Who is Yvette Luhrs, the prostitute who ran for MP in the Netherlands

“There will be those who will be surprised that a prostitute presents herself as a deputy”he tells the press agency EFE the Dutch Yvette luhrs, 36, who claims that prostitutes herself for the love of “sexuality” and runs for office in the Netherlands in search of a seat to defend the rights of “sex workers”.

“I have many options for a living, but I love that I can use my intellectual knowledge and my body to make money.”, sentence, after having told about her time at the University of Amsterdam to specialize in “media and pornographic studies”, attracted by her interest in “sexuality” with the theme.

It started as porn actress then she tried internet webcam shows, until last year she switched to prostitution in the red light district, practicing in clubs, in windows and as “Escort”, “see different jobs in the sex industry” and realize that the Amsterdam district offers “a safe place to work independently and with social cohesion”.

“The big decisions are made in The Hague and that’s where we need to be”

In an interview with EFE at his home in a city in the municipality of Amsterdam, he considered “Very few feminists to tell women that they are not in their right mind because they decide certain things”, such as prostitution, an idea he wants to defend from the Parliament of The Hague if she is elected in the next elections organized by the Netherlands the 17th of March, whose new composition of government.

His decision to go into politics began with the pandemic, after prohibit prostitution, being considered as a Risky “contact profession” for coronavirus infections, but at the same time, the “sex workers” also did not have access to government assistance because they were not autonomous and did not have a contract..

“Sex work is between the two options, and that’s why our government decided it was not going to give financial assistance, which is strange because sex workers pay their taxes and their social security. . My community has suffered “, he assures, about all his “companions”, including people LGTBI who engage in prostitution.

They all organized last year protests and wrote letters to the executive in The Hague, asking that they be allowed to practice again or to included in social assistance schemes, but received “no response, no change”.

Represents BIJ1 party, which could break into Dutch parliament for the first time, polls say

This led this Dutch to join BIJ1, What could enter the Dutch Parliament for the first time, according to surveys, being the “First party in Europe founded by a black woman”, the host Sylvana simons, for fight against racism and discrimination, and now also “fight the stigma surrounding” prostitution and “fight for the rights of sex workers” in the Nederlands.

“No matter what you do as a citizen, the big decisions are made in The Hague and that’s where we need to be”, stressed Luhrs, who regretted that over the past two decades, Dutch prostitutes lost “more than half of their legal workspace” due to the reduction in licenses to brothels and clubs.

He recognizes that “sex work is a bit difficult for people, also for municipalities, so there are a lot of wrong rules, such as whether or not you can work from home, you need to have a permit or not, or you can get one (…) makes it difficult for sex workers to be their own employerAnd that they end up depending on brothels.

“BIJ1 advocates for the decriminalization of sex work, bringing sex workers to the table when debating a new law and giving them the opportunity to work independently.”, highlighted.

Prostitution is “a way to put food on the table, to survive, and if you are against it you are anti-feminist”

For her, prostitution is “a way to live, to get money, to put a dish of food on the table, to survive, and if you are against it you are anti-feminist”, he assures, adding that “we live in a capitalist society and that hurts a lot of people”, referring to the abuses of work which occur in other professions.

“It’s one of the ways people have to survive and you can’t say sex work is bad just because you’re speaking from a feminist point of view. I think it is wrong that people have few job opportunities, that they live in poverty because their governments do not care for them in the same way, that there are people who do their work under the abuse of their bosses or clients. Sex work, as work, is just one more job“, considers.

Promotes “Decriminalization and non-legalization” because it normalizes prostitution and allows those who exercise it “to go, openly and freely, to the police when something is wrong, or to the doctor when they need treatment”, although he acknowledges that there is no legal policy that has been shown to be effective in preventing trafficking, but “fighting stigma helps”.

(With information from EFE)

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