South Africa to decriminalize sex work; Bill introduced in Parliament

Cape Town: South Africa will decriminalize sex work. The move is aimed at reducing the number of crimes against women and sex workers.

A bill to decriminalize sex work has been introduced in parliament by the South African government’s Ministry of Justice. Once the bill becomes law, sex services 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 Ronald Lamola, Minister of Justice.

The bill currently out for public comment only mentions decriminalizing sex work. Lamola added that regulating the sex work industry as a whole would be considered at a later stage.

Parliament must approve the proposed legislation for the bill to become law. The Al Jazeera report says that it will take months for the process to be completed.

At the same time, statistics indicate that violence against women is increasing in South Africa. The new move is to overcome this.

According to various advocacy groups, there are more than 150,000 sex workers in the country. South Africa is also the country with the highest number of HIV-infected people in the world.

The government’s move has been welcomed by various organizations working for the rights of sex workers.

“Sex workers are no longer labeled as criminals, so they can work more closely with the police to combat violence,” SWEAT, a sex worker’s rights organization, wrote on Facebook.

She said the introduction of the bill was ‘incredible news’ and she welcomed it.

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 has changed now.

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