Pimps or Politician's?

Media Release Embargo: Immediate release Date: 2016-04-08 Enquiries: Vaughan Luck Cell: 078 748 9884 Email: [email protected] Sex work seems to be on everyone’s minds in South Africa. From billboards on the side of the highway, to politicians wanting to supply sex workers with free condoms, as if that would be like waving the magic wand that makes all the problems related to it go away. Doctors For Life International has been working with sex workers for over ten years and knows first-hand what these lady’s go through, from being abused to trafficked into a life of slavery. The drug abuse, violence and the psychological trauma sex workers face should not be looked at lightly or ever made to be “part of the job” if sex work is legalized. France has just made the buying of sex illegal. In France pimping, human trafficking, brothels and buying sex from a minor are all already against the law. Sweden was the first country to criminalise those who pay for sex, introducing the law in 1999. Other countries where buying sex is already illegal are: Norway in 2008, Iceland in 2009, and Northern Ireland in 2014. Earlier this year, the European parliament approved a resolution calling for the law to be adopted throughout the continent. Why is South Africa headed in the opposite direction? We can see that legalizing prostitution doesn’t work and only benefits the pimps and human traffickers who are the ones making the real money, not the ladies on the street corner. Turning criminals into businessmen is not the answer to the problem. Amsterdam is closing down the brothels in the notorious red light district and various government officials have come out and said that legalization doesn’t work. Germany is another country which is about to change its policy and make the buying of sex illegal. Why would these countries change their policy if the legalization of prostitution was working? It’s simple; it does not work. It only increases the chances of women being trafficked for the sole purpose of becoming a sex slave (prostitute/sex worker). Legalized sex work desensitizes society to the abuse of women and makes it acceptable for women to be seen as nothing more than objects to be used for sexual gratification. Politician’s or pimps? DFL wonders whose best interests are being thought of when politicians make these comments and law changes. Maybe they should spend a few months on the street as sex workers first before making rash decisions. Sex work activities are often performed in the following locations: in an apartment, a hotel, a “massage parlour”, car, doorway, hallway, street, bar, public toilet, park, alleyway, on a stage, in a booth etc. Wages are negotiated at each and every transaction. Payments are delivered when the client determines when and if services have been rendered to his satisfaction. Corporate management fees range from 40-60{01b0879e117dd7326006b2e84bcaac7e8fa1509c5c67baf2c9eb498fe06caff4} of wages and pimps reserve the right to impound all monies earned. Benefits are determined at the discretion of management and there will often be non-payment for services rendered. Sexually transmitted diseases or pregnancy are commonplace. Injuries sustained through performance of services include but are not limited to cuts, bruises, lacerations, internal haemorrhaging, broken bones, suffocation, mutilation, disfigurement, dismemberment and death. Accusations of rape are treated as a breach of contract. Who wouldn’t want to be prostitute with those “perks”. There is nothing glamorous about sex work. It is dangerous, degrading and strips the person of any feelings of self-worth. There is a reason why more prostitutes suffer from post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) than soldiers returning from war. Doing sex work is like putting oneself in a warzone; it’s a fight to survive on a daily basis often without any hope of going home.

Doctors For Life International is an association of more than 1600 specialists and medical doctors. Doctors For Life endeavors to promote public health by upholding sound science in the medical profession. For more information, please visit www.doctorsforlife.co.za

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