ABOUT THE PIC
Who are we?
The Prostitution Information Center (PIC) is a not for profit sex worker-led organization that believes sex work is work. We offer a unique and friendly place that is open to anyone with the desire to learn. We provide information on sex work, the Red Light District, and the sex industry in the Netherlands from a sex worker perspective. We often receives visits from residents, politicians, tourists, sex workers, clients, students, journalists, and researchers from various countries and backgrounds. PIC also participates in events connected to sex work, hosts lectures, gives presentations on sex work and its related issues, provides informative Walk 'N Talks on the area, and is involved in community organizing.
We also serve as a safer space for sex workers and can direct them towards legal, health, well-being, and financial services. We provide the space for free for sex workers who engage in activism and need a meeting point.
We are not government funded nor part of the Municipality of Amsterdam. We do not report sex workers to authorities. We are not a rescue organization. Everyone at PIC is non-judgmental, respects confidentiality, and discusses things in a sensitive manner.
Our mission
PIC’s mission is fighting the stigma often associated with sex work by providing accurate information to as many people as possible. The PIC provides accurate and nuanced information from a sex worker perspective and fights the myths and misconceptions about sex work, especially its conflation with “trafficking.” Sex work is work and “trafficking” is a crime. People have the right to choose sex work, but they also have the right to be protected against forced labor and exploitation, both in the sex industry and other labor sectors.
Sex worker rights are human rights! Our ultimate goal is to fight against sex work stigma and for the intersectional rights of sex workers. This includes (but is not exclusive to) labor rights, migrant rights, and trans and queer rights.
Our history
Mariska Majoor, a former sex worker herself, founded the PIC in 1994. While Mariska enjoyed her work behind the window, the public stigma increasingly bothered her and she observed many people who visited the center of Amsterdam and had many questions, yet no place that offered any answers. Her main goal was to establish an easily accessible place that provides accurate information from the points of view of actual sex workers to those uneducated about sex work but who are curious about it, while also serving as a safe haven for sex workers.
At the PIC, Mariska tirelessly responded to questions about sex work, gave hundreds of interviews with media, and influenced local politics. You can read an extensive interview interview with her here. She even developed her own unique walking tour of the Red Light area, which has now transformed into our Walk ‘N Talk.
In 2017, the Mayor of Amsterdam knighted Mariska for her contribution to sex workers’ rights over the past 20 years. In 2016, Mariska retired from the PIC and a committed team of sex workers and allies continues to run it in her legacy. More than 300,000 people have already visited the PIC. We hope to see you soon!
Meet Belle
In front of the Old Church on the Oudekerksplein, you can find the bronze statue of a confident sex worker in her doorway: Belle. The founder of the PIC, Mariska, commissioned Dutch artist, Els Rijerse, for the sculpture in 2007 to promote respect for sex workers. The plaque reads: ‘Respect sex workers all over the world’.
The statue is a symbolic figure and place for sex workers, where commemorations and celebrations often occur. Every year on December 17, the International Day Against Violence Against Sex Workers, the PIC team gets together and brings a bouquet of flowers to the statue as a sign of love and respect.
The PIC is the proud caretaker of Belle and sells unique miniatures of the tribute to sex workers worldwide.