Activists reiterate call for legalisation of sex work

Sex workers’ rights group, SWEAT, has reiterated its call for the decriminalisation of sex work in South Africa.

The organisation was welcoming Belgium’s new law, which will see escorts receive employment benefits like paid leave, maternity leave, unemployment benefits and pension.

The historic legislation seeks to clamp down on abuse and exploitation in the industry. It also gives sex workers the ability to refuse clients, set the conditions of an act, and stop an act at any moment, among others.

Belgium decriminalised sex work in 2022. It is also legal in several other countries including Germany, Greece, the Netherlands and Turkey.

President of the Belgian Union of Sex Workers, only referred to as Victoria, has hailed the feat as a step in the right direction.

 

SWEAT has been fighting for sex work to be decriminalised in South Africa for over 20 years.

The organisation’s director, Emily Craven, says they have always look up to countries like New Zealand and Belgium as their laws have been set up in a way that recognises sex work as a job, and not as a way to save women from this industry.

Craven says this is what they want for South African sex workers.

 

According to Craven, they hit a snag every time they seem to be on the verge of turning the tide in their fight for the safety and securing of escorts.

Just last year, the Criminal Law [Sexual Offences and Related Matters] Amendment Bill of 2022, a draft bill before Parliament which is aimed at achieving this goal, was delayed.

Craven says sex workers face a lot of discrimination and challenges because their trade is not recognised officially.

According to SWEAT’s 2020 report, South Africa recorded high levels of brutal violence levelled against sex workers.

Advocacy group, Sisonke National Sex Workers Movement, has echoed SWEAT’s sentiments for the decriminalisation of sex work.

“We are still criminalised in South Africa, and to achieve Belgium’s feat, we need to move past criminalisation. Through our advocacy efforts, we are striving towards the decriminalisation of sex work. We were very pleased with drafting the Decrim Bill in 2022, but strides to pass it into law encountered a couple of shortcomings we are currently addressing,” says the movement.

“Belgium is our blueprint which we are going to use for future endeavours.”

Belgium is the only country in the world that allows sex workers to allow sex workers to sign formal employment contracts.