For eight weeks, between 18 September and 11 November 2025, BRUZZ monitored more than 2,100 advertisements offering sexual services in Brussels or referring to Brussels on Quartaire Rouge and Redlights, Belgium's largest online platforms for private reception, escort and massage services. Together, these sites receive almost five million visits per month in Belgium and the Netherlands, and host between 3,000 and 3,500 advertisements per month.
During the investigation, certain problematic patterns kept cropping up. Profiles where the age given did not match the bio, or which seemed extremely mobile, frequently moving from place to place. Another risk marker: extremely self-degrading language, or booking phrases in the third person - the sex worker is then referred to as “she” instead of “I”.
In total, according to the analysis, confirmed by experts, approximately one in three advertisements offering services in Brussels contains at least one recognised risk factor.
‘Shut down the websites,’ says an interest group for sex workers.
