Saturday May 17, 06:18 AM

Dutch may need to check prostitute's licence

AMSTERDAM (Reuters) - Clients of prostitutes in the Netherlands may soon need to check for a sex licence.

The Dutch cabinet said on Friday it wanted to crack down harder on the country's sex industry, in particular unlicensed sex operators, as part of efforts to combat human trafficking.

"That is why the cabinet wants to make it an offence to use the services of a sex operator without a licence or a non-registered independent prostitute," the government said in a statement .

Prostitutes have plied their trade in the narrow alleys of the old centre of Amsterdam for centuries. While they used to attract sailors and merchants in the city's heyday as the heart of a global trading empire, they are now a huge tourist draw.

The Dutch cabinet officially legalised prostitution in 2000.

(Reporting by Gilbert Kreijger)