The prostitutes will receive so-called "street miles" that they can use to acquire free designer clothes or furniture, provided they take up an offer by the city council to take steps leading to a career change and a safer lifestyle.
"We needed to come up with incentives that these women might latch on to," said Veronique Beurskens of Eindhoven council, who is leading a drive to rid the city of street prostitution.
Eindhoven's designated sex work zone is due to close by 2011. Amsterdam and other Dutch cities are slowly shutting down their red light districts, but Eindhoven is unusual in pioneering material incentives to tempt women into thinking about an economic alternative to prostitution. Many of the city's sex workers are also heroin addicts. The city will fund assertiveness classes to help sex workers sever ties with their pimps, as well as workshops, advice and courses on how to find new jobs.
"For every step they take to get out of their trade, they'll get vouchers that they can cash in to go shopping. They will be assigned a coach, whose first job will be to help them muster enough courage to stand up for themselves and break free from the trade," said Ms Beurskens.
The council is also trying out several more outlandish ideas put forward by art students from the Eindhoven Design College. Some of the "dames", as they are known locally, have already been given a makeover involving designer clothes to boost their self-confidence. Another scheme in the pipeline is the creation of a fashion label conceived by the prostitutes themselves.
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