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AMSTERDAM, Netherlands, Dec 29, 2006 (UPI via COMTEX) -- Netherlands brothel owners are fighting the Amsterdam city council in court after a decision to close one-third of the sex businesses in the city.
The city council is demanding the closure of 33 of the city's brothels, claiming many of them are fronts for criminal activity. The prostitutes' union, which represents 20,000 sex workers in the city, claims that closing brothels will force women into illegal activity and a life on the street. Prostitution has been legal in the Netherlands for five years.
The city council wants the businesses closed by the end of the year, the BBC reported Friday.
The council also claims that if brothels are able to acquire funding from banks instead of private companies, the city will be able to fight crime in the red light district more effectively. Amsterdam's banks in do not fund any of the brothels, the BBC reported.
URL: www.upi.com Copyright 2006 by United Press International
