Where are the activists fighting for sex workers’ rights and protection?

Last week, I went back to dabbling in the dark corners of Twitter, only to be reminded why I prefer keeping my head in the sands of other social media platforms.

Like many, I was exposed to a naked woman refusing to let go of a hotel patron who seemingly enjoyed the services of this apparent sex worker, then refused to pay for them.

I mean, maybe there is another interpretation to her shouting, “No. No. No. No. My pussy’s not for free. Give money.”

Maybe it didn’t even take place in South Africa, but the thread of further videos exposing this manner of exploiting sex workers is a clear indication that sex workers are in trouble. They’re in so much trouble that they have to resort to self-help in claiming their fee.

Obviously this isn’t an ideal situation.

What would an ideal situation look like? The non-existence of sex work? Harder enforcement and cracking down of sex workers? Giving sex workers trust accounts?

Psh! Good luck with any of that.

It’s been nearly 10 years since the ANC Women’s League took a policy decision to push for the decriminalisation of prostitution? What’s the hold up? Where’s the Bill?

Truth be told, this was actually under serious review in 2017. Okay, great, so problem solved? Well done Women’s League!

Uhm… not quite. I’m not sure how it came to pass, but a governmental commission on the subject resolved that it’s first option would be to retain total illegality but offer support to the newly minted prossie criminals to “divert them out of the criminal justice system”.

Sure, that sounds awesome on paper, maybe, but there’s that problem that stems from the illegality. You know the one. It’s that problem of not being taken seriously by the police because if I walk into a police station saying I’ve been abused as a sex worker, the cops are not exactly going to take my case seriously. They haven’t had a great track record in that regard.

So what’s the second option the commission offered? That was one I could actually get behind, colloquially referred to as the “Scandinavian Model”, which criminalises the purchasing of sex services but not the offering. It may contain some philosophical inconsistencies to some, sure, but what do they propose we do?

Even in 2002, a minority Constitutional Court judgment pointed out that our law unfairly discriminates against prostitutes by making them the primary offenders. What’s been done since? Pretty much nothing. It’s taken a bunch of stoners less time to get dagga legal than it’s taken us to offer proper protection to sex workers.

Perhaps you might deem them unworthy of protection, and that’s a valid position to take. What I would suggest to those who deem them unworthy of protection, think of your solution would be to basically forcing our women into self-help situations where they are compelled to cause a nude disturbance in the hallways of a hotel you may be in.

I’d be willing to bet that if you’re not the kind of person to deem sex workers worthy of legal protection, you probably wouldn’t be the kind of person wanting them naked and screaming outside your hotel, house, or shopping centre?

Arrest them you say? Sure, because I’m sure you’d be happy to pay for an extra 150,000 women behind bars.

So even on a pragmatic level, even if you ignore the morality of it, it makes all kinds of sense to offer proper protection for sex workers.

So what’s the hold up? How come, in the time since we started talking about decriminalisation of prostitution in our new constitutional dispensation, we’ve gotten abortion and gay marriage right. We’re still struggling with that seduction law but even that’s gotten further than getting proper protection for sex workers.

It seems that the fight is lacking. There’s little drive left to push the agenda.

What’s worse is that now is a better time than any to strike. All those half measures and pseudo-solutions that were taken, those that tried to convince us that the way forward is to arrest prostitutes only to divert them out of the criminal justice system, aren’t working, clearly.

It’s now that women’s organisations have more justification than ever to flex for sustainable solutions and I’m hoping that we see that flex soon.

ALSO READ: Get your boycotting boots on, and let’s start tackling some issues!