Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1180732
maltatoday | WEDNESDAY • 30 OCTOBER 2019 7 NEWS third party support like security, as this would likely qualify as 'promotion of prostitution' under the law. A review of the Swedish law carried out in 2015 found that one of the unin- tended consequences of the policy is in- creased support for criminalising pros- titutes, currently at 48% of all Swedes; 59% of women and 38% of men. The Swedish Association for Sexual- ity Education has suggested that the law has increased both stigma and discrimi- nation, putting prostitutes in a more precarious position. However, the group has opposed legalisation and instead has been pressing for changes to address those unintended consequences. The pitfalls of legalisation In 2001, the German parliament passed a prostitution law intended to improve working conditions for prosti- tutes. Under the new law, women could sue for their wages and contribute to health, unemployment and pension in- surance programs. The goal of the legislation was to make prostitution a profession like any other, accepted instead of ostracised. But the law contributed to a prolifera- tion of brothels advertising their servic- es at all-inclusive rates. When the Pussy Club opened near Stuttgart in 2009, the management ad- vertised the club as follows: "Sex with all women as long as you want, as often as you want and the way you want. Sex. Anal sex. Oral sex without a condom. Three-ways. Group sex. Gang bangs." The price: €70 during the day and €100 in the evening. In 2017, the law was changed again to ban such practices. An investigative report by Der Spiegel denounced "explosive increase in hu- man trafficking from Romania and Bul- garia" and a dramatic decrease in the price of sexual services. But research has also demonstrated that decriminalisation in New Zealand has enabled those who sell sex to deter- mine what services they will and will not provide, which clients they will provide services to, as well as negotiate safer sex practice. But the greatest pitfalls of legalisation is the risk of opening the floodgates for human trafficking. New Zealand addresses this by ban- ning temporary residents from the trade, but this in itself has resulted in creating a new category of vulnerable women. Another pitfall is sex tourism. A case in point is the Netherlands, which earned a reputation for its window brothels. The US State Department's Trafficking in Persons report, lists the country as a "source, destination, and transit country for men, women, and children subjected to sex trafficking and forced labour". sex work LAURA CALLEJA THE government should criminalise the purchase of sex, a coalition of aca- demics, lawyers, and people who work directly with prostitutes and trafficked persons have argued. The proposal is one of several others put forward by 35 organisations that include women's groups and medical associations, in response to a public consultation on changes to Malta's prostitution laws. The government has floated the idea of decriminalising prostitution but has stopped short of suggesting some form of legalisation. The joint initiative was also endorsed by five international organisations. Despite praising the government for tackling such a difficult and multi- faceted issue, the coalition said that decriminalisation of prostitution alone was not enough. The groups agreed with decriminali- sation of prostitution, adding that per- sons caught in prostitution should not be criminalised or victimised further "for the abuse they have endured." But they also called for the purchas- ing of sex to be criminalised. This would make clients of prostitutes liable to criminal proceedings. The groups said the buying of human beings for sex was "exploitative and harmful." "The reality of prostitution is not 42 million 'happy hookers' making a free choice and earning good money. It is millions of psychologically unwell, physically trapped and injured women – nearly all of whom want to leave, but cannot find a way out," the groups ar- gued. The coalition said that evidence from other countries showed that when prostitution alone was decriminalised and subsequently regulated, it became mainstream, and flourished. Decrimi- nalisation alone increased the demand. "When demand cannot be met lo- cally – which has occurred in several instances – traffickers 'procure' wom- en and girls from other locations," the groups said. The proposal also called for the crea- tion of an exit service, which would offer a comprehensive range of legal, health, financial, educational and so- cial services to support those within prostitution and enable them to re- cover from their abuse and build a life outside of it. The coalition also said that clear rules for massage parlours must also be es- tablished so these are not used as an excuse for prostitution. The coalition also proposed more radical measures recommending the permanent closure of strip clubs to prevent establishments continuing to sell sex and traffic women. However, in terms of regulation, it recommended increasing the entry age to these clubs to 21, private rooms be prohibited, advertising be limited, and a tax on all drinks consumed in such clubs be introduced. The coalition highlighted that in or- der for the proposal to be effective it would need to be implemented as a whole. "Decriminalising those who are pros- tituted, without making the buying of sex a criminal offence, would only open up the sex industry and increase trafficking." It said that these changes required a zero-tolerance approach by the police, as well as the courts, along with a spe- cialist investigatory capacity to pros- ecute offenders. The coalition said that increasingly, governments are changing the way they consider prostitution. "They see it as a form of slavery incompatible with human dignity and fundamental hu- man rights." It said that Sweden, Ireland, France, Norway, Iceland, Northern Ireland, Canada, and Israel have adopted a zero-tolerance approach towards the buying of sex because they consider it exploitative and harmful, and this has in turn decreased the number of traf- ficked women. "These countries have made the buy- ing of sex a criminal offence. Sweden, which adopted this model 20 years ago, have seen substantial decreases in the number of women trafficked, experi- encing sexual and physical violence, and since the introduction of this law no person in prostitution was mur- dered," the NGOs said. The coalition said that in New Zea- land, decriminalisation of prostitution legitimised pimps, escort agents and sex trade advertisers. "Decriminalisation also increased demand and pitted private and street workers in competition," the coalition said, adding that this lowered price while increasing the demand for more dangerous work, unwanted sexual practices and unprotected sex, despite it being illegal. "These are the impacts of legislation where the buying of sex has not been outlawed as exploitative or harmful," the organisations insisted. They added that the decriminalisa- tion of prostitution in Spain in 1995, resulted in the country becoming the largest centre for prostitution in the world behind Thailand and Puerto Rico. "90% of prostituted persons are mi- grants – the link between prostitution and trafficking is undeniable," they said, noting that the Spanish govern- ment was now planning to rectify the issue by drafting a law to criminalise the buying of sex. The Labour Party was elected in 2017 on a pledge to start a debate on regularisation and decriminalisation of prostitution. The reform has been entrusted to Parliamentary Secretary Julia Farrugia Portelli. Buying sex should be criminal, activists insist