Cape Town: South Africa is about to decriminalize sex work. South Africa’s move is aimed at reducing the number of crimes against women and sex workers.
A legislative bill to decriminalize sex work has been introduced in Parliament. With the passage of the bill, sex work will no longer be considered a criminal offense in the country.
“Decriminalization of sex work is expected to reduce human rights violations against sex workers.
This means better health care, protection for sex workers, better working conditions and less social discrimination,” said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola. At the same time, he said that in the future, regulating the sex work industry will be considered later. The government’s move has been welcomed by various organizations working for the rights of sex workers.
South Africa has seen a large increase in violence against women. It is estimated that there are more than 1,50,000 sex workers in the country. South Africa is also the country with the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world.
South Africa has one of the most liberal constitutions in the world. The country has progressive laws on issues such as abortion and same-sex marriage, but laws on sex workers have not been reformed. This is about to change.