Want to know more about sex in the Netherlands?
The Dutch have a famously liberal attitude towards sex and the country benefits from a legalised prostitution industry as well as a widely tolerant nation when it comes to sexual diversity. The adult industry is diverse and wide-ranging and covers everything from erotic massage, strip clubs and sex cinemas to the production of porn, street prostitution, escorting and brothels.
In this guide, we take a look at the cultural and social attitudes towards sex, the adult industry and porn in The Netherlands as well as review the ways you can hook-up whilst in the country.
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Sex in The Netherlands
Also known as Holland, the population of 17 million people of the Netherlands enjoy an egalitarian society. The people are known for their no-nonsense and open attitude which is reflected in their liberal approach when it comes to sex.
Judging by a recent European wide poll conducted by YouGov, this translates to a pretty high opinion of their own sexual performance. When asked to self-rate their bedroom prowess, the Dutch came in joint second with Austria and behind the Swiss. Interestingly, the Dutch were ranked ahead of those stereotyped Lotharios of Spain, Italy and France with the British coming in bottom.
Contrary to their liberal reputation, the same survey also revealed that the Dutch were the least likely European nation to have:
- Had a one-night stand (23%)
- Filmed or taken photographs of themselves during sex (7%)
- Sent sexually explicit text messages (15%)
- Been unfaithful (15%)
They also ranked pretty conservatively when asked if they’d:
- Been to a strip club (7%) – second lowest in Europe
- Taken Viagra (5%) – joint third lowest in Europe
- Dressed up in costume for sex (4%) – second lowest in Europe
- Watched pornography (43%) – second lowest in Europe
Though the results may well surprise some people, it is possibly because of the country’s liberal laws and attitudes that has created an environment where sex is pretty normal. It’s that old scenario that where something is taboo it gains mythic status. With sex being so acceptable in the Netherlands, it seems that it has become normal.
Of course, the fact that they rank themselves so highly in the bedroom may just mean that they are quite content with their sex life and don’t feel any need to spice things up.
Sex education in The Netherlands is equally as progressive and starts with compulsory classes from the age of 4. The approach is seen by many as the gold standard and has translated into low teen pregnancy and STD rates.
Overall, the Dutch seem to be doing something right with the overwhelming majority reportedly being happy with their sex lives.
Adult Industry in The Netherlands
The liberal laws and attitudes in The Netherlands have resulted in a large and flourishing adult industry. Activities range from pornography to prostitution with escorting, erotic massage, strip clubs and adult film production all benefitting from legal status.
Some parts of the industry is facing a period of change as new legislation seeks to further control and regulate trade to clamp down on criminal activities.
However, the Netherlands has long had a history of thriving sex industries; from historic figures like Madame Therese (one of Amsterdam’s most famous madams) and contemporary icons like Xavier Holland (The Happy Hooker) to the new wave of professional porn studios and networks of amateur cam girls.
Brothel Owners
As legitimate businesses, brothels can provide plenty of profit for entrepreneurs with the most famous of these being Charles Geerts. Also known as Amsterdam’s Emperor of Sex, Geerts is one of the city’s biggest brothel owners. In 2008 he sold off 17 of his properties for an estimated €25million but still holds the deeds for plenty of other brothels including some of De Wallen’s famous window brothels.
As the city authorities seek to reduce the size of the red light districts, it is unlikely that Geerts reputation will be equaled any time soon.
Dutch Porn Industry
There are a lot of adult film studios operating from The Netherlands, some producing content for export and others for the domestic markets. There is a good range of niche production companies as well general softcore and hardcore.
Many companies choose to operate from the country due to the liberal laws on pornography and some famous names are based here. Australian, Garion Hall, who runs the AbbyWinters website moved here in 2010. Hall still uses Australian models but films content from Holland.
Four of the largest and most prolific Dutch studios are familiar names in the porn world; Club Seventeen, Evil Playgrounds and Explicit Empire.
Club Seventeen has been producing adult content since 1975 and is responsible for popular titles such as Hairy Teens, Dirty Schoolgirls and Cute Teens Go Black.
Some other studios based in The Netherlands include:
- Blue Artichoke Films
- Empress Valley Media
- Raw Delight
- Sauvage
- Cinema Erotica
- Kinky Mistresses
- Teen X
- Group Sex Games
- Desire Media
- Maximum Pervert
- Ultra Deca
- Naked Beauty
Dutch Porn Stars
The Dutch produce a lot of homegrown talent, many of whom are known internationally.
From the heydays of porn many will be familiar with the work of Deidre Holland. Once married to fellow porn star, John Dough. Holland is best known for her films Lusty Dusty, in which she starred with Joey Silvera and Heather Hunter, and Masterpice. Holland is an inductee in the coveted AVN Hall of Fame.
The top current star is Bobbi Eden (aka Vixen de Ville) who has been working in the industry for almost twenty years. Jenna Jameson famously invited Eden to perform with her whilst the latter was attending a shoot and, though she initially turned the offer down, has gone on to star in over 100 adult movies.
Eden is popular both in Europe and the United States and like Jameson has created her own empire of websites, film production and other adult-centric pursuits.
Other notable porn stars from The Netherlands include:
- Heidi Besk
- Helen Duval
- Terri Summers
- Tanya deVries
Porn Sites
(also see ‘Top Dutch Porn’, below)
According to research conducted in 2013, The Netherlands hosts 187 million domain names for porn sites. This constitutes 26% of the total porn network in Europe and makes the country the largest host for the industry. Compare this to the USA which is the largest national host in the world with 428 million.
Prostitution Laws in The Netherlands
The Netherlands has one of the most progressive legal structures to regulate prostitution in the world. The industry is legalised and sex work is fully legal including running a brothel; pimping, however, is not.
Red light districts are clearly designated by local authorities with some providing sex drive-ins for street hookers.
It is estimated that around 20,000 and 35,000 prostitutes work in the Netherlands with the majority (around 60%) being foreign nationals.
The industry can be categorised in four main areas; clubs and brothels, window and street prostitution, escorting and home-based in-call services.
In the late 1990s, citizens were polled on the legalisation of prostitution and 73% of the population demonstrated their support with 74% stating that they believed sex-work was ‘an acceptable job’.
It is worth pointing out that although it has been a regulated and legalised industry since 2000, the current public opinion of prostitution is not as favourable with most people wary or intolerant of the activity. This is largely due to reports of links to human trafficking and organised crime in the industry.
As a result, governance has been focusing on tighter controls to protect both domestic and foreign sex workers including greater degrees of licensing and raising the minimum age limit for prostitutes to 21.
Authorities have also focused on reducing the size of red-light districts in an effort to curb, what has been seen by many as, growth that is ‘out of control’.
Dutch Porn Viewing Trends
Porn tube hosting giants, Pornhub produce annual insights on the porn viewing trends from around the world and The Netherlands doesn’t escape the spotlight. In 2016, the Dutch were responsible for traffic which made them the 14th most frequent visitors to the site.
Digging into the search history produced by the country reveals that, in common with most European nations, local porn is king. Relative to other countries, searches in The Netherlands for porn with the terms ‘Netherlands’, ‘Holland’ and ‘Dutch’ were more popular. There were some slight variations by region with residents of North Holland more likely to search for the term ‘Arab’, in Utrecht it is ‘Black’ and in Limburg it’s ‘Fart’. Yes, ‘fart’; perhaps it’s the fact that the Netherlands is so low-lying that makes it so windy?
However, the top searches across the country in terms of volume were for:
- Lesbian
- Teen
- MILF
- Mom
- Massage
- Cartoon
- Dutch
- Anal
- Arab
- Step Mom
Gaining searches reflect the rise of new technology in pornography with ‘360 degrees’ and ‘virtual reality’ being 877% and 703% are more popular than the previous year.
Kim Kardashian heads up the top three most searched porn stars followed by local lass, Kim Holland and American performer, Brandi Love.
Of course, Pornhub isn’t the only popular adult website being visited by the Dutch and analysis of the top 50 sites by traffic in The Netherlands reveals that:
- Sex cam site Livejasmin is the 15th most visited site in The Netherlands
- Sex cam site Bongacams is the 16th most visited site in The Netherlands
- Porn tube site Pornhub is the 25th most visited site in The Netherlands
- Porn tube site XVideos is the 34th most visited site in The Netherlands
- Porn tube site XHamster is the 39th most visited site in The Netherlands
- Porn tube site Txxx is the is the 48th most visited site in The Netherlands
Top Dutch Porn
Whilst the top rated adult websites in The Netherlands are global companies, local appetites are sated by more local sites.
The Dutch host more porn sites than almost anywhere else in the world including some more global brands but also to provide its own offerings.
Poldertube is a Dutch website which is similar to hosts like RedTube, Tube8 and XTube. It is available in Dutch but you can use an on-page translation tool like Google Translate.
Another popular porn site for Dutch porn is Cumbizz. A Video-On-Demand service, the content is of a good quality and allows members to access (and pay for) only the material that suits them.
- nl: The Netherlands’ equivalent to Pornhub
- Kodie Files: Amateur Dutch porn pics
- Seksmet: A current affairs porn site in Dutch
- Vagina: Free Dutch porn tube site
- XMissy: Blogs, pics and videos
- Flirtmee: Dutch language sex cams
Of course, you can find tagged porn clips from all of the major tube sites.
LGBTQ in The Netherlands
The Netherlands has long held a reputation for being one of the most gay-friendly countries in the world. Homosexuality was legalised in 1811 with the Napoleonic Code and was never changed. Though this decriminalised the act of homosexuality it was still classified a mental illness until 1973 when discrimination in the military based on sexuality was also banned.
The change in law reflected social progression of attitudes and tolerance towards diversity. By 1994, the Dutch had enacted The Equal Rights Law giving same-sex couples protection in law against discrimination.
In 1998, the Netherlands granted legal rights to same sex couples acknowledging their partnerships. By 2001, the country had become the first nation in the world to legalise same-sex marriage.
Access to rights for the LGBTQ extends to every area of the law and anti-discrimination laws are extensive. This includes adoption for same-sex couples, access to IVF for lesbians and automatic parenthood for same-sex spouses after birth.
Members of the LGBTQ community can serve openly in the military.
Transgendered individuals may change their gender identity following a diagnosis but without the need for surgery or hormones.
Public support for these progressive law is overwhelming with 91% of the Kingdom of The Netherlands supporting same-sex marriage. It is worth pointing out that 2% of the population of this territory live in the conservative Caribbean island nations of Curacao, Aruba and Sint Maarten.
The Netherlands Institute for Social Research conducted a report in 2016 which revealed that just 7% of the population think negatively about homosexuals and 10% having an intolerance to transgendered people.
As a result of the high acceptance among the Dutch for diversty, the country has excellent living conditions for the LGBTQ community. They suffer relatively low incidences of violence and enjoy great social freedom.
The City of Amsterdam has long been recognised as being one of the world’s most gay-friendly cities and holds an annual Pride festival which is attended by several thousand people. Amsterdam has also held the Europride event twice, in 1994 and 2016.
Top Classified/Personals Sites in The Netherlands
Though the Dutch are less likely than some of their European neighbours to engage in one-night stands, there is still a good singles scene, particularly in Amsterdam as well as other big towns and cities.
Here is our selection of some of the best ways to hook up in The Netherlands via the personals sites.
Craigslist
https://amsterdam.craigslist.org/
Though the principle coverage for The Netherlands for Craigslist is centred on Amsterdam, there is coverage in some areas of the country.
Craigslist is a free to use classified personals sites that has a specialist casual encounters category as well as general dating (Women Seeking Men, Men Seeking Women etc).
The site has become synonymous with the no strings attached hook-up and can certainly deliver if you are quick to respond to the few ads that get posted by genuine people. However, there is a lot more men using the site than women and it can also be a hot spot for fake ads or even scams. If you exercise caution and use your common sense, the rewards can be great.
Ondeugend Daten
Dutch for ‘Naughty Dating’, Ondeugend Daten is a popular site in The Netherlands for casual encounters. The site is in Dutch but you can use a translation tool to help you navigate the registration process and access the profiles of other members.
It’s free to use but the best features are reserved for premium members only.
The site is also used by swingers to find a third party/parties.
Datebord
A Dutch language classified personals site, Datbord is a free to use website with a limited amount of ads but covering an older demographic (40+).
A good site to consider advertising on if you speak the language and one for the gentleman who prefers his women on the mature side.
Love Awake
A 100% free online dating site that operates in most European countries, Love Awake can be a bit hit and miss but does offer some good opportunities for a hook up. Profiles cover a huge range of ages, ethnicities and body types as well as intentions when it comes to dating; most are looking for serious relationships but many are not.
There seems to be a good amount of people using the site from The Netherlands and covering a lot of the country.
Worth adding in to your mix.
Lexa
A Dutch dating site, Lexa offers free registration but the best features are only available through a paid subscription.
There is a high percentage of profiles on here who are looking for ‘the one’ but with such a variety of singles it’s no surprise that some are prepared to do some ‘field research’ before settling on the right one.
It’s a site that has a lot of local coverage and achieves traffic figures of 1.8million views per month making it one of The Netherlands’ top dating sites.
Badoo
Badoo is a social networking site with a focus on dating and has a good reputation in The Netherlands.
Having an account allows you to chat and flirt with people from your local area which makes it ideal for arranging casual connections. Though there are definitely some members who are looking for a more serious relationship, there are just as many who are up for something with no strings attached. The beauty of the site is that you can usually establish this before arranging dates or wasting time.
It is free to use but offers the best experience to paid-up subscribers.
Date Meme
www.datememe.com/dating/netherlands
A new one to us but Date Meme supposedly has plenty of fit and athletic Dutch singles using it.
The site certainly receives a lot of traffic globally with about 1.2million page views per month. You can sign up using any number of social media accounts and offers plenty of free features. The design of the platform is a curious mix of old-fashioned dating site with some tried-and-tested social networking features.
It’s a free to use service and is available in app form although there is a lot of advertising to steer clear of.
The figures on users in The Netherlands is unclear but is certainly receiving traffic to suggest it might be worth a go.
Best of the Rest
Some other sites that are popular in The Netherlands which offer free registration include:
Featured image via Pixabay.
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