Need for decriminalisation of sex work?
BRAAMFONTEIN – There are 153 000 estimated sex workers in South Africa.
Commissioned by the South African National AIDS Council (SANAC), a research study recently estimated that there are 153 000 sex workers in South Africa.
The study used data gathered from sex worker interviews in 12 sites nationwide, to estimate the country’s sex worker population.
Of the 153 000 estimated sex workers active in the country, about 8 000 are men and about another 6 000 are transgender, according to the research led by the Braamfontein Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT).
According to Lesego Tlhwale of SWEAT, on 13 October 2014, a 24- year-old woman committed suicide at a Magistrates’ Court while waiting to appear on charges of loitering and possession of drugs.
The woman was apparently one of the 70 alleged female sex workers who were rounded up in Krugersdorp, after the Krugersdorp SAPS raided the streets were sex workers operate.
“Municipal bylaws are often used to harass sex workers, and are seen by sex workers as a proxy for being arrested for sex work. While we don’t know why this young woman committed suicide, it is probably safe to say that were it not for criminalisation of sex work, she would not have died,” said Maria Stacey, acting director at SWEAT.
According to former Linden police station spokesperson Constable Carol Mulamu in a previous interview, prostitution is illegal in South Africa and the perpetrators are brought to justice and fined in court.
“Because sex work is a criminal offence in South Africa, authorities are feared and distrusted by sex workers. If sex work was decriminalised through appropriate amendments to the law, the sex industry would become more open to regulation and the role of the police could change from persecutor to protector of sex workers,” according to the fact checking organisation Africa Check.
Africa Check adds that the idea that migrant sex workers need to be “ ‘rescued’ and ‘rehabilitated’ is harmful, as it overlooks the agency and rights of those who engage in sex work”.
Northcliff based women’s life coach Semoni de Villiers says most women engage in prostitution because of lack of self-worth. She asserted that prostitution is linked to a person’s background. De Villiers added that people may engage in prostitution because they lack psychological emancipation to understand their value and self-worth.
“Most of the time [those who sell their bodies] are desperate and not qualified to do anything else,” said de Villiers.
De Villiers believes education is an easy way out of various social ills.
“If we start talking about what other options people have, we can combat [prostitution],” de Villiers concluded.
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