People wishing to use the services of a prostitute who advertises her services may have to first phone a central number to find out if she is on the official register and is over the age of 21, the Telegraaf reports on Wednesday.

The paper says justice minister Ivo Opstelten is planning to introduce the checks as part of a crack down on human trafficking in the sex industry.
If the customer fails to make the check and the prostitute is unregistered or too young, then he will have committed a criminal offence, the paper says.

No passes
The government had first considered introducing special passes for prostitutes which they would have to show clients but that was abandoned following widespread criticism and a lack of support in parliament.
The details of how the register will exactly operate still have to be worked out, but Opstelten told MPs on Tuesday it is a ‘fine system’.