SALE!SA - Stand against legal exploitation

       
         Raise your Voice - Say NO

"When prohibitions are removed, sex trade and trafficking activity skyrocket, as do abuses against those being trafficked. Community-level harms and public outrage increase, while trafficking enforcement and victim assistance are undermined, and the stigma against victims of the sex trade remains intact."

- The Undeniable Failure of Permissive Approaches to Prostitution | Opinion (Newsweek, 10 January 2023)
Michael Shively and Stephany Powella

According to the South African Government, they want to implement FULL Decriminalisation for the following REASONS:

false 1 

Promotes the health of prostituted persons

FALSE

REALITY: PARTIAL Decriminalisation promotes the health of prostituted persons, without increasing the demand for prostitution (and as such, the increase of people abused in the prostitution system). Its dangerous to sell sex, as each encounter has an increase of health risks. With Full Decriminalisation there will be more encounters, and as such this will INCREASE the health risks. With Partial, there will be fewer encounters, and as such, fewer risks. 

The more buyers, brothels, pimps and exploiters there are, the higher the number of dangers prostituted persons face (abuse, rape, diseases, murder etc). Yes, Decriminalisation of Prostitution removes the fear Prostituted Persons may have in regards to going to a clinic, however it will not necessarily change the mindsets & stigma they will still face from the medical staff. (See Reason 3)

 

 false 2

Promotes the safety of prostituted persons by removing barriers to reporting assaults to police

FALSE

REALITY:  It may seem that they can now safely report their assaults, rapes and abuse to law enforcement, BUT just implementing a bill will not remove the corruption in many police offices. It will be the word of the prostituted person against the buyer, brothel-keeper, pimp, brothel and / or exploiter - where the "buyer" can easily "buy" the police's compliance. They can also then use the "excuse" that the prostituted person were paid for services rendered (they may even through money on a scene of an abuse or rape and say it was an transaction).

PARTIAL Decriminalisation however DO promote the safety of prostituted persons. They can report their abuse to law enforcement and the abuser, rapist, abuser, exploiter, buyer, brothel-keeper and / or pimp can be held accountable for their actions.

 

 false 3

Reduces abuses against those in the trade by destigmatising it

FALSE

REALITY: FULL Decriminalisation will not remove the stigma many prostituted persons face daily. A Bill will not automatically change the way people see the system of prostitution & prostituted persons due to their culture, traditions and beliefs.

In fact, as there will be an increase of buyers with Full Decriminalisation, the sexist culture (which promotes commodification and de-valuation of people by turning them into products of servitude to a system built on Gender Inequality) will see an increase.

The only way to destigmatise the way people see prostituted persons is through EDUCATION. One of the focus points with PARTIAL Decriminalisation is to TRAIN, EDUCATE & PREVENT. And if the demand for prostituted services DECREASE, the sexist culture decreases.

 

 false 1

Frees up scarce police resources to focus on the more serious problem of sex trafficking

FALSE

REALITY: It will hamper and diminish law enforcement’s ability to detect and investigate Trafficking in Persons (TIP). This will increase Sex Trafficking, which is already difficult to prosecute.

Traffickers will use the legal system to circumvent arrest and prosecution. There will be an increase in the number of parents seeing opportunity to rent/sell their children for fast money from international tourists, brothel-keepers, pimps and local sex buyers

 

"Prostitution is the exploitation of human beings by the dominant system of purchasing power." - Thomas Sankara, 1986
 
South Africa is on its way to fully decriminalizing prostitution. Yes, this means that prostituted persons will no longer be criminalized - a good thing. BUT it also means that it will be legal to pimp, run a brothel and buy sex.
 
DO WE REALLY WANT SOUTH AFRICA TO BECOME THE BROTHEL OF AFRICA THE WAY GERMANY IS NOW THE 'BORDELLO' OF EUROPE?
Is this the direction in which we want to push our people - especially our youth - who are struggling to find work, survive and/or provide for their families?
Instead of protecting them, is this our answer for the vulnerable and marginalized (because global research confirms they make up the highest percentage of prostituted persons)?
 
We could list a hundred reasons as to how harmful a practice prostitution is: from the trauma, to the health hazards, to the strong link with drug abuse and addiction, to the violence experienced within the system (which, by the way, will not change through Full Decriminalization or the next step of Legalization).
 
You simply need to look at countries like Germany and Spain, and more recently Malawi, to see how Full Decriminalization hasn't made the system any better or safer for those being prostituted. New research (Nov 2022) also shows how legalizing prostitution in Germany has failed, and brings forth some shocking insight from sex buyers themselves - the ones who are driving the demand for this "service".
 
BUT DID YOU KNOW that one needn't simply decide between "Full Decriminalization" or the current status of "Criminalization". There is a third option, that of "Partial Decriminalization". Survivors are calling for this model, and there is much research and many resources where you can learn more about Partial Decriminalization and why it might be the better option: decriminalizing the prostituted persons (allowing for no arrest and also providing exit programs to assist those wanting to leave prostitution) but keeping pimps, brothel owners and sex buyers criminalized.
 
But for some reason Partial Decriminalization isn't being highlighted or offered as a viable option - despite being the second recommendation of the SA Law Reform Commission, after their first recommendation of keeping things fully Criminalized! They also made a clear recommendation AGAINST Full Decriminalization as a viable option for South Africa... SO HOW IS THIS NOW EVEN ON THE TABLE?!
 
Friends, we have until 31 January 2023 to submit our comments. PLEASE take the time to add your voice to this critical decision for South Africa and all her people. Because this move is going to affect every level of society.
 
"For every woman and girl violently attacked, we reduce our humanity. For every woman forced into unprotected sex because men demand this, we destroy dignity and pride. Every woman who has to sell her life for sex we condemn to a lifetime in prison. For every moment we remain silent, we conspire against our women." - Nelson Mandela

 

 

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