Government wants to decriminalise sex work by 2024

‘…Why is it when I choose as a woman to use my body as my business there is an issue,’ said the Deputy Minister of Social Development.

Sep 29, 2022 - 12:10
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Government wants to decriminalise sex work by 2024

The government plans to decriminalise sex work in South Africa by March 2024, according to the Deputy Minister of Social Development (DSD), Hendrietta Bogopane-Zulu. She spoke to sex workers and other civil society groups in Kimberley, Northern Cape on Wednesday, 28 September.

SEX WORK COULD BE DECRIMINALISED BY 2024

According to SABC News, sex workers in the province said the delay in decriminalising how they earn a living places their lives in danger.

Bogopane-Zulu said the decriminalisation “must have happened” by March 2024. The ball is rolling and discussions between the different sectors that are involved, including sex workers and the church, are underway.

“…at the end of the day, if men can have sex with men who are not gay, who go back to their wives and then it is understood. Why is it when I choose as a woman to use my body as my business there is an issue,” said the deputy minister.

READ: Symposium: Decriminalisation of sex work tops the agenda

The sex workers’ input will be used in a draft Bill, which will be sent to Cabinet later this year or in early 2023. Thereafter, it will be put out for public comment.

“And then when it comes back in 90 days we will consolidate and send it back to Parliament. So, the timeline is that by 2024 March, decriminalisation must have happened,” said Bogopane-Zulu.

CRIMINALISATION ENDANGERS LIVES AND LIVELIHOODS

Selling sex has been illegal in South Africa since the early 1900s and buying sex was also criminalised in 2007, per Human Rights Watch.

READ: Sex work in SA ‘LIKELY’ to be decriminalised as government ‘looks’ into it

The country’s laws also prohibit other parts of sex work, including running or owning a brothel, living off the earnings of prostitution and enticing women into prostitution.

[FILE] Lisa Jonas, peer educator at SWEAT, joins about 70 sex workers and supporters during a march in Cape Town on Tuesday to celebrate Sex Workers Pride in 2021. Photo: Ashraf Hendricks/GroundUp.

“The criminalisation of sex work has not deterred people from selling sex to make a living. Criminalisation has, however, made sex work less safe. It undermines sex workers’ access to justice for crimes committed against them and exposes them to unchecked abuse and exploitation by law enforcement officials, including police officers,” said the organisation in a report titled Why Sex Work Should be Decriminalised in South Africa.

Sex workers in the Northern Cape told the public broadcaster that they suffered abuse at the hands of violent clients and suffered secondary abuse and discrimination when they attempt to report incidents to the South African Police Service (SAPS).

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