Issue link: https://maltatoday.uberflip.com/i/1285850
9 maltatoday | SUNDAY • 6 SEPTEMBER 2020 INTERVIEW OK, but it remains a fact that the demand for prostitution has al- ways existed… even when it is (or was) illegal. So isn't it a bit unrealistic to suppose that the demand for prostitution can be 'reduced' by simple legislative measures? No, it is not unrealistic. If you place the burden onto the person who is purchasing sex – as op- posed to the person selling it – the trends have shown that it will defi- nitely reduce the demand. This is, in fact, what has already happened in countries like Sweden and Den- mark… the Nordic model has been very successful in reducing the demand for prostitution. And we can accurately measure the success rate, too: because the rate of human trafficking in Nor- dic countries is also much, much lower than elsewhere… and espe- cially, than the countries which have fully legalized prostitution. Germany and the Netherlands are a case in point. In those coun- tries, the rate of trafficking has shot up since prostitution was legalized. Not only that, but the idea be- hind legalisation was to empower those women by ensuring that they had their own agency – in the sense of being 'self-employed', and therefore not controlled by any pimp. But in reality… how many of them are actually regis- tered as 'self-employed' in those countries? Only 4%. We therefore know that the le- galization model does not work… What you are proposing, then, is a model that criminalises the buyer, and not the seller… Yes; but that is only part of the issue. The Nordic model is based on a number of pillars. Apart from criminalizing the buyer – which has a proven track record of reducing the demand – it al- so involves raising the level of education; providing exit pro- grammes for the people involved; and other measures aimed at en- suring that, first of all, the people involved in prostitution are safe; and also, that they are not viewed as criminals. But at the same time, part of the aim is also to educate socie- ty that… no, it is not OK to buy a body. If you want sex… go out and meet someone. Do you have to buy a human being for your own sexual gratification? Is this the sort of message we should be sending out, as a society that calls itself 'equal'? With all due respect, you make it sound like it's easy for any man to just go out and 'meet some- one' for the purpose of having sex. Not all men are blest with confidence, good looks, charis- ma and sex appeal, however. What about those who have problems socially interacting? That is part of the problem, too. In fact there was a brilliant piece of research carried out by The Guardian recently. It was an interview with over 500 men, asking them why they went with prostitutes. It was very telling. The responses fell into two basic categories: one, men who felt very 'macho' and 'superior', and who thought it was perfectly OK for them to buy sex; and others who said that they did it because they had problems socializing. Isn't that a problem in our society? Yes, but that's why I asked the question. What you're suggest- ing is to criminalise those peo- ple: including the second cate- gory… But… is it OK to buy a body? If someone lacks the confidence to go out and meet others… does it justify exploiting vulnerable people? Let's not forget that re- search also proves that the peo- ple involved in sex work – apart from being vulnerable for all the reasons I've already mentioned – are also very often the victims of serious violence. We need to do everything in our power to pro- tect those people. We have to en- sure that they have the full sup- port, so as not to end up in that situation. Personally, I feel that our socie- ty is failing those people… Let's turn to the actual reform that is being proposed – or at least, the details that have so far been made public. The Co- alition has complained that the committee working on the draft legislation 'lacks the necessary experience.' What sort of ap- proach were you expecting? At the very minimum, then, we expected that the committee would also include represent- atives from women's organisa- tions that have been involved in this issue for many, many years. I would have also expected it to include professionals who have a lot of experience working along- side the people involved – for instance, Dar Hosea, which has opened its doors to people in prostitution – so that at least, the voice of those people could also be heard in the discussions. But most of all, I would have expected that – when coming up with such an important reform in our legislation – there would at least have been some proper research; not to mention decent consultation. There was, admittedly a consul- tation process; we submitted our recommendations last October – not only us, as a coalition made up of all those organisations; but the National Council for the Pro- motion of Equality also made its own submissions. We feel that all this has been completely discarded. How can the committee justify ignoring… never mind our own recommen- dations, but those of the NCPE – which is a national agency – when it comes to undertaking such an important reform? You mentioned research. What would you say is missing from the equation, in terms of data? One of the most glaring flaws is that, as yet, we don't have any typology of the kind of prostitu- tion that takes place in Malta: at least, not in the sense of a prop- erly researched typology. This is what the committee should have worked on first; they should have mapped out the actual prostitu- tion landscape, before trying to regulate it. What we do know, however – on the basis of our own work alongside the people involved – is that there are different 'models', so to speak. There is the 'family business' model: where it gets passed down over generations from the nanna, to the daughter, to the grand-daughter, and so on. And it is viewed as a 'family business', because these people quite sim- ply do not know any better. I feel they have not been given enough opportunity to try anything else. Then there are those who are pushed into prostitution by drug addiction; and there is also a growing category of foreigners who are 'imported' as sex work- ers… precisely because the de- mand is so high. We also know, from talking to these people, that many of them will have experienced violence; they often had difficult child- hoods, and for various reasons ended up feeling that this was the only way they could survive. They would see that the demand in Malta is high; so they would come here to try and make some money. So again, we have to depart from the premise that these peo- ple are extremely vulnerable. But by opening up the market, the demand is only going to become more 'normalised'. Is this acceptable? Is this real- ly what we want, as a society? I would say… no, it's not accept- able. Because this is harming women; this is harming people in our society; and it is harming our children, too… because we are now looking at upcoming generations of children who will brought up in a society which views buying human beings as 'normal'. But it isn't 'normal'. It's wrong… and we have to teach that to our children, too. PHOTO BY CHRIS MANGION