正文

阿姆斯特丹将为红灯区妓女开设银行服务

2009-07-07来源:和谐英语

Amsterdam city council is turning its attention to a pressing problem for one of the city's key business sectors -- banking and credit for prostitutes who can't get accounts from mainstream institutions.

The city's red light district is famed the world over for its women in tiny windows and even tinier clothing, but despite the trade being legal, many banks shy away from taking the ladies on as customers.

As part of the city's "Project 1012" to remake the De Wallen neighborhood, which includes the sex district, the city council has been asked to find a way to help bordello owners and sex workers gain more access to banks.

"Up until now, it's been very difficult for people in the sex industry to get credit with the banks," a city council spokesman said on Friday.

"For them it is a hazard that they can not get regular credit or help or mortgages or anything from a regular bank."

The council is expected to come to some sort of conclusion within the next two months on what it might do to help the industry.

It will not, however, establish or sponsor a "sex bank" as reported by a local paper.

"It's more that we're going to investigate and talk with bankers and try to set up a system in which they can get a loan or credit," the spokesman said.

He added the city wants to ensure that prostitution is a "bona fide" industry, and that the "entrepreneurs" who ply the local trade need access to regular bank credit for legitimacy.

Over the long term, under Project 1012 -- named for the area's postcode -- the city plans to restrict prostitution to a few tightly controlled areas.

It has already bought a number of buildings that formerly housed red light windows and converted them into art galleries or housing.

阿姆斯特丹市议会正着力解决为妓女提供银行信贷服务这一迫切问题。色情服务是该市的重要经济产业之一，而之前妓女无法在主要金融机构开户。

该市的红灯区可谓“享誉全球”，女郎们衣不蔽体地在微型橱窗后展示自己。尽管色情交易在这里是合法的，但很多银行还是不愿接受这些女郎为顾客。

该市正开展一项重建德瓦伦社区的“1012项目”，内容之一就是要求市议会想办法帮助妓院老板和性工作者们获得更多银行服务。该市的红灯区正位于德瓦伦社区内。

市议会的一位发言人于上周五说：“到目前为止，色情行业工作者还是很难获得银行信贷服务。”

“对她们来讲，无法从正规银行获得常规的信贷、资金帮助、贷款等服务，这非常危险。”

预计议会将在未来两个月内找到某种解决办法，帮助色情行业获得银行服务。

但议会并不会像地方报纸报道的那样，设立或资助一家“色情业银行”。

这位发言人说：“我们所要做的不仅仅是做相关调查，与银行家交谈，并试着建立一个性工作者可以获得信贷的系统。

他还说，该市想要确保色情行业很“真诚”，辛苦从事该行业的“企业主”们需要合法获得常规信贷服务。

从长期来看，在“1012项目”下，该市计划将色情服务限制在一些严格控制的地区内。“1012项目”以该地区的邮政编码命名。