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By Alexandra Hudson
AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Amsterdam's sex workers came to
work early on Saturday to offer a free look at the
city's famed red-light district.

Hundreds of wide-eyed visitors queued in the sunshine
to enter the dimly-lit sex clubs and peep shows that
draw thousands to the city and to snoop around
prostitutes' neon-lit boudoirs.

"I think the open day is a great idea," said Love, an
erotic dancer at Amsterdam's Banana Bar, who was on
hand to answer questions and pose for photographs in
fluorescent negligee.

"It is especially interesting for women. If they learn
what we do here they will realize it is not a big deal
if their husbands or boyfriends want to come here."

Organizers staged the open day to counter bad
publicity surrounding the 800-year-old district after
harrowing reports of forced prostitution, human
trafficking and organized crime.

More than 30 brothels are fighting closure after
officials revoked their licenses last year over
suspected links to money laundering and drug dealing.

But tourism authorities say the district -- a warren
of narrow alleys and canals lined with sex shops,
brothels and neon signs - - is as big an attraction as
Amsterdam's art museums and coffee shops, where
marijuana is freely smoked and sold.

Every night visitors throng the streets, agog at
scantily clad women sitting behind huge red-lit
windows, and who sell their services for as little as
50 euros ($66.58).

"I am here because my wife was interested in coming
along," said 63-year-old Evert Rijnders from Haarlem.

His wife Jos added: "This has been a chance to look
behind the scenes, and some things have definitely
surprised me."

Organizer Jacco Wanders displayed a typical
prostitute's bedroom, usually concealed behind red
velvet curtains and fitted with an emergency alarm
bell in case a client turns violent.

He laughed as visitors posed in the tall street-facing
window or bounced around on the mattress.

"This day is to help break down taboos around
prostitution and to create more understanding and
respect," he said.

The "open day" concludes with the unveiling of a
statue to an unknown sex worker, intended to honor
those employed in the industry world-wide, including
those without the same protection found in the
Netherlands, where prostitution is legal.

Amsterdam's window-prostitutes are self-employed tax
payers, hiring their own windows at around 110 euros
per night.

"People who work in the sex industry don't get enough
respect," said Mariska Majoor, a former prostitute who
now runs the red-light district's information center.

"There are millions of them and many are in trouble.
Some are abused by clients or pimps and it is
important for them to know that they deserve respect."

(Additional reporting by Anna Mudeva)

__________________

The practice of putting women on pedestals began to die out when it was discovered that they could give orders better from there.~ Betty Grable

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