Dan Allman

p. 20

Prostitutes Deserve Life Benefits

'With freedom comes regulation… And I feel they should pay taxes like all other industries'

PROSTITUTION should not be seen as a moral issue, but rather understood in the context of labour legislation and human rights, Mr. Shane Hart-Petzer of the Network of Sex-Worker Projects (NSWP) said at the conference yesterday.

He was speaking on decriminalising prostitution.

NSWP is a global coalition of people and organisations providing support and information to active sex workers.

There have been three main strategies suggested to control HIV infection among sex workers: Regulating sex workers by mandatory HIV testing and treatment; providing accessible and appropriate services; and enhancing the ability of sex workers to protect their health and the health of their clients.

Hart-Petzer felt that many of the arguments made to support decriminalisation were premature as there were a few good examples of what happened to a society after decriminalisation.

Hart-Petzer was "constantly amazed at the moral panic that people get into at the mention of decriminalisation. We should stop looking at prostitution as a moral issue and understand it in the context of labour legislation and human rights.

"When we start talking about prostitution and law reform, people become morally panicked and then people speak from a position of moral anxiety. They are not clear and articulate about what it is they mean to say. When people hear us talk about decriminalisation, what it means is not a free-for-all.

"What it means is to remove the control of prostitution from the criminal code and locate it within a framework of industrial regulation. And that is a better option for sex workers."

Mr. John Davies, who helps sex workers in Romania, said the suggestion that decriminalisation led to a decrease in HIV transmission was "an idea that has become part of the mythology of pro sex work activism."

Advocacy for decriminalisation was part of a political attempt to attain tangible quality of life benefits for sex workers, and promote their inclusion and tolerance.

Decriminalisation was not a panacea to enhance HIV prevention. Davies said: "Rather, it should come as an emancipation and this will follow power and knowledge.

"Decriminalisation needs to be considered for what it is, a more wholesome environment to benefit and protect sex workers," Davies said.

He argued against decriminalisation. Davies is of the belief that "with knowledge will come power."

He said: "Power is not something we should give to sex workers. Power is something they should take."

Ms. Cheryl Overs of NSWP said: "There should still be laws regulating the workplace; there should always be provisions that regulate the exchange of money, but they should not be criminal laws."

Overs felt the knowledge and power attained by sex workers could lead to emancipation.

"If there are laws that prevent me from attaining power; then I have lost my rights before I even get up in the morning."

For Overs, it is "strange how it is OK for HIV positive people to have sex for free but it is not OK for them to have sex for money. You would think the virus travelled on the notes," she said.

Ms. Mirriam Dooms of South Africa said: "I would not support decriminalisation because I don't believe in casual sex. But we all have to change our minds to support the freedoms of people who want to do it.

"But with freedom comes regulation and laws and I feel they should pay taxes like all other industries.

"I feel they should have a workplace and not practice at home to protect their children.

"They must be forced to go for regular medical checks for HIV and other sexually transmitted diseases and must force their customers to practise safer sex.