This overview offers accurate and up-to-date information about escorts in the Netherlands. Definitions, laws, rules, do’s and don’ts, prices, and much more. Get informed about Amsterdam escorts, prostitution and escort work in other Dutch cities.
Definition Escort
An escort service is the provision of company by a sex worker with, if desired, sexual acts with the customer. An escort can be of any gender and can be of any sexual orientation.
Escort is a relatively expensive form of prostitution that offers the client more privacy and discretion. The meeting takes place, for example, at the customer’s home, in the hotel where the customer is staying, in a hotel proposed by the escort (hotel prostitution), in a restaurant, etc. The meeting place can take place almost anywhere.
Escorts don’t just provide sexual services. Sometimes they go to restaurants or on a business trip for a fee to pretend to be a partner of the customer to third parties. This is especially important in cultures where there is a certain social stigma on loneliness. It is also possible that the customer only needs company and not so much sex. Sometimes customers just want to cuddle and talk.
Prostitution Legislation in the Netherlands
Prostitution is legal as long as it involves voluntary adult sex. In the Netherlands, someone is an adult from the age of 18.
A sex offense that concerns prostitution, however, is Article 248b Criminal Code, which provides:
A person who commits fornication with someone who makes himself available to perform sexual acts with a third party by payment and who has not reached the age of eighteen is punished with imprisonment not exceeding four years or fine of the fourth category.
Every municipality in the Netherlands has a different policy regarding the regulations for self-employed sex workers. In Amsterdam, for example, one needs a permit when acquiring customers online as an independent sex worker. A number of Dutch municipalities do not require permits for sex workers, such as in Zoetermeer.
Street prostitution is illegal in the Netherlands.
There are both female and male escorts. Female escorts are mainly booked by heterosexual male clients. And male escorts are mainly booked by gay men.
In the Netherlands, there are very few straight male escorts, as straight women generally don’t pay for sex. And those who do would like an escort who can fulfill specific erotic fantasies.
Mode of Operation
In the Netherlands, one can work in the prostitution sector as follows:
✦ Employed as an employee by an operator/ employer who pays wages.
✦ Working as an independent entrepreneur. The escort works for him or herself and there is no third party who has authority over the escort’s activities.
✦ Working in a national employment relationship for a client (operator) whereby the conditions package is met. This is an intermediate form of self-employment and salaried employment. The conditions package lays down the rights and obligations of the proprietor and the prostitute while the latter is not employed. (Dutch source)
Workplaces
Escorts do not work in window brothels like in the Red Light District of Amsterdam (also known as De Wallen). The windows are used by window prostitutes who do not escort. Meaning, window prostitutes advertise by standing in a window brothel. They do not advertise online, like Amsterdam escorts.
Escorts offers their services online (via apps, websites or social media). Eventually, they meet at a preferred location. This can be at the escort’s home, in a restaurant, in a club, in a hotel, at the client’s home, or anywhere else.
Statistics
In the Netherlands, there are no hard figures on the number of sex workers who work from home, but internet sites do provide an indication. Every day 150 sex advertisements appear on various sites throughout the Netherlands for sex work at home or as an escort.
Dutch scientist and sex work expert Sietse Altink claimed that Amsterdam has about 500 sex workers. (source)
She published on her website:
‘Applied to prostitution research, we might conclude that large numbers are more an expression of a discomfort and moral anxiety on the part of the authors than a faithful representation of the empirical reality. (source)
… In addition, there are practical obstacles that prevent an accurate count of the number of sex workers. Some sectors (escort) are more difficult to count than others (windows prostitution). The biggest obstacle, however, is the mobility among sex workers. Both our interviews and our observations show that sex workers change workplace, city or even country very frequently. Mobility is not only geographic, however, but also concerns the prostitution sector and working hours. As a result, it is extremely difficult to determine how many sex workers are working at any given location at any one time.’ (source)
11 Golden Rules For Escort Clients
✦ Make good and clear agreements in advance.
✦ Respect the boundaries of the escort.
✦ Be clear about your wishes.
✦ Use a condom.
✦ Pay what has been agreed on. Do not try to negotiate a discount afterward.
✦ Make sure you are fresh and clean. Take a shower if necessary.
✦ Be relaxed.
✦ Don’t drink too much alcohol.
✦ Do not cause any nuisance to the environment
✦ Don’t pay too much attention to the time, but enjoy the moment.
✦ Always ask permission from the escort if you want to take photos.
Good to know: Most escorts lead a double life and (because of the stigma) do not tell people about their profession as a sex workers. Mainly because of this, escorts usually do not want to be photographed.
How To Hire An Escort in Amsterdam?
Booking Amsterdam escorts can be done through a brokerage company/ escort agency, directly with an escort or in a sex club. An escort can be booked through apps, companies, websites or through a direct phone number.
Escorts can be booked anywhere in the Netherlands. This is also because this country is relatively small, which makes travel distances short. Most escorts in the Netherlands are active in the larger cities such as Amsterdam, Rotterdam, Utrecht and The Hague.
Escort Prices
Frequently asked questions about Amsterdam escorts are:
✦ How much for escorts in Amsterdam?
✦ How much are Amsterdam escorts?
The prices of escorts depend on the location and the method of booking. If Amsterdam escorts have to travel to The Hague, she/he will include the travel costs in the total price. The requested service also determines the price. But usually escorts in the Netherlands cost between 100 and 180 euros per hour.
In general, the prices of escort agencies are higher than the prices of independent escorts. However, some advantages of such an escort agency are that there is customer service available, it is more professional and the customer gets a better guarantee.
✦ Minimum price: 100 euro per hour ($ 120)
✦ Average price: 150 euro per hour ($ 180)