Sonke Gender Justice rejects continued criminalisation of sex work

Justice Minister Michael Masutha announced the long-awaited report on Friday.

Currently the selling and buying of sexual services are criminalised in various sections contained in two separate laws, the Sexual Offences Act and the Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Act.

Sonke Gender Justice's Marlise Richter says South Africa criminalises all aspects of sex work under an archaic apartheid-era law.

She says several studies have documented the harm caused when criminal law is applied to the sex industry. 

"Criminalisation of sex work has been shown to drive sex workers underground and away from services, increase stigma and create obstacles to accessing programmes, and reduce sex workers' power, rendering them vulnerable to violence, human rights violations and corruption," says Richter.

Richter says this increases the risk of violence and abuse, particularly for women.

The release of the report comes amid a national outcry over the levels of violence against women and children.

"It would seem that the Law Commission has ignored this evidence and the many sex worker murders that have taken place over the last two decades, and recommend the status quo with a slight modification that includes diversion programmes for sex workers," says Richter.

Richter says the commission's recommendation for on-going criminalisation does not respect the human rights of sex workers.

"Internationally, evidence shows that reducing and eventually eliminating violence against women (and men and transgender people) will only be possible in a context where the criminal law governing sex work is completely removed, and where sex workers are brought under the framework of occupational health & safety laws, and labour law where these are based on human rights principles."