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DE WALLEN - RED LIGHT DISTRICT OF AMSTERDAM
De Wallen, also known as Walletjes or Rosse Buurt, is the largest and best-known red-light district in Amsterdam, a major tourist attraction. It is a network of alleys containing several hundred tiny one-room apartments rented by female prostitutes who offer their services from behind a window.
It also has a number of sex shops, sex theatres, peep shows, a sex museum, a cannabis museum, and a number of coffee shops offering various cannabis products.
De Wallen is located in the heart of the oldest part of Amsterdam, covering several blocks southwest of the church and crossed by several canals. The red light district has existed since the 14th century and formerly contained many distilleries, mainly catering to sailors.
Prostitution is generally legal in the Netherlands, however some of the working women are illegal immigrants. Health and social services are readily available, but the women are not required to undergo regular health checks.
The women are self-employed and rent the rooms for some 100-150 euros per 8 hour shift, which includes closed-circuit security.
Condoms are generally used for sexual contact, although not always with oral sex. Twenty minutes of sex generally costs about 40 to 50 euros.
However, Asian and Black women can sometimes be procured for about 30 to 35 euros.
The sale of soft drugs in licensed coffee shops, while technically illegal, is officially tolerated; the (quite common) sale of harder drugs in the streets is illegal and prosecuted.
 RED LIGHT DISTRICT
A red-light district is a neighborhood where prostitution is a common part of everyday life. The term was first recorded in the United States around 1890, and derives from the practice of placing a red light in the window to indicate to customers the (often illegal) nature of the business.
This is based on the biblical story of Rahab, a prostitute in Jericho who aided the spies of Joshua and identified her house with a scarlet rope.
Interestingly, one of the many terms used for a red-light district in Japanese is akasen, literally meaning "red-line", apparently of independent origins from the English term.
From Wikipedia
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