In South Africa, the sale and purchase of adult sexual services will be decriminalised with the hope to minimise human rights violations against sex workers in the country.
The Criminal Law (Sexual Offences and Related Matters) Amendment Bill was approved by the cabinet late last month. It was published on Friday, 9 December 2022, for public comment and will then have to be passed by parliament.
"It is hoped that decriminalisation will minimise human rights violations against sex workers," said Justice Minister Ronald Lamola.
He explained that "It would also mean better access to health care and reproductive health services for sex workers. Sex work is driven by a complex intersection of social and economic factors in which poverty, unemployment and inequality are key drivers. Within the current South African context, the debate around sex work has been complicated by high levels of unemployment, crippling poverty, burgeoning numbers of migrant and illegal foreign job seekers, high levels of sexual violence against women, the HIV/AIDS epidemic, drug/substance abuse and targeted exploitation of women engaging in sex work by third parties, authorities and buyers."
The South African sex worker rights group, Sex Workers Education and Advocacy Task Force (SWEAT), welcomed the bill as "incredible news", saying, "With sex workers no longer labelled as criminals, they can work much better with the police to tackle violence."
Laws prohibiting children from selling sex and trafficking for sexual purposes will remain in force.