Stop judging sexworkers

THE public is to be asked its opinion on the continued criminalisation of prostitution in the country. Yesterday, the government released the “Report on Sexual Offences: Adult Prostitution”, the latest in a series of moves by both the courts and the executive to address the reality of prostitution and the plight of those working in the sex trade.

It is a controversial issue, but one deeply deserving of proper debate. Prostitution, it is said, is the oldest profession – referenced as such by the Bible.

Despite centuries of effort to eradicate it, prostitution flourishes.

It does so at a price. Pushed underground, it is a dark world where there are no regulations, no protection for client or consort, conditions ripe for exploitation of those involved and a gateway to organised crime in its more nefarious forms; of which drugs and human trafficking are but two.

Countries which have taken the step to legalise prostitution have managed these risks and restored the basic human rights to prostitutes which the rest of us inadvertently deny in our quest for the moral high ground. Just because a person sells their body doesn’t mean they’ve given up their right to privacy or bodily integrity. Being a prostitute does not mean you can be assaulted, raped or even killed.

It’s time we started having discussions on these issues, weighing them up against the very freedoms and rights that have been enshrined in our constitution. We have a duty as citizens to protect the vulnerable – and sexworkers are among the most vulnerable. Many of them are women, too, and in this country that’s a double jeopardy. It’s very difficult to justify that.