21 February 2023 1 Min Read
WATCH: Why South African sex workers’ lives could be safer from 2024
The justice department plans to scrap old laws that make it a crime to sell or buy sex. This could make life safer for workers because they should be able to report crimes to the police — in theory
Picture: Alaister Russell/Sunday Times
A draft bill published in December plans to scrap the legal penalties on adults buying or selling sex in South Africa.When sex work is legal, workers are less likely to experience physical and sexual violence from clients and police.In Bhekisisa’s television show, Health Beat, local sex workers tell of the abuse they face each day. Plus, they speak to a worker from New Zealand (where the trade was decriminalised 20 years ago), as well as the deputy justice minister, John Jeffery, and Tlaleng Mofokeng, the UN special rapporteur on the right to health.