SA must repeal laws criminalising sex workers: SWEAT
Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Taskforce (SWEAT) said that, after 16 years of South African democracy, sex workers continue to be brutalised and harassed, with their citizen rights violated in a conspiracy of silence and exploitation, The New Age reports.
"Years after our hard won democratic freedom, there is no protection under the law for sex workers who are denied access to basic human rights because of the work they do", said Oratile Moseki, SWEAT Advocacy Manager. "South Africa badly needs to repeal laws which criminalise sex work [in order] to enable sex workers to exercise their rights."
Moseki was speaking at the memorial service of Mary, a 26 year old Zimbabwean sex worker who was found by a room-mate cruelly murdered in a Hillbrow brothel hotel, last Thursday. SWEAT works to ensure that sex workers' rights are defended, and that sex workers are respected and valued members of society. "We have been in touch with the hotel manager and sex workers working at the brothel- but they are nervous to speak to the police for fear of police action against them", Moseki said.
He added that there was a possibility that Mary's killer will not be brought to justice because witnesses will not come forward to assist police with the investigation. "The criminalisation of sex work is directly linked to harm experienced by sex workers, as it enables an environment of stigma, abuse and violence, and a conspiracy of silence and inaction." Moseki said that he believes that the country's legal system has criminalised sex workers, preventing them from enjoy the rights to which they are entitled under the Constitution.
Read the full article on www.thenewage.co.za.
