working in prostitution prioritize different security issues and accordingly, how they may respond differently to certain solutions. Furthermore, a distinction was made between those working in prostitution on a regular, day-to-day basis and addicts (referred to as junkies) who turn to prostitution to sustain their habits. Although this last group mainly appeared in conversations near the end of my fieldwork, it was clear that here too, conflicting problem perceptions about labor and security concerns occurred between the former and the latter. Not taking into account this diversity when developing local regulations, thus, forces those in prostitution to make a trade-off between preserving security or labor conditions, leading to a new problem where there is increased competition in prostitution and more opportunities for clients to negotiate conditions. In the empirical chapters, X explained how this also leads to nuisance problems, since it attracts less well-behaved clients to the neighborhood. By discussing this co-occurrence, the interaction between security, labor and nuisance becomes particularly clear. 226

The co-occurrence of different security-related problem perceptions

The heterogeneity of people working in prostitution also led to identifying different security problem perceptions, ranging from risks related to having certain types of clients or audiences visiting the neighborhood, to risks related to certain types of third-party involvement (criminal networks, exploitative relations). By mainly responding to the latter, vice police interventions were critically examined by those in prostitution who work independently. They perceived it to be problematic that by mainly focusing on a certain set of security problems, their concerns received less response. Compounding this is that police services generally address different problems (administrative police are mainly involved in preserving public order, vice police are mainly involved in detecting exploitation and criminal third-party involvement), leaving those in prostitution to be confused about who they could turn to when experiencing security threats. Police services (mainly) react to certain problem perceptions, which affects the relationship between those in prostitution and police. However, police services are aware of their conflicting roles and have attempted to find a middle ground in practice (despite receiving conflicting instructions).

The co-occurrence of different labor problem perceptions

Another important co-occurrence of problem perceptions revolves around the perception that prostitution is a problematic form of labor as opposed to the perception that there is a problematic recognition of labor and labor conditions. For example, although both the head of the vice police, social services and the president of the LDH agree that those in prostitution should be able to rely on certain labor rights, they do not necessarily agree on whether this also entails the recognition of prostitution as a form of labor. If prostitution were recognized as a form of labor, the head of vice perceives problems for those who are reluctant to register as prostitutes (which was confirmed by X) due both to stigmatization but also the variety of motives or trajectories of those working in prostitution. Recognizing prostitution as a form of labor would create additional problems for vice police services in reaching out to those reluctant to register. The co-occurrence of different problem perceptions about prostitution as a form of labor mainly creates tensions revolving around whether and how to provide rights for people working in prostitution. Currently, this results in the street prostitutes of Yser confined to the European Convention on Human Rights when their labor conditions are under threat, for example by displacement and especially fining actions by the City. 227

9.1.3 Detecting blockages to a multidimensional problem construction: information exchange and perspective gathering

Considering the regulations in the Yser neighborhood, it is clear that the problem construction of prostitution as a nuisance issue is quite successful in influencing the development of local regulations. The mobile platform, however, demonstrated that there are more problem perceptions present. By gathering and discussing different problem perceptions with the people involved at Yser, this approach was also able to determine why the development of a multidimensional problem construction requires an active effort of multiple perspective taking.

This research identifies that the development of a multidimensional problem construction is blocked by a lack of information exchange between different stakeholders. Currently, there is little to no information exchange between, mainly, people working in prostitution and local residents. People living and working in or around Yser are not necessarily aware of the variety of perspectives around this phenomenon. If there is a lack of insight into the different perspectives, there is also a lack of awareness of how certain regulations or actions addressing one particular problem perception can feed into the problem perceptions of others, which, in turn, leads to friction and tension.

By gathering (perspective taking) and discussing (exchanging information) different problem perceptions, the mobile platform helps illustrate how group norms tend to overshadow the existence of different perspectives. A normative context wherein selling sex is still largely considered deviant leads to generalizations about people working in street prostitution and their needs. Residents, in particular, indicate strong personal sentiments against the exchange of sex for money, or whether soliciting such an exchange should have a place in public space. When approaching the issues surrounding street prostitution by assuming that people working in this capacity are victims of a form of exploitation, it is less obvious to also consider possible labor-preserving perspectives from people working in prostitution. A lack of information exchange, then, sustains generalizations and vice versa. Consequently, it challenges the development of a more nuanced, multidimensional problem construction, and circumscribes the potential solutions that are deemed necessary.

By creating the opportunity, as a researcher, for participants to voice their concerns but also enabling them to receive other information (about different problem perceptions), I was able to see how people would reflect upon the co-occurrence of different problem perceptions. In 228 certain instances, additional information would lead them to question their previously formulated problems and expose the need for more information exchange between the different people at Yser. Certain residents, who stated that they predominantly consider people working in street prostitution as victims of a problematic form of labor, did indicate that their statement was built upon questions, concerns or personal convictions about the importance of one’s free will to engage in prostitution. This information, turning a statement into a source of questions and concerns, occurred when I was able to inform them about the main problem perceptions from people working in prostitution and their emphasis on safe labor conditions.

Conversely, the open approach is also able to detect when unidimensional problem constructions are not necessarily the result of a lack of information. An example of this can be found in the conversation with the president of the resident committee. The president of the Alhambra committee appears well informed about the different problem perceptions that are present in the neighborhood, including those of the police services, social organizations, people working in street prostitution and residents. To a certain extent, he is aware of the multidimensionality of what is at stake at Yser, and consequently, of the need for an integral, multidimensional response to (street) prostitution in Brussels.

Despite this, it should be noted that the lobbying work from the committee developed from trying to negotiate nuisance reducing traffic regulations to a straightforward demand to displace street prostitution outside the neighborhood; the committee explained that they no longer consider it viable to combine the different needs in the Yser neighborhood. The awareness of different problem perceptions contrasts with the unidimensional problem construction underlying the committee’s lobbying work: street prostitution does not belong in a residential neighborhood (see Chapter 8). Explaining this stance, the president of the committee indicated that previously installed measures (such as discussed in Chapter 5), were insufficient nuisance reducing solutions to the problems experienced by a group of residents. Combined with displacement measures and the perception of empty promises by local policymakers, a perceived lack of both implementation by police forces as well as of compliance by both people working in prostitution and associated social organizations puts pressure on the president’s conviction of whether it would be possible to gather different stakeholders around the table and discuss a solution that enables street prostitution in the neighborhood. This illustrates how unidimensional responses from local policymakers are not 229 only ineffective, but also create additional distance between the different people involved in a multidimensional issue.

Gathering and exchanging information through a mobile platform not only exposes the lack of existing information exchange, generalizations, group norms and a general distance between the different people present at Yser, it also aids in fine-tuning existing problem perceptions. Such fine-tuning is made possible by allowing people to elaborate on different problem perceptions and offering them space and time to reflect upon specific examples. Certain residents who consider prostitution an issue of nuisance would, for example, nuance their statements by explaining how street prostitution is not synonymous with nuisance but is caused by certain types of people working in prostitution. Such specifications help in finding common ground with, for example, social organizations or people working in prostitution who are more prone to confirm that certain individuals cause nuisance than they are willing to join statements and actions against prostitution in general. Another example occurs when addressing security problem perceptions. When disentangling what or who is exactly perceived as threatening or threatened, the perspective of street prostitution as dangerous was also refined in such a way that it became clear that it was not the presence of street prostitutes that was experienced as threatening. Moreover, this presence was experienced by certain residents as a form of social control. Yet again, by discussing security perspectives with people working in prostitution, the presence of residents was presented equally as well as a form of social control. In short: by allowing people to reflect and elaborate about their and other problem perceptions, not only frictions but also instances of common ground occurred.

9.2 Contributions

9.2.1 Social contribution

The social contribution of this research situates itself both in and outside of the Yser neighborhood. First, this research contributes to our understanding of what is at stake with regard to street prostitution at Yser. By approaching street prostitution at Yser from an open perspective and exposing how the co-occurrence of different perceptions about prostitution underlie its complexity, street prostitution emerges as a wicked issue. By identifying street prostitution as a wicked issue, the relevance of this work and its emphasis on the importance of gathering co-occurring perceptions expands beyond the Yser neighborhood and even beyond the issue of prostitution. 230

The social value of this work lies in representing the issues around street prostitution at Yser as a multidimensional topic, and as such breaks with the dominant, unidimensional representation of street prostitution as a matter of nuisance. Importantly, this research does not break with the unidimensional nuisance problem construction by discarding nuisance problem perceptions. Rather, by applying an open approach, this research specifically contributes by exposing the importance of considering the co-occurrence of problem perceptions instead of approaching problems as isolated, singular issues. More importantly, the analysis illustrates the importance of how prostitution is perceived and the usefulness of perception gathering in order to clarify how prostitution is understood by those in and around it. Such an analysis appears crucial in order to better comprehend the tensions and frictions that occur. More broadly, it is crucial for formulating a more elaborate answer to the question of what is at stake with regard to street prostitution at Yser.

The results of the fieldwork show how dominant unidimensional representations of the problems in the Yser neighborhood and consequently, unidimensional responses from (mainly) local policymakers, only address a subset of the issues at play. This work highlights how such unidimensional responses are not only limited, but are also experienced as ineffective in reducing nuisance. Furthermore, the multidimensional analysis also exposes how unidimensional inspired regulations and actions, such as those occurring in the Yser neighborhood, are not harmless. The displacement and fining regulations emerge as exclusionary measures, as they are not accompanied by secure alternatives for those in prostitution. The exclusion that emerges affects those in prostitution and their needs and concerns in particular.

Presenting a multidimensional analysis of the issues in Yser clarifies why the installment of surveillance cameras is a rather technical solution. It becomes clear that current policies have failed because they are solely built on problem perceptions from one particular group. This disregards the alternatives that such policies ought to provide for other groups that implement (police services) or accept or comply with (those in prostitution, social organizations, certain residents) the new regulations. Such technical solutions have taken the shape of, among other things, roadblocks, retractable poles, cameras and displacement efforts. This research has been able to explain why such technical solutions do not and will not suffice when trying to respond to conflicts concerning prostitution at Yser, and even more broadly to prostitution in an urban context. 231

This work illustrates the importance of attempting to bring those with different perspectives to the table. This is particularly relevant for an issue that has a strong normative dimension and involves stakeholders who tend to inhabit unequal social positions. The normative dimension of street prostitution for the Yser neighborhood became particularly clear when the role of labor problem perceptions emerged. Given the predominance of heterosexual, monogamous norms (see Chapter 2) and the human tendency to generalize based on available norms and knowledge, a phenomenon like street prostitution tends to be perceived as different or even deviant from more dominant, collective norms. Due to the existence of these norms, an in- group and an out-group emerge. Due to an in-group, out-group dynamic, due to different socio-economic backgrounds and means, stakeholders access and influence to publicly identify and construct a social problem, differs. Due to these two characteristics (the normative dimension and unequal social positions), the exchange of information and more specifically of problem perceptions is less evident and requires an open approach. The multidimensionality of Yser became clear when actively moving through the neighborhood as a mobile platform, which enabled observing not only the frictions or overlap between different perspectives but also the importance of informing the people from Yser about differing perspectives. Actively gathering and exchanging different problem perceptions is a first step in bringing different perspectives together.

Furthermore, the multidimensional analysis not only exposes differences in perspectives between perceived groups, it is also valuable because it exposes the variety within previously assumed homogenous groups (such as “residents” or “prostitutes”). Not all residents perceive street prostitution to be a nuisance problem, and not all of those working in street prostitution attribute the same value to labor-related problem perceptions as they do to security-related problem perceptions. Social organizations, Espace P and Entre 2, differ in how they give meaning to, or respond to prostitution as a problematic form of labor when it comes to lobbying work. Furthermore, there is not one police approach to prostitution; there are two rather distinct units who try to work together despite having to respond to different problem perceptions.

The interventions on the part of the City and, I would argue, the lack of coordination between the different municipalities on the matter of prostitution, symbolize the lack of consideration for the variety of perspectives that are present. By avoiding addressing these perspectives, local policymakers merely pass along the problem (to, for example, other municipalities or to an underground scene). Conflicting or tension-inducing co-occurrence of nuisance, security 232 and labor problem perceptions can be summed up as a problematic living together and sharing of space of the people of Yser. Based on this research, I argue for the importance of mapping out problem perceptions in order to identify where tension or friction occurs. The main tensions occur when unidimensional responses address only one side of co-occurring problem perceptions about these issues.

The open approach is able to offer insight into why the development or better yet, an acceptance of a multidimensional problem construction is not evident. Apart from challenging existing norms and a lack of information exchange, developing such a multidimensional understanding of what is at stake regarding prostitution in Yser, requires time, means and an active effort to explore the different problem perceptions, including from those who might refrain from explicitly formulating problem perceptions highlighting their (assumed) deviance from conventional norms. The combination of these elements can explain why the City of Brussels refrains from developing an integral, multidimensional response as advocated for in the Seinpost report from 2008. Apart from institutional complexities (how to organize prostitution across different municipalities and police zones) and the lack of clarity about the competences of a city to develop local prostitution regulation in line with national and international prostitution regulations, the time-consuming and (normatively) complex issue of street prostitution at Yser might motivate local policymakers to turn to rather short-term actions and regulations to reduce nuisance.

The social relevance of exposing multidimensionality is also informative for other red light areas in an urban context and more particularly, in an urban gentrifying context where different actors with different socio-economic backgrounds have different access to local policymakers or media for addressing and representing their concerns. The question that emerges, then, is how local policymakers are able to respond to such a multidimensional issue. Based on the current analysis, I am not able to formulate a one-size-fits-all solution. However, I do recommend that approaching prostitution as a wicked issue and actively gathering a variety of problem perceptions is a constructive first step. Head indicates that, “the majority of politicians tend to focus on highly visible or tangible pieces of the puzzle, rather than insisting on a comprehensive approach to issues. (…) However, the short-term tactics may deliver little in the longer term” (2008:107,108). By engaging in a multidimensional problem construction, both frictions and communalities can be identified more clearly, and policy makers are able to decide on regulations or actions that involve a 233 minimum of collateral damage for all actors involved. In order to determine what minimum collateral damage truly means, all actors should be approached as equal stakeholders.

The relevance of discussing an issue as multidimensional is of relevance beyond the Yser neighborhood, and beyond the issue of prostitution. It is relevant for urban environments characterized by growing diversity; diversity in citizens with varying socio-economic or cultural backgrounds who are confronted with phenomena or issues that challenge conventional norms. Based on the current analysis, I argue that this work is important for policymakers experiencing difficulties in approaching, developing and implementing long- term, broadly accepted solutions to social problems taking place in an urban context. First and foremost, this research exposes that gathering and actively bringing together different problem perceptions on the ground is a necessary first step when policymakers or society in general try to give a place—both literally and figuratively—to a wicked issue such as prostitution.

Finally, exploring the importance of an open approach and exposing the importance of a multidimensional problem construction through the case of prostitution, offers a clear counter indication of influential representations of prostitution as a unidimensional issue. In Chapter 1, I explained how prostitution scholars identify the dominance of unidimensional problem constructions as a problematic representation of prostitution in society. This work represents prostitution as a multidimensional issue, and illustrates the importance of that multidimensionality for a concrete social context. This research contributes to disempowering dominant unidimensional understandings of prostitution by demonstrating how unidimensional problem constructions become more informative when incorporated into larger, multidimensional problem constructions.

9.2.2 Scientific contribution

In Chapter 1, I explained how scholars such as Crowhurst (2017) highlight the need for research approaches that are able to analyze prostitution as a multidimensional issue. This is identified as necessary since prostitution scholars are critiqued for spending “too much time debating with the ‘enemy’” and consequently lacking “space for developing (a) research agenda” (Nencel, 2017:67). This research contributes to a prostitution research agenda that is interested in analyzing prostitution as a multidimensional issue in two ways. First, it responds to the lack of a scientific approach able to analyze prostitution as a multidimensional issue. Second, it contributes to scientific knowledge on prostitution by presenting a 234 multidimensional problem construction, exposing the importance of exploring the co- occurrence of, and therefore the interaction between, different perceptions on prostitution.

This research illustrates how an open approach is an analytical tool able to generate information that would otherwise be difficult to gather. This was made possible by suggesting an open approach, devoid of an a priori, determined, ontological position on prostitution (Spanger & Skillbrei, 2017), or a specific focus on a particular stakeholder or dimension. Through this approach, I was able to engage a diverse group of people in sharing and discussing their problem perceptions, leading to the identification of a wider range of perceptions than more targeted efforts would be able to expose (see Hannem & Tigchelaar, 2016). An open approach is able to approximate public debate in a context where public debate per se may not be possible. The approach does not need to rely on a direct interaction between different actors to gather information about the co-occurrence of different perceptions. Moreover, by moving through the neighborhood as a mobile platform, the approach reduces the risk of evoking conflict (which may be a risk when trying to gather information by initiating a public debate). The approach not only allows, but considers it valuable for people to take time to reflect, bring in nuance or express doubt, which may be less possible in a direct interaction or in a more public setting (in which defensive responses may be more prevalent). This last aspect especially is an asset of this analytical tool. The open approach is not only valuable for researching the multidimensionality of prostitution, but can also be used for other types of wicked social problems and more specifically for problems that revolve around sharing public space between different actors who might use that public space differently (for leisure, commercial or intimate purposes, for example).

Second, not only does this study contribute to a prostitution research agenda by proposing a tool to capture multidimensionality, its scientific value also lies in the multidimensional problem construction that results from applying this open approach. As such, this research offers additional insight into the complexity of prostitution. By analyzing prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon in a social context, this research is able to highlight how the different dimensions of prostitution intersect. It illustrates how perceptions about different dimensions of prostitution can conflict or overlap, but most of all it demonstrates why we have a better understanding of prostitution when we consider the different dimensions in relation to each other instead of isolation. As such, this research offers empirical confirmation of what is generally argued for within prostitution literature: to consider prostitution as a complex, multidimensional phenomenon (Weitzer, 2010; Comte, 2014; Crowhurst, 2017). 235

The relevance of this multidimensional problem construction extends beyond the case of Yser, since it also informs us about how different labor, security and nuisance problem perceptions relating to visible forms of prostitution could interact within an urban context, as well as how different labor and security problem perceptions could interact for less visible forms of prostitution.

The interaction between problem perceptions about nuisance and security in, for example, red light areas offers a venue for further research. Prostitution literature, especially literature within the field of urban geography, discusses the effect of police actions on the working conditions of those in the prostitution industry (Hubbard, 2004). Sanders (2004) for example, illustrates how those working in prostitution cope with police actions, varying from cooperation and compliance to developing avoidance strategies. However, when examined through an extensive open approach, it becomes clear that more information is needed about how police services themselves deal with conflicting orders, while at the same time trying to develop more cooperative bonds with those in prostitution. In particular, this research exposes why we need more information about the influence of regulatory regimes on the relationship between those in prostitution and police services. In this vein, a recently published study by Armstrong (2017) illustrates how the decriminalization of sex work in New Zealand positively affected the interaction between street sex workers and police services.

The co-occurrence of different labor-related problem perceptions also exposes the need for further research into the different motives and trajectories of people working in prostitution. The analysis of the co-occurring labor perceptions indicate that to find a solution that would protect those in prostitution from a labor point of view requires careful examination about what protecting could entail for those who identify as working independently, those who work through networks, those with different migratory backgrounds (more specifically, undocumented migrants) or those who fear further stigmatization or exclusion. The co- occurrence of different labor problem perceptions indicates that there is no one-size-fits-all solution to provide safe labor conditions. Weitzer (2012) and Vermeulen & Peršak (2014) engage with this co-occurrence by researching what type of legal solutions are best equipped to respond to the diversity of trajectories and motives of those in prostitution. This research indicates that certain solutions (the legalization of prostitution as a form of labor) could create additional difficulties for vice or social services in reaching out to those who would be reluctant to be officially identified as sex workers, and that further research is needed to better comprehend what type of regulation enables an optimal outreach service. 236

The co-occurrence of different security problem perceptions also aligns with the findings of for example Munro (2008) or Jacobsen & Stenvoll (2010, also see Chapter 1). These scholars describe how a dominant trafficking discourse leads to the emergence of different types of victim profiles or rather, a victim hierarchy, with those who are not trafficked or part of exploitative networks at the bottom of that hierarchy. The current analysis was able to expose how the different perceptions about who is identified as a victim and who is not are perceived as impacting the relationship between police services and non-migrant, documented prostitutes who work independently. Further examination of the role of police forces and how they (have to) implement (conflicting) rules or regulations, as well as how this may sustain such a victim hierarchy, could be informative in that respect.

This research is based on a public sociologist approach to knowledge production. However, Burawoy (2005) makes clear that the approach can contribute to more theoretical, critical or specific in-depth approaches. Arguing for an open approach focusing on the multidimensionality of prostitution does not exclude recognizing the importance of specific, in-depth studies on a certain dimension of prostitution, or gathering knowledge from one particular subgroup. Like Burawoy, I argue that both open and in-depth approaches are complementary, with more open, public approaches gaining strength from more specified research on one particular dimension or group. Open approaches, then, could inspire more in- depth research about a specific stakeholder, specific dimension, or a combination of both. In particular, the results of applying an open approach may inspire more multi-disciplinary research to untangle the interaction between certain dimensions, a current shortcoming in prostitution research (Vermeulen & Peršak, 2014). This offers valuable information, both for local policymakers or social organizations who want to focus on developing a more (constructive) co-existence in neighborhoods, and is informative for prostitution scholars who want to inform policy makers of the importance and usefulness of considering prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon.

Finally, approaching a phenomenon that tends to be defined as a social problem in a unidimensional way with an analytical tool that is open to multidimensionality, the open approach generates information that could inform more abstract theory building beyond the case of prostitution. By specifically focusing on the co-occurrence of a variety of problem perceptions, how they relate in a certain context (with certain problem perceptions being more influential than others, for example) and how they develop, function or are sustained within a context, the open approach offers a rich palette of information on both diversity and 237 generalizations of ideas and perspectives. More specifically, it contributes to theory building of the development of social problems by demonstrating the relevance of social psychology in gaining a deeper insight into social problem construction. It contributes to literature on the development or sustaining of the marginalization or dominance of ideas by illustrating how a lack of information exchange and influential norms sustain each other. Consequently, it illustrates how the dominance or marginalization of certain ideas relates to the dominance or marginalization of different groups within a social context. Finally, this work contrasts the variety of ideas and perceptions that are available with the presence of unidimensional or generalized worldviews that take center stage in social debates. As such, it offers venues for further reflection on the interplay between socio-psychological, sociological and political dynamics in how we, both individually and collectively and both in and between groups, understand society and the issues at play within it.

9.3 Limitations and venues for further research

This research is an exploration of an open approach aimed at developing a multidimensional problem construction. This approach actively searches for different stakeholders and invites them to share their perceptions about what they consider to be at stake with regard to a certain issue. Given the context this research explored, it was crucial to engage those who tend to refrain from sharing their perceptions publicly or those whose presence and perceptions are marginalized or even stigmatized.

One limitation occurs when this approach is not able to reach certain groups or individuals. First, there is a lack of testimonies from women and trans individuals working in prostitution and in particular, those who might be part of networks, undocumented workers, and those who work during the night. This research also lacks problem perceptions from clients. Conversations with people working in prostitution indicate that problem perceptions from clients (fearing fines, fearing prostitutes who are addicts, fearing bar raids) influence the problem perceptions and consequently, the coping mechanisms of those working in prostitution. Finally, residents were mainly white, Flemish and middle-class. The socio- demographic data presented in Chapter 4 indicates that the being white and middle-class is not characteristic of the entire neighborhood. For the development of the multidimensional problem construction, this means that the current problem construction is multidimensional but is not complete. Further research addressing groups present in the neighborhood but not 238 represented by the study is necessary to develop a more elaborate multidimensional problem construction of this issue.

Furthermore, the open approach is able to address prostitution as a multidimensional phenomenon, allowing a broad variety of actors and dimensions to be incorporated. However, the approach is not all encompassing (Burawoy, 2005) and is not intended to “replace” but to complement more traditional, specific approaches to researching prostitution. The open approach considers not being able to incorporate the problem perceptions from a particular group as a limitation, but equally as a source of information: not being able to reach certain stakeholders is itself a result, and should be mentioned as part of the results. This may encourage other researchers to conduct more specified, in-depth research about this particular stakeholder group and its reluctance to participate in research.

A second limitation revolves around bringing the different problem perceptions together through a mobile platform instead of observing an actual, direct conversation between the different people of Yser. Researchers such as O’Neill and Campbell (2002), or Pitcher and colleagues (2006) were able to rely on an identified community of sex workers to apply a participatory approach and develop a dialogue between different stakeholders. Just as in the study of Hannem & Tigchelaar (2016), it was not possible in this research to rely on a self- identified community of sex workers or on social organizations to invite people working in prostitution to, for example, participate in a focus group. In Chapter 2 I elaborate on why, for the Yser case, I relied on a mobile platform to gather and develop an information exchange between the people of Yser. This resulted in me actively addressing a variety of people, offering them a platform to share their perception and introducing other perspectives into our conversation. Such an approach avoids direct contact and an explicit exchange. As a researcher, I presented the perspectives in as neutral a way as possible. Apart from risking to not transfer problem perceptions from one conversation to another (for example, by unconsciously filtering or emphasizing information), this method also strips perspectives from emotions and, as such, risks losing the exchange of unspoken information from one stakeholder to another.

Not specific to this case, but also related, is that a further critical exploration of the open approach would benefit from more insight into the involvement of more hidden or marginalized groups in public research, while at the same time being able to anticipate possible negative consequences of intergroup contact where one group tends to be in a weaker 239 social position than the other. Bucklaschuk (2014), for example, critically examines organic public sociology and attempts to involve marginalized and/or hidden groups, indicating that public approaches should be aware that these groups may fear repercussions, further exclusion or other consequences for engaging in discussion. This is a relevant critique and requires further examination, since it did prevent certain people from participating in the mobile platform in this research. A participatory approach starts from the strengths of a community (Dewey, 2014) in developing a research agenda, its implementation and data collection. In a context such as Yser, to identify these community strengths and enable such a participatory action approach, an open approach might be best suited for determining where there might be room for collaboration, where there is community feeling, and to identify what hurdles researchers might have to overcome to develop constructive, participatory action research.

I argue that this research is a necessary first step in a deliberation process in which actors are able to gather around a table with some notion about the variety of perspectives present. Follow-up research during such direct interactions would offer valuable information about the possibilities, but also limitations of a mobile platform as a first step in such a deliberation process. It also requires further examination as to what extent participants could benefit from making “private troubles into public issues” (Burawoy, 2005:9). I do argue, however, that in contexts where there is too much conflict or a lack of a self-identified community to motivate people to enter into dialogue, the current open approach might be a useful tool to explore how to lower barriers and to gain insight into what would be needed to apply a participatory approach in the long term.

This work also offers venues for further research beyond addressing limitations. For the case of prostitution, I argue that in order to better comprehend the co-occurrence between different problem perceptions about nuisance, security and labor, it is important to develop multidimensional problem constructions for different forms of prostitution or prostitution taking place under different regulatory regimes. For street prostitution in particular, comparative research is needed in which a multidimensional analysis from the Yser neighborhood is compared with a multidimensional analysis of street prostitution taking place in a less complex institutional setting (for example, in a city where the coordination of prostitution is not spread over different police zones and municipalities). Furthermore, given the normative dimension of prostitution in a Western context, it is also important to look at how the co-occurrence of problem perceptions emerge in other contexts with different norms regarding the exchange of sex for money. Such research could aid understanding of the 240 impact of context on how different problem perceptions co-occur in relation to each other, as well as compare varying responses to these problem perceptions.

Finally, it would also be interesting to compare a multidimensional problem construction on street prostitution to a multidimensional problem construction on other wicked issues. As discussed in the previous section, such research would be of high social relevance, especially for policymakers who might find themselves stuck in responding to wicked issues in a unidimensional way.

9.4 A final note

During the final weeks of my PhD project, newspaper La Derniere Heure published an article titled “Prostitution: La police fait son grand retour à Bruxelles” (“Prostitution: the police services comeback in Brussels” ). New Mayor Close, who suddenly had to replace Mayor Mayeur after a political scandal in 2017, indicated that:

For me, as mayor, there would never be a Villa Tinto in Brussels. I am truly ideologically and politically opposed to such a project. (…) I am also in favor of the penalization of clients. I also use this opportunity to address myself to the social organizations: don’t count on me being the Band-Aid for human misery.

By exploring the open approach and developing a multidimensional problem construction, this research is able to predict several problems that will emerge if the mayor succeeds in putting his particular abolitionist problem construction above a multidimensional problem construction. The mobile platform would even be able to inform people living and working in or around prostitution of why such a unidimensional problem construction could be harmful for those working in prostitution, have detrimental effects for outreach services, pose challenges for the vice brigade to conduct their investigations and may not necessarily represent or respond to the concerns of residents. The contribution of this research to prostitution research, is not only that it presents an open approach to capture multidimensionality, but also that it provides insight into how the development of such a multidimensional problem construction, let alone a successful, broadly held multidimensional problem construction, is in itself, a complex endeavor that faces certain blockages. I think I will send Mayor Close a copy of this work.

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Attachments

Front and back of flyer used to inform the people of Yser about my research:

262

Front and back of the flyer developed by BRAVVO, Espace P and Entre 2 to announce the zoning plan: