Africa-Press – South-Africa. The Commission for Gender Equality (CGE) believes recent developments regarding the future of sex work in South Africa mark “significant progress” towards legalising the practice, and the status of sex workers.
This comes after the decision by the Deputy Justice and Constitutional Development Minister John Jeffrey to hold consultative meetings to consider the decriminalisation of sex work.
“This step marks a significant progress towards exploring the possibility of the decriminalisation of sex work and sex workers in South Africa,” the Chapter 9 body said in a statement on Tuesday.
The Witness reported that the Department of Justice and Constitutional Development had begun engagements with representatives of the pro-decriminalisation sector on Wednesday.
The publication further reported that Jeffery had said that the engagements were critical for the discussion of proposed policy options.
“It is important that we fully engage with stakeholders regarding the proposed policy options, as there are many divergent views. We need to further engage with relevant government departments to ascertain the implications of changing the legislative framework, and we also engage the public on their views,” he said.
Talks to decriminalise sex work in South Africa begin
The CGE believes that the continued criminalisation, and prohibitionist legal framework which has treated sex work as a criminal act, goes against the human rights of sex workers in South Africa.
“In a study done by the Institute for Security Studies (ISS), sex work was found to be a decision driven primarily by financial insecurity rather than coercion and exploitation.
“In the opinion of the Commission, sex work is an issue that must be dealt with through economic and social interventions rather than criminal law,” the body explained.
The commission reiterated its position that the continued criminalisation of sex workers exposed them to various abuses.
“The current criminalisation of sex work denies them their rights to human dignity, freedom, and security of the person, freedom of trade, and the right not to be discriminated against or treated unequally,” the body added.
The Chapter 9 body concludes that any regulation of sex work and sex workers in the country needs to follow a human rights approach that will deliver:
For More News And Analysis About South-Africa Follow Africa-Press
