ISSUES •PROSTITUTION Prostitution is a hazardous occupation, harmful to the prostitute and her client as well as their families and society. Its negative social effects also include the cost of disease and injuries to which prostitution gives rise. In rape, the security of a woman’s person is assaulted and stolen: in prostitution, it is assaulted, stolen and sold. Women in prostitution not only began poor, they are systematically kept poor by pimps who take the lion’s share of what they earn. Survivors of prostitution often report that each act of prostitution felt like a rape. In order to endure the multiple invasions of their bodies, women use drugs and alcohol to numb the assaults to their dignity and bodily integrity. Soon there remains no integrity and certainly no dignity. Eventually, the women’s physical and emotional health is destroyed
There are numerous reasons why people become involved in prostitution. Many have been affected by a weakening economy, experienced change or loss of households, are coerced by parents/"pimps" or simply because they have low self esteem. It has been estimated that between 28,000 and 30,000 of South Africa’s prostitutes are under the age of 18. Also, about half the child prostitutes are between 10 and 14 years of age and the other half between 15 and 18.3. Their lives are ruled by "pimps" and gangs who often take their money in exchange for protection, food or drugs. Prostitutes are notorious for not practicing safe sex. In addition, they are often victims of rape and assaults and are at a constant risk of acquiring and spreading HIV/AIDS and other infectious sexually transmitted diseases. Legalisation of prostitution will not end abuse; it will make abuse legal. Legalisation only allows criminals and members of organized crime rings to become legitimate businessmen and work hand-in-hand with the state in marketing women’s bodies. Prostitution is ultimately sexual slavery. Like all forms of slavery, the goal should be to eliminate it, not to make it legal so that it is more controlled.
Doctors for Life (DFL) oppose the legalisation of prostitution, but we support the care and restoration of prostitutes to a life that allows them to be safe and restores their dignity. DFL is committed to helping those who are entrapped by prostitution. DFL has counselling and rehabilitation available for those bound by this lifestyle and profession. There is freedom from prostitution and a new life awaits you.
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2010: prostitution not to be legalized
Doctors For Life International (DFL) welcomes the confirmation by Andries Nel, Deputy Minister of Constitutional Development, that prostitution will not be legalized or decriminalised before the 2010 Soccer World Cup. Minister Nel’s reiteration of the government’s position was preceded by Sport and Recreation Minister Makhenkesi Stofile’s statement in Parliament last week, in which he called on law enforcement agencies to be, “more stringent in putting down these antisocial activities that undermine the dignity of others” (referring to prostitution and primarily, women’s dignity). The National Prosecuting Authority also released its submission to the South African Law Reform Commission (SALRC), in which it expresses its opposition to the decriminalisation of prostitution.
The commitment by the government to let the SALRC complete its research and not to rush legislation through purely for the sake of 2010, is the reasonable way to go. The law on prostitution should be aimed at preventing the severe physical and mental harm inherent in the practice of prostitution. It must not be based on male demand, which is the main cause of prostitution and sex trafficking (and will be the case in 2010), or any short term economic benefits to South Africa.
DFL has made submissions to the Law Reform Commission, highlighting the inherent psychological and physiological harm of prostitution to the individual involved, their families and society as a whole. In its submissionDFL called for legislation which includes the following measures:
The law should recognise the inherent harmfulness of prostitution;
Severe penalties for persons paying for the services of a prostitute (In January 2009 Norway criminalised the purchase of prostitution with up to three years imprisonment for offenders. Similar measure in Sweden have resulted in the decline of prostitution and sex trafficking there);
Comprehensive exit programmes should be set up for persons caught up in sex trafficking and prostitution (Up till now the government has not made any funds available for such programmes);
Assets forfeited to the state should be used to fund exit programmes;
Advertising of prostitution should be penalized.
Doctors for Life International, is an association of more than 1600 medical doctors. DFL is actively involved in helping people that are caught up in prostitution and has rendered expert evidence to the Constitutional Court, Law Reform Commission and Parliament, regarding the social and psychological consequences of prostitution. For more visit www.dfl.org.za
Premier’s Comments on Prostitution Are Deceiving
One cannot help being concerned about the flagrant promotion of prostitution by Gauteng Premier, Nomvula Mokonyane. She tends to keep referring to the opinions and solutions being promoted by the pro-decriminalisation lobby. The comment that significant sections of society would prefer legal state-regulated "prostitution zones,” is deceiving. Research has shown that 79% of South Africans are opposed to the legalization of prostitution and so these kinds of comments do not represent the facts.
There is ample scientific evidence that prostitution is an inherently harmful practise and that the vast majority of people who are involved in it would exit if they could find alternatives. The emotional trauma of prostitution is the same whether high class or low class, legal or illegal, whether in a brothel, massage parlour, strip club, or in the street. Two thirds of prostitutes studied across the world had the same symptoms of the most traumatised groups ever studied by psychologists – a condition also found in combat veterans, women who have been raped and state sponsored torture survivors.
In prostitution women have sex with men they would otherwise never have sex with. The money therefore acts as a force that coerces the woman into sex and not as a form of consent. Prostitution is not a choice because the basic elements involved in a choice are not present: equality with the buyers, physical safety and real alternatives. There is no equality because one person has both the economic power and the social power. It is therefore not surprising that the UN definition on human trafficking basically equates prostitution with human trafficking.
All citizens of South Africa, including those people involved in prostitution, already enjoy all of the human rights guaranteed to them under the Constitution. To try to equate human rights and dignity with the prospect of having to engage in prostitution to survive is really grasping at straws. As Premier Mokanyane herself mentions, those who are practising prostitution are doing so because there is no other means of survival for them.
To claim that the decriminalization of prostitution would help promote the equality, dignity and safety of women is ignorant and naïve. In a recent news report in Germany, a country where prostitution is well regulated and legal, a woman was denied unemployment benefits because she had not at least first tried prostitution, before claiming that she could not find a job.
In the area of Australia where prostitution is legalised, some legal brothels do not provide pillows because a pillow is considered a lethal weapon and brothels can be sued for that. There are no sheets, because people can be tied down with sheets. So men are turning to the ever exploding illegal industry around the demarcated red light area. One can regulate the legal side to the most intimate detail and the illegal trade around these areas simply explodes.
We kept looking for references to the Swedish model in the report on Premier’s address. The Swedish model is firmly based on human rights and keeps prostitution a crime but focuses on prosecuting the buyer. This is the most successful approach to the worldwide prostitution problem today and its successes have led to Holland shutting down more than 30% of their red light areas.
DFL is of the opinion that by decriminalising prostitution the S.A. Government will be throwing the poor of the country to the wolves and escaping their social responsibility to provide healthy alternatives. Government should fulfil its social responsibility of helping to provide proper employment opportunities for all South Africans, and support rescue, rehabilitation and reintegration programs for those already caught up in prostitution.
Doctors for Life International, is an association of more than 1600 medical doctors. DFL is actively involved in helping people that are caught up in prostitution and has rendered expert evidence to the Constitutional Court, Law Reform Commission and Parliament, regarding the social and psychological consequences of prostitution. For more visit www.dfl.org.za
Prostitution: When will we ever learn?
The current saga surrounding the theft of money from the Egyptian soccer team whilst allegedly entertaining prostitutes reinforces South Africa as not only a crime capital and hub for international drug trafficking, but also as a country where prostitution is tolerated. This is being aggravated by the continuous proposals of high-ranking government officials that prostitution should be legalised for the 2010 Soccer World Cup. These reckless and irresponsible statements imply that the government is in favour of relaxing the existing laws on illegal prostitution, which will be an open invitation to sex traffickers to utilise the World Cup to induce thousands of girls into sex slavery.
Suggestions to legalise prostitution for 2010 are being made, regardless of the fact that the Law Reform Commission confirmed that a bill regarding prostitution for the 2010 World Cup is not even being considered. Even if rushed, the government would not be able to pass a law on prostitution before the World Cup, never mind implement the comprehensive infrastructure required for legalisation.
Rumours are rife in rural schools that young girls are being enlisted to be trafficked as prostitutes for the 2010 Soccer World Cup and that they will be able to make more money in two months than their parents make in ten years.
DFL appeals to the government to reign in officials who make statements legitimizing prostitution as they are interpreted as tolerance towards prostitution and sex trafficking. By doing this they are priming girls in South Africa as young as 12 years old to put themselves up for sale under the false perception that they will grow rich. One would expect a responsible government to send out a message that our youth are not for sale.
The possibility of getting rich quickly is becoming extremely tempting to poor rural African schoolgirls. It is for this very reason, amongst others, that there is legislation against the selling of one’s own organs for profit. One can end up with a society where poor people (whether minors or adults) may be tempted to voluntarily sell a kidney or similar organs to break free from poverty.
The irony is that while this is happening, that the rest of the world is becoming increasingly opposed to prostitution and human trafficking. It is not surprising that the European Women’s Lobby (the third largest women’s organisation in the European Union, representing more than 50 million members) says that, prostitution and trafficking in women constitute a fundamental violation of women’s rights and should not be considered as “forced” or “free”.
Doctors for Life International, represents more than 1600 medical doctors and specialists. DFL operates a centre in Durban providing a safe exit for people caught up in prostitution and sex trafficking. DFL has also made representations to the South African Constitutional Court and Law Reform Commission regarding human trafficking and prostitution. For more information visit www.dfl.org.za
Harsh Realities of Prostitution Not Reported On
Doctors for Life International has noted the continual reports in some of the media that the decriminalization of prostitution may, should or is going to happen. Do they realize that they may be leading innocent young people into a life of slavery and drug addiction by publishing these suggestions?
It is irresponsible for these media to keep on suggesting that the decriminalization of prostitution is an option. It will most probably cause young girls from the rural areas to flock to the cities thinking that they are going to make easy money. Inevitably most of these young girls will end up under the often brutal control of a pimp and become drug addicted victims of human trafficking that will be subjected to all kinds of abuse.
A poll undertaken by African Response in three major cities ahead of the 2010 Soccer World Cup, shows that 79% of South Africans oppose the decriminalization of prostitution. Furthermore, the international trend is to clamp down on prostitution because of the many problems linked to it such as the sexual abuse of minors, human trafficking and organized crime. Examples include the UK, Norway, Netherlands (Amsterdam) and Sweden.
Doctors for Life, urges the media to consider the extremely negative consequences of prostitution to the prostitute and to society as a whole. People usually make the choice to engage in prostitution out of desperation and within a very limited range of options and alternatives. Experience and research has shown that if given a proper opportunity, that at least 80% of prostitutes would quit the lifestyle.
Instead of promoting prostitution by decriminalizing or legalizing it, society should help the victims caught up in it through rehabilitation and skills training programs, in conjunction with diversion programs through the justice system.
Doctors for Life International, represents more than 1600 medical doctors and is involved in helping people exit prostitution through a fulltime centre in the Point area, Durban.
Doctors For Life has commented extensively on these issues and has also made submissions to the South African Constitutional Court and Law Reform Commission regarding them. For more information visit www.dfl.org.za
