Embrace Dignity intervenes in Cape High Court (WC Division) - Proposes Equality Law; Opposes SWEAT’s Legal Challenge

OPINION - “We know firsthand the abuses of men who rent our bodies for their sexual gratification. The system of prostitution must end with us.”

A growing number of survivors of the system of prostitution are responding to the challenge launched in May 2024 at the Cape High Court by SWEAT (Sex Worker Education and Advocacy Task Force).

SWEAT is calling for the decriminalisation of “sex work”, which tragically would also decriminalise sex buyers, pimps and brothel keepers.

“We do not want to see what happened to us happen to others. That is the reason we will do all in our power to stop the total decriminalisation of the sex trade in South Africa.”

Prostitution survivors from KZN, Gauteng, Western Cape and Eastern Cape have made an urgent appeal to the South African government.

“We call on our government to listen to the voices of those who have direct experience of the harms of the sex trade,” they collectively assert.

Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge, Co-founder and Executive Director of non governmental organisation Embrace Dignity, agrees.

"The harms of the intertwined systems of prostitution and patriarchy are well documented. Male entitlement extends to patriarchy and feeling the ‘right’ to ‘own’ what belongs to someone else, in this case the bodies of women and girls. Removing the laws aimed at protecting women and girls from this prevalent form of gender based violence flies in the face of values instilled in traditional African culture and the philosophy of ubuntu".

Prostitution is the only crime in which female arrests outnumber male arrests, even though men are almost always the perpetrators of this violent crime against vulnerable women and girls.

It would seem law enforcement officers are not aware that the law currently explicitly prohibits "engaging the sexual services of a person 18 years or older” as outlined in Section 11 of the Sexual Offences Amendment Act 32 of 2007.

Citing South Africa's human rights centric Constitution, Cape Town headquartered NGO Embrace Dignity is calling for government to be true to the Constitution by urgently adopting the Equality Model as a legal framework for adult prostitution as the tenable model for ending the exploitative patriarchal system of prostitution by decriminalising only the survivors of the system of prostitution and providing exit programmes, whereas buyers, pimps, brothel keepers and traffickers would be prosecuted.

“There is nothing unconstitutional about stopping men using their economic power and privilege to buy consent and access into women’s bodies for their sexual gratification. Men buying sex are the only ones exercising free choice in this most exploitative transaction,” says Madlala-Routledge.

“The Equality Model Law is the only effective solution for protecting women and girls from the exploitative system of prostitution by addressing the demand and supporting those trapped in prostitution to exit.”

"The reality is," she continues, "the system of prostitution affects every single South African. “It can be anyone we know and survivor voices are unanimous that they do not want their children to have to go through this”.

"The last choice - to become a prostituted individual in a system that reinforces gender based violence and patriarchy - is no choice," Madlala-Routledge continues.

"Men literally trade on the fact that bread has to be put on the table and children schooled.They have the power, the choice, violence and the money. Men determine the rules and often the price. There is no value to the sex except for the purpose of the buyer's sexual satisfaction".

"How do you even regulate and attach a price to this human rights atrocity which often sees prostituted individuals dropping out of school or university?" she asks.

Madlala-Routledge explains that Embrace Dignity and prostitution survivors do not recognise prostitution as work.

"Prostitution does not fit the ILO definition of decent work.” According to the ILO: “Decent work sums up the aspirations of people in their working lives. It involves opportunities for work that is productive and delivers a fair income, security in the workplace and social protection for all, better prospects for personal development and social integration, freedom for people to express their concerns, organize and participate in the decisions that affect their lives and equality of opportunity and treatment for all women and men.”

In the system of prostitution, the buyer (almost always a man) has the power to buy consent, determine what, how, when, where, and with whom," she adds. Madlala-Routledge cites Thomas Sankara who said: “Prostitution is nothing but the microcosm of a society where exploitation is a general rule”.

She further cites former United Nations Executive Director of Women, Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, who has been quoted as saying there is inherent violence in the system of prostitution.

Madlala-Routledge states that Embrace Dignity presented a draft bill to the Department of Justice following the release of the South African Law Reform Commission Report, which rejected total decriminalisation of the sex trade in South Africa.

Madlala-Routledge explains that the system of prostitution has impacts globally and is not just the concern of one individual or group of individuals or one continent, country or city.

Madlala-Routledge mentions with pride the "great strides" made by Embrace Dignity, citing success stories of survivors of the system of prostitution.

*MICKEY MEJI from the Cape Town community of Khayelitsha used to campaign for decriminalisation of prostitution and worked for an organisation of opposing views to those of Embrace Dignity. Meji later learned from experience that prostitution can never be pro the emancipation of women and girls.

On the contrary it is keeping women subject to their very own exploitation through, for example, brothel owners. For many years Meji has graced international speaking platforms as a global authority on the Equality Law for which Embrace Dignity is advocating.

The list of countries that have passed the Equality Law continues to grow:

Sweden
Canada
France
Iceland
Ireland
Northern Ireland
Norway
Israel

The Equality Model Law:

Decriminalises prostituted women and girls
Invests in exit strategies for survivors to leave the sex trade, offering education and training
Penalises pimps, brothel-owners, profiteers and sex buyers via criminal charges.
Is an effective intervention to challenge the dominant patriarchal structures in society and thus make a contribution to addressing gender based violence.

The Equality Model approach was first spearheaded by Sweden in 1999 and steadily gained traction since.

In stark contrast are countries that passed the opposite of the Equality Law:

NEW ZEALAND - fully decriminalised in 2003:

Street prostitution increased by 400 percent
12-year-old girls bought in licensed massage parlours
“Police are powerless to act, powerless to do raids, powerless to ask for ID. We need to be supporting women to exit, not supporting men to buy”.

GERMANY - prostitution legalised in 2002:

Pimps do not pay tax
Only 44 out of 88,000 prostituted women are registered
Sexual offences increased
Prostitution is connected to abuse as well as acts of violence and criminal structures. The sale of sex is not acceptable and shouldn't be normalized” - German Chancellor Olaf Scholz
Once you've paid, you can do anything you like to her. It's like having a cup of coffee. When you're done you throw it out” - buyer

NETHERLANDS - prostitution legalised in 1999:

Largest case of human trafficking occurring within the legal establishment
“Let nobody fool you. Prostitution did not make this a better place. We were reprehensibly naive when we legislated prostitution” - Jurist and former Deputy Prime Minister of the Netherlands Lodewijk Asscher

Madlala-Routledge cites a report (refer to addenda below*) from a study Embrace Dignity conducted in 2010 when Dr Melissa Farley spoke at a seminar organised by Embrace Dignity with the Centre for Applied Legal Studies (CALS). Farley helped Embrace Dignity interview 100 women in the streets of Cape Town on the topic of prostitution.

“The results show that most women do not willingly go into prostitution,” Madlala-Routledge says.

“They are forced by their circumstances and want help to exit their torture and be offered alternatives. They do not want prostitution to be normalised and treated as work. Prostitution is a perpetuation of male violence against women and girls”.

Citing a draft Equality Bill Embrace Dignity drafted with the help of Norton Rose Fulbright attorneys, submitted in 2019 to South Africa’s Department of Justice, Madlala-Routledge says Embrace Dignity is currently focused on public education and advocacy around this document.

“It provides a clear and radical alternative to either total criminalisation or total decriminalisation of the system of prostitution,” she notes. “In line with preventative measures the proposed legislation supports public education and awareness raising”.

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She explains that the proposed Sankara Equality draft Bill includes preventative measures: the incorporation of topics in the school curriculum such as the ‘the realities of prostitution’ and the ‘dangers of the commodification of the body’.

The goal is to educate students on the exploitative nature of prostitution and to promote gender equality and human dignity. “Raising awareness at a young age is important as part of helping them make informed and safe choices,” she continues.

The draft Bill includes training of professionals such as members of the South African Police Service, healthcare professionals, prosecutors and any other professionals who frequently engage with prostituted persons in order to educate them on the realities of prostitution and to teach these persons how to address and communicate with prostituted persons with respect and without any prejudice or violating their constitutional rights.

On 2 December 1949 the General Assembly of the United Nations adopted the Convention for the Suppression of the Traffic in Persons and the Exploitation of the Prostitution of Others.

Embrace Dignity is calling on the South African government to end commercial sexual exploitation and, specifically, to pass the Sankara Equality Model of prostitution legislation.

Since the release of the much awaited South African Law Reform Commission Report Project 107 Sexual Offences: Adult Prostitution, the South African government has failed to take forward the reform of legislation on adult prostitution. Embrace Dignity advocates for legal reform of the laws regulating prostitution in South Africa.

“We will not rest until all can enjoy the right to gender justice, equality, dignity and peace. A world without the abuse of South African women and girls - free of all kinds of exploitation - is possible in our lifetime,” concludes Madlala-Routledge.