Prague council set to challenge Amsterdam-style sex joint

Celebrations at the official opening of an Amsterdam-style brothel in the center of Prague where half-naked women sell sex from windows on the street could be short-lived. Red tape, it seems, could be used to counter the new red-light phenomenon.

Prague 1 local authorities believe they could have found a way of closing, temporarily at least, the controversial business in a street just off the capital’s famous Wenceslas Square after discovering that it does not have official permission to be open to the public.

Uproar accompanied the opening of the first Amsterdam- style brothel in the Czech capital at the start of the month in a street already known for its strip joints and “night clubs.” But for many local inhabitants the new in-your-face sex trade phenomenon was the last straw, coming just weeks after they had started another fight with the local council to transfer a drug addiction center out of the street and into the suburbs of the capital.

The local council is countering the Amsterdam-style brothel on the grounds that it does not have official documentation needed to be open to the public and that the building does not have a permit outlining its use, the Czech news server novinky.cz reported on Friday. Official steps are being taken, it said, citing local council spokeswoman Veronika Blažková.

Meanwhile, the Prague City Hall says it is preparing a new law on prostitutionl; however, it will not be ready until the autumn. City Hall’s spokeswoman said that at the current stage it appeared that the local district council had the best means of dealing with the new sex phenomenon.

The Amsterdam-style brothel, which offering clients customized strips and sexual services behind the curtains of the girls’ window booths, this week celebrated its official opening, according to the news server. It quoted one of its apparent managers as saying that while local sex business competitors seemed to be put out by its cheap prices and the police by the extra supervision, it was better for the “working girls” to have a roof over their heads rather than work on the street.