A new law in Belgium granting labor rights to sex workers went into effect Sunday after the European country voted in 2022 to decriminalize sex work.

Belgium is granting sex workers full labor rights, including health insurance, paid leave and pensions, starting Sunday.

I had to work while I was nine months pregnant. I was having sex with clients one week before giving birth,” said a Belgium sex worker named Sophie, lamenting conditions before the

The new law guarantees fundamental rights for sex workers, including the ability to refuse clients, set the conditions of an act, and stop an act at any moment.

Her life would have been much easier had she had a right to maternity leave, paid by her employer. Under a new law in Belgium - the first of its kind in the world - this will now

Belgium has made history by becoming the first country to offer formal employment contracts to sex workers. The law, which came into effect on December 1, 2024, provides benefits such as sick days, maternity leave and pensions.

Sex workers in Belgium will now be able to sign formal employment contracts, gaining access to sick days, maternity leave, unemployment benefits and other labour rights.

Belgium on Sunday passed a landmark law granting sex workers the same rights as other workers. The new law ensures that sex workers are treated as employees, entitling them to benefits such as maternity leave,