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

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.

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

Belgian sex workers have become the only ones in the world who can now sign employment contracts, which give them access to different benefits

The new law also establishes, among other fundamental rights, the right to refuse clients, choose their practices, and stop an act at any time. Starting Sunday, individuals offering sexual services in Belgium will be able to sign formal employment contracts and obtain labor rights equivalent to those of other professions in a legal advancement that some call a "revolution.