Labour Wrap: Commercialised sex - work or a crime?

Labour Wrap: Because work is defined as any activity with a purpose and a possible reward, is commercialised sex work? asks Terry Bell in his latest Labour Wrap. The question follows the decision by international human rights organisation Amnesty International calling for “sex work” to be decriminalised.

In South Africa at present, the sale, purchase and financial benefit from the sale of sexual favours is a crime. So prostitutes, their clients and those who knowingly house or manage those selling sex are criminals.

Now, says Bell, there are two local human rights groups that campaign for gender equality who support changes to the law. However, they are at loggerheads about what change should take place. Embrace Dignity is calling for only the prostitute or sex worker not to face criminal prosecution, but for clients and other beneficiaries still to be regarded as criminals.

On the other hand, the newly formed Asijiki Coalition that brings together groups such as the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) Sonke Gender Justice and the Women’s Legal Centre, want the industry decriminalised and for no criminal sanction to apply to any aspect of what they refer to as sex work.

But, says Bell, both ED and Asijiki have common ground in that they vehemently oppose human trafficking, child prostitution and other such abuses. Both also acknowledge that, within the sex industry today, there are many abuses and that these must be dealt with. The question is how best to do this.

So should the law remain as it is, or should only one aspect be free from criminal sanction? Or should the industry - often referred to as the oldest profession in the world - be decriminalised and those working in it be regarded in the same way as any other workers?

These, says Bell, are questions that are sure to arise strongly in coming months.

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* Terry Bell is a political, economic and labour analyst. Views expressed are his own. Follow him on twitter @telbelsa.