Sex-work activists face disappointment with review likely to reject decriminalisation

A report by the South African Law Reform Commission is expected to recommend continued criminalisation of sex workers when it is unveiled on Friday.

Former deputy health minister Nozizwe Madlala-Routledge‚ now director of women’s rights group Embrace Dignity‚ said the NGO had learned that the report would not push for major changes in legislation on prostitution.

“We know from inside information that government is not taking a decision on this issue at this point‚” Madlala-Routledge said.

“We understand that they are releasing the report as is. We also know that the report recommends continued criminalisation of both the buying and selling of sex with diversions (programmes to help sex workers to exit the industry). But we don’t have an indication what [diversions] entails.”

The Department of Justice announced on Thursday that the report will be released on Friday‚ nearly two years after the commission presented its findings to the government.

It was compiled using a number of sources‚ including submissions from advocacy groups such as Embrace Dignity and the Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task force‚ or Sweat‚ as well as testimony from sex workers.

While both NGOs wanted legislative reform‚ they differed on the details. Sweat campaigned for complete decriminalisation of sex work‚ while Embrace Dignity advocated the Swedish law‚ which decriminalises the selling of sex but criminalises buying.

Sweat director Sally Shackleton said while they were expecting an evidence-based report‚ it would be outdated because of the delay in releasing it.

 “We have been holding our breaths for a very long time and we would be glad to exhale‚ but I am very concerned about what the report is actually going to recommend‚” she said.

The report was unlikely to bring law reform any closer‚ “which is why we have been asking the department of justice to advance law reform without the report”.