LEGALISATION OF PROSTITUTION RUFFLES FEATHERS

The call to decriminalise sex work received renewed attention last week after the ANC Women’s League announced that it would be up for discussion at the party’s national conference in Bloemfontein at the end of this year.

The proposal has been welcomed by many in the industry, but vehemently opposed by religious organisations.

Sex work became illegal in South Africa in 1957 under the Immorality Act. The legislation’s name was changed to Sexual Offences Act after the section prohibiting mixed-race couples was removed from the statues in 1975.

The ANCWL has authored a discussion document on gender that argues that South Africa’s current laws lead to a “total criminalisation of the seller,” in this case women who work as prostitutes. In the same breath, it argued that the men who pay for the “services” are treated benevolently and not treated with the same contempt as sex workers.

Although the ANCWL highlights the issue of “total criminalisation of the seller” in the current legal status quo, the act of buying sex has also been illegal since an amendment to the Act in 2007.

Supporting the proposed legislation, ANCWL treasurer and Higher Education Deputy Minister Hlengiwe Mkhize said people must understand that decriminalising prostitution is not about women wanting to expose themselves or the league approving the behaviour, but about how the human rights of women involved in the industry can be protected.

Admitting that it might not be an easy task to achieve, Mkhize added that they expect resistance before the adoption of the law, but the league is ready to convince, through a well thought-out policy document, all the sceptics of their approach. The league also plans to conduct in-depth research into the topic to put forward the facts before the people and “build buy-in”.

The current legal framework on prostitution and sex work provides for total criminalisation against the seller, but the league has chastised government for turning a blind eye to the issue of the legalisation of prostitution after being petitioned by NGOs working in the sector.

The league is discussing three major approaches to deal with prostitution. The first is total criminalisation (as is the case now), the second is regulation of the sex-work industry, and total decriminalisation. They believe the ideal approach for the ANC will be for the support of a position that will embrace the dignity of women in the industry, clearly ruling out total criminalisation as a viable option.

Sex work has already been legalised in many other countries in the world. African countries where prostitution is legal include Egypt, Ethiopia, and Senegal.

If the proposed bill gets the thumbs up from the South African Law Reform Commission, sex workers will no longer be discriminated against.

“We are beaten up by our clients. Sometimes we are not paid for the job that was successfully done. The public call us bad names and they talk unpleasant things about us. Should sex work be decriminalised, then we would be able to work hand-in-hand with the police in combating crimes such as human trafficking,” said a young sex worker who operates in Short Street, which is a hub for sex workers in Bloemfontein.

The national coordinator of the Sisonke Sex Workers Movement, Kholi Buthelezi, said the Sexual Offences Act is discriminatory and immoral. She added that it has resulted in suffering and pain for sex workers.

Sisonke is a sex worker led movement that was launched in 2003 to deal with the protection of sex workers’ human rights.

Sisonke demands that sex workers enjoy the same constitutional rights as every South African, which includes the right to inherent dignity and the right to have their dignity respected and protected, and to have the right to freedom and security, which includes the right not to be deprived of freedom arbitrarily or without just cause.

“Decriminalising sex workers will mean that they are considered workers and have access to employment rights and benefits. This will guarantee sex workers more access to basic human and labour rights,” said Buthelezi.
She said her organisation is working hard to educate sex workers about their human rights.

“We are currently conducting Human Rights Defence workshops that take place weekly at the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) office in Cape Town to help educate sex workers to know and understand their rights.
“Unfortunately, we have not touched base in Bloemfontein yet, but we are looking into partnering with some of the organisations and can confidently say that it is definitely on our agenda for some time in December to educate sex workers throughout the country.

If sex work is legalised, people would not do things in the dark. It will bring the country more tax revenue and would improve the lives of those who are not working,” said Buthelezi.

However, not everyone is in favour of the league’s proposal.

Secretary-General of the African People’s Convention (APC) Paseka Moshoadiba described prostitution as a nefarious practice that needs to be rooted out.

He blamed the practice on what he perceives as the government’s failure to create jobs for the youths.

“The ANC Women’s League has got it wrong because, as the wing of the ruling party, they should know that lack of jobs drives women to prostitution.”

The president of the Free State Council of Churches, Reverend Sello Dire, is also opposed to the legalisation of prostitution.

“The ANCWL is missing the point. Decriminalising sex workers is morally unacceptable. Legalising prostitution is an insult to humanity and on behalf of the churches we urge them to stop. Prostitution is ungodly and culturally it is un-African. If they think this will solve the problem, they are going about it the wrong way. Legalising is not going to solve the problem. Instead, it promotes more unacceptable behaviour. This would result in young people going into prostitution because by virtue of being legal, they will believe it is normal.”