WE CALL ON THE SOUTH AFRICAN GOVERNMENT TO HONOUR THE FOLLOWING:

To uphold South Africa’s International Obligations with regards to Prostitution, including

The UN Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others, signed and ratified by South Africa, states in its preamble that “Prostitution and the accompanying evil of the Trafficking In Persons for the purpose of Prostitution, are incompatible with the dignity and worth of the human person”.

Article 1: The Parties to the present Convention agree to punish any person who, to gratify the passions of another: (1) Procures, entices or leads away, for purposes of prostitution, another person, even with the consent of that person; (2) Exploits the prostitution of another person, even with the consent of that person.

Article 2: The Parties to the present Convention further agree to punish any person who:
(1) Keeps or manages, or knowingly finances or takes part in the financing of a brothel;
(2) Knowingly lets or rents a building or other place or any part thereof for the purpose of the prostitution of others.

Article 6 prohibits the implementation of a registration / regulation system on Prostituted Persons: “Each Party to the present Convention agrees to take all the necessary measures to repeal or abolish any existing law, regulation or administrative provision by virtue of which persons who engage in or are suspected of engaging in Prostitution, are subject either to special registration or to the possession of a special document or to any exceptional requirements for supervision or notification.”

The Article 9(5) of the Protocol to Prevent, Suppress and Punish Trafficking in Persons Especially Women and Children to “adopt or strengthen legislative or other measures, such as educational, social or cultural measures, including through bilateral and multilateral cooperation, to discourage the demand that fosters all forms of exploitation of persons, especially women and children, that leads to trafficking.”

Article 6 of the CEDAW Convention: States Parties shall take all appropriate measures, including legislation, to suppress all forms of Traffic in women and exploitation of Prostitution of women.

To uphold South Africa’s Domestic Obligations with regards to Prostitution, including

The South African Constitution, granting citizens the fundamental human rights to dignity, equality, life, integrity, freedom from oppression and exploitation and security of the person.
Section 12. (1) of the Bill of Rights states that:
- “Everyone has the right to freedom and security of the person, which includes the right:
(c) To be free from all forms of violence from either public or private sources.”
(e) Not to be treated or punished in a cruel, inhumane or degrading way.”

The Constitutional Court decision O'REGAN J and SACHS J, 2002, which states:
(a) Prostitution itself is degrading to women;
(b) it is conducive to the violent abuse of Prostitutes by both clients and pimps;
(c) it is associated with and encourages international Trafficking in women;
(d) it leads to Child Prostitution;
(e) it involves an increased risk of spreading sexually transmitted diseases;
(f) it goes hand in hand with a high rate of drug abuse;
(g) it is closely linked to other crimes such as assault, rape and even murder; and
(h) it is a frequent and persistent cause of public nuisance.

(Page 72): "The issue of Prostitution must therefore be examined not through the prism of certain popular conceptions of morality, but through the prism of constitutionally articulated values, especially those that concern the right of all citizens to live in a state where Gender Equality is increasingly becoming a reality.”

The Preamble of the Prevention and Combating of Trafficking in Persons Act 7 of 2013, which states “that the search for improved socio-economic circumstances and the demand for the services of Victims of Trafficking contribute to making persons vulnerable to becoming Victims of Trafficking.”

Both the Standard Operating Procedures (SOP) and the South African Police Services’ (SAPS) National Instruction for the Prevention and Combatting of Trafficking in Persons Act (PACOTIP Act), acknowledge that “premises where victims are likely to be exploited, for example massage parlours, escort agencies, gentlemen’s clubs, strip clubs…”

The 2017 Report from The South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC), in which, after thorough and wide-ranging research and public consultation, spanning over thirteen years, concluded that Adult Prostitution in South Africa should not be Fully Decriminalised.

Full Decriminalisation of Prostitution will be a violation of the above obligations.

Our movement calls on the South African government to work towards the achievement of a society of equality between women and men, racial equality, social justice. A society based on human dignity, under International and National law. A society in which the most marginalised among us have better options than selling their bodies to survive.